Sometimes, Saying What's On Your Mind Isn't The Point.
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I quite don't know what to say here. To be honest, I am glad Bush admitted some kind of fallacy to his presidency after we've been somewhat worried that he's a little too full of bravado for the job, and yet I am filled with the biting liberal response, which goes something like this: 'too little, too late'. It's too late to really apologize for any damage saying 'I want him dead or alive' might have caused, or for the insurgents to 'bring it on'. (Do you think the president's been watching too many highschool cheerleading comedies? Nah...) However, I sincerely doubt the infamous Bush sound bites are what got us into trouble completely, although they might have spread it along. Sound bites, as amusing as they are, ("Read my lips," "I did not have sex with that woman," "I am not a crook," "There's some rumors on the internets,") are not the be all and end of all what happens in this country, policy is.
However, it is a liability, although I won't say a crippling one, to have a president that tends to verbalize himself in an unsuitable manner, or does not, at the very least think or rehearse his comments through as he says them. It makes him seem...brash. And you wonder if his policy comes in a brash manner as well.
Perhaps, in a way, I should illustrate my point before all the right wingers tell me I'm so far off base, it's not funny and I'm a horrible person to even point out flaws in our president. I have a friend who is in the Marines. Great guy, I met him through my roleplaying group that we hold that meets every week. (Please spare me the D&D jokes, and the moralistic attitude that roleplaying is wrong, btw. I wager that I've heard most of it already and we weren't playing D&D.) He has a friend also in the Corps, and they were both home around Christmas, so my friend invites his friends (including the Marine that came home around the same time he did) to play with part of our group in a rp setting. And frankly, it wasn't a bad night, my Marine friend is a great game master, and I could tell he was in his element again. However, his friend that came back from the Marines with him started cracking anti-Army comments without even really thinking. (I'd use the word 'jokes', but it was too rude for that.) The two people from my group that had come were offended after a while, considering one of them was ex-Army after a medical situation that rendered him unable to serve...and the other was the husband of a soldier in Iraq. Now, he did stop after they told him to drop it (which was good, because if they didn't say something I was tempted to) and he did, but not before trying the Navy on for size. (The soldier's wife wasn't amused. Two of her best friends are sailors. He was asked to shut up again.)
Now, I realize roleplaying is akin to playacting, but the friend of my friend who was home and enjoying his gamemastering was...well, let's just say his character was much like him in some way, overtly violent and direct to the point of being insulting. In a one off game an unsubtle character who doesn't think things through isn't that much of liabilty (although he did almost kill a friend's character with his need to fight everyone), but had that game progressed beyond that night and it continued, it might have been more trouble that it was worth.
What was the point of the story, you may ask? First off, spending one night with one person who seems to like to talk without considering any conquences to his words at all (I am, in RL, a very non aggressive person. He mentioned being thrilled to go to Iraq to get a chance to try out his knife on Iraqi ((yes, I know, it's insurgents and they're the enemy, but it's a little unsettling.))) left us with a negative perception of the guy. Secondly, and it may be miltaristic training, but you wonder if his need for violence means he's willing to take it out on others, which I also admit is perception. Perception in many ways forms the reality for human beings. That guy may have been a nice guy outside of the game, but I was left with a negative perception of him and frankly an undesirable one. While I might admit I need to give him a second chance and will probably do so, it'll be a wary thing at best.
When someone who reperesents this country sends out the perception of aggressiveness or recklessness or a brash unthinking manner, it tends to form perceptions for other people who see this person in action. While strength is a good thing to show off, strength to the point of arrogance is a good way to tarnish our credability. And whilst actions speak louder than words, words can also be used to explain actions, whether they're meant in that way or not.
So, I'm glad President Bush admitted to his fault and I hope he decides to be thoughtful always in word in deed. And while he admits he's done harm by his wonders, one can only wonder exactly how much has he done.
Admitting That He's Not Perfect Either, The AWM/wolf dragon,
Sol