'Just World News' with Helena Cobban

Bush (speech) notes

Reactions to Sunday night's speech:

(1) Back to the scared-deer look. Makes you sorry for the guy.

(2) Notably peevish and ungracious toward the UN. UN has "an opportunity, and the responsibility" to help out. So says Nanny Bush. But where was even one moment of reaching out to the United Nations by, for example, expressing his sympathy over the loss of Sergio de Mello and the other UN people there? Bush had actually met Sergio, after all... A couple of sentences of memories of the man's human qualities would have spoken volumes to key audiences both inside the US and overseas.

(3) Still trying the tired old trick of labeling all actions he doesn't like as "terrorism". Has the guy read read no history??? (Silly question, Helena!) But just for the record, I can say throughout my entire lifetime, from watching the British dismantle their empire until now, it's notable how often imperial powers fall into this particular discourse of (anti-)terrorism. Why, for the pillars of the apartheid regime, Nelson Mandela was for decades the "arch-terrorist"! This discourse not only doesn't solve problems, it actually aggravates them, because the imperial power ends up using highly counter-productive means to react to understandable and quite predictable political setbacks.

Oh well, I'm off to Richmond, VA today to give a talk. Also have to write a CSM column for Thursday (9/11). Better stop now.