Divorced From Reality Posted by Michael Cohen

I think we can all agree that when it comes to agenda setting, President Bush is pretty much irrelevant, but what was so striking about yesterday's SOTU was the extent to which he is simply divorced from reality. I won't even touch on the domestic side of things, but his comments on foreign policy were just breathtaking in not only their banality, but in the extent to which they reflect a reality that only seems to exist in George Bush's mind.

In George Bush's mind, freedom is on the march, even though as my colleague Max Bergmann points out below, in most of the places the President cites, freedom is actually on the retreat.

When it comes to the war on terror, you would think that in the seven years since 9/11 we've have a bit more understanding of the motivations of terrorists to not simply fall back on familiar platitudes like the terrorists "hate America." Think again.

The advance of liberty is opposed by terrorists and extremists -- evil men who despise freedom, despise America, and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.

Sigh. But it gets worse, "There is one thing we and our enemies agree on: In the long run, men and women who are free to determine their own destinies will reject terror and refuse to live in tyranny. That is why the terrorists are fighting to deny this choice to people in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Palestinian Territories."

Fred Kaplan at Slate offers a compelling rejoinder: "The question comes to mind, as it has come to mind in all of these speeches when Bush recites this argument: Does he believe what he's saying? Does he believe that the violent battles for power in these lands really come down to freedom vs. tyranny?"

Apparently the answer is yes.

But it's even in the smaller details Bush makes egregious statements. "For the security of America and the peace of the world, we are spreading the hope of freedom." Except of course in Egypt where during the President's recent visit he praised long-time Jeffersonian Democrat Hosni Mubarek, for "taking steps toward economic openness . . . and political reforms" and pretty much disheartened every democracy activist in Egypt. As Max again points out, in pretty much every place where Bush cited "stirring moments in the history of liberty" the reality today is far more complicated and far less rosy.  And even though more than 800 people have been killed in post-election violence in Kenya, it doesn't even rate a mention.

Or this on Afghanistan, "boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope." Indeed the entire section on Afghanistan offered not a single pessimistic word. Maybe the President should have talked to his Sec of State who today in Australia warned of a potentially deeper conflict in Afghanistan:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fears a deepening conflict in Afghanistan without an urgent solution to differences between Kabul and Western forces trying to restore order there.

In a frank assessment of the problems in Afghanistan following the collapse of plans for a "super-envoy" to try to meld the disparate international forces, Dr Rice said the West was still working to find a way to better support the Afghan Government in its reconstruction efforts.

Somehow this got deleted from the SOTU. Or how about this: "America opposes genocide in Sudan. We support freedom in countries from Cuba and Zimbabwe to Belarus and Burma."

That's great! I support freedom in those places too! And surely that's why when UN Secretary General Bar Ki-Moon recently asked for additional helicopter support for the peacekeeping mission in Darfur the US was the first to lend a hand . . . oh wait a minute.

As Fred Kaplan again suggests, "Maybe the president believes that saying something makes it close to true. (Some of his former aides have told me they suspect this is the case.)"

And I haven't even gotten into the President's delusions on Iraq! It's one thing to lie to the American people; George Bush has raised that to an art form and certainly he is neither the first nor last politician to stretch the truth. But, lies I can handle. This President seems to operate in a world of just intense self-delusion, completely divorced from actual events.

It reminds me of a great Seinfeld episode when Jerry asks George how to beat a lie detector test. George's advice, "just remember, it's not a lie, if you believe it." So there you have it, after seven years I've finally figured it out, George Bush is George Constanza!

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