11. "I'm a War President." The arsonist owns the fire truck.

Bush has tried painting himself as a “war president.” Makes sense. Presidents who’ve waged war typically get re-elected. So pragmatically Bush certainly likes the strategy of cloaking himself in that rhetoric; some people will emotionally link to it and impute to him an ethos that he hasn’t really earned.

The catch? Bush has the role of an arsonist who owns the only fire truck. We had no viable basis for invading Iraq. But Bush threw us into this needlessly. Now he trumpets his "leadership" as a macho veneer.

This tactic does appeal to many honest, decent, sincere people who, for whatever reasons, genuinely trust that particular stereotype of masculinity.

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” Theodore Roosevelt “History, we don’t know. We’ll all be dead.” George W. Bush   Intro   Election 2004 Introduction 1   I Yam What I Yam 2a People Die for Mr. Bush's Mistakes. He Laughs It Off 2b Supplement: Mr. Bush Laughs It Off 3a   Mr. Bush's Religious Rhetoric: The Uncaped Crusader 3b   Mr. Bush's Religious Rhetoric: Ripping Off Jesus 4   WMDWMDWMDWMDWMD—Oh, Never Mind, Forget I Ever Said WMD 5   President Bush: Saddam Tried to Kill My Dad 6   President Bush's Real World Patriot Games 7   In Mr. Bush's Own Words: "Major League Asshole" 8a   Responsibilty? Accountability? The Buck Stops Somewhere Else 8b Supplement: Responsibilty and Dodge Ball 9a   Forgive Osama? Love Saddam? You CRAZY, Jesus? 9b   Supplement: Christian Nonresistance 10   Democracy? Not on This Watch. Undo the Presidential Records Act 11   The Arsonist Owns the Fire Truck 12   Environment 13   Mr. Bush's Taunt: "Bring It On!" 14   Conclusions 15   Update 5/5/04     Please sign my Election Site Dreambook (and visit my other sites as well). And read others' comments.