September 16, 2002
Bush Talks Backbone
AOL greets us on Sunday with a lovely picture of George W. in his Sunday best with a quote saying, "Show some backbone!" his statement to the U.N. about attacking Iraq. Presumably like he showed during the Vietnam War when he nabbed that plum job with the Texas Air National Guard.Bush as Rambo is a stretch, but what kind of backbone are we talking about when a superpower bombs a third world country? With his tough-guy talk, what is he implying the rest of the world is afraid of? He frames it as a John Wayne-style test of masculinity, but what kind of bravery is required to bomb civilians in a broken down country? It doesn't take backbone, it just takes a stomach for killing defenseless people. Bush and his crowd have that in spades, obviously.
-- By David Cogswell