On 9/11, Bush hand-scripted his notes to assure a befuddled nation, to project calm and control. He – from his Decision Point memoir – ended up off script, repeating what his Dad, former President H.W. Bush had said, that “terrorism against our nation will not stand”. pg 128 (the exact quote that he “plagiarized” was “this aggression will not stand” after Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait).
The point is, when we allow our unconscious (per Jung, more than 90 per cent of our thoughts) to trigger, we repeat patterns of history.
Bolton of “In the room where it happened” casually remarked that DJT did not have a capacity for long-term strategic thinking….in other words, DJT is not OBL. If he were, we would be in much deeper troubles than we already are.
And we wouldn’t see a slew of pardons, since all that cast and character are still now in charge in a “strong man” State, where neither virus nor the rule of Law reigns.
“I can kill someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it”…quite Positive Thinking…Norman Vincent Peal 2.0
Back to the interpreters of Afghanistan who are being air-lifted.
Decision point and people repeat themselves (Cheney and Rumsfeld – and their 2.0 version of the Ford administration) shaped the narrative after their own image.
46 years ago, out of Saigon – the scene was very much like today’s Kabul…cash out of ATM’s, gold-bar hoarding, US dollars (and US abandoned facilities and subsequent looting)…
Long lines at the Embassy (yours truly got yanked out of line along with my best friend….we were too young to be seen standing in line applying for a visa…the sentry figured the order from Ambassador Martin came down,…was to avoid a city-wide panic and await for a negotiated settlement).
Oh well….I am here now…Every time I passed by President Lyndon Johnson Library, I recalled his picture, the one of him slumping over the Oval Office conference table “torn between two lovers” —- “bitch of a war”. and his” Great Society” (do you see Biden’s stepping into that track)….
Soon, the US History shelves will give way to Afghan books, to revisionist school of thoughts.
From 0% school girl participation in Kabul, to 40% ( one of the unintended positive effects of the 20-year war i.e. to complete George W. Bush reading session to Elementary Sarasota, FLoridian school girls).
The Talibs will be back in charge, with abandoned salvaged Toyota trucks and left-behind ammunition.
People shape history after their own image – re-write after re-write….
Western-style Democracy (and demagogue), of Capitalism and Christianity, of Civil Religion and Deism.
21st-century US finds itself confused (the US – back to the lab – is still working out the bugs – as David Brooks’ 7/16/21 NYT).
But then the world can’t wait. It attributes to the US perfect qualities it doesn’t yet possess, such as freedom and equality for all (not to mention, prosperity).
If I had one wish, I would magically issue PX ration cards to world’s 9-billion. Come to this massive warehouse, take what you need – in a can . When peanut butter and jelly are distributed, and people have a taste for it….things will be all right from there.
The Afghan interpreters…our newest American neighbors, will then brush up on their American English (versus British usage)….will then follow the news, of distant war(s) and mission creep, of humane intervention, of data point and Decision point, of Russia interference and China aggression…
The 21-century vocabulary of war and peace…and they will find that despite its ugly and unavoidable side, human condition hasn’t changed that much… i.e. we still act out the script…e.g. H.W. Bush had blurted out his Phillips Academy and Naval scripts – written during WWII … George W. Bush with his interrupted Sarasota school session..(or Dan Quayle’s misspelling).
This reminds me of The Note:” All men are created equal….” At some point, when I am stuck and speechless, you might find me subconsciously let it slip out…since the pursuit of happiness (not war) coincides with my ultimate goal.
To my Afghan new neighbours, welcome to the land of the Free where young-girls participation in school is close to 100 per cent (except for the 1.36 million homeless).
Thang Nguyen 555 