George Orwell writes beautifully. He is due
for a revival.
A seek and ye shall find poem
by Francine
DuBois
I. George Orwell, for background
"For the ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle (home
life, and perhaps the trade unions or local politics) he feels himself
master of his fate, but against major events he is as helpless as
against the elements. So far from endeavouring to influence the future,
he simply lies down and lets things happen to him." - George
Orwell, "Inside the Whale"
II. Get on the bus
"[T]he president's bus tour seeks to generate maximum media
exposure and project a regular-guy likability that his campaign believes
contrasts favorably with his Democratic opponent, John Kerry."
- Linda Feldmann, "Bush tour to tap 'regular guy' appeal,"
The
Christian Science Monitor
III. A troubling pre 9/11 look at Dubya
"George W. Bush, at least in the minds of most Americans, isn't
the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that is an endearing quality
in the minds of most people that voted for him. . . . He makes the
same kinds of mistakes that regular folks do. Although he is better
off making his speech writer the highest paid person on his staff
because his ad-libs without the help of a tele-prompter have been
disastrous. . . .
"He hates worrying about details and loves to delegate, emphasizing
the importance of surrounding himself with key people. . . .
"The only thing cool about George W. Bush is that at the drop
of the hat, he can annihilate small countries. The man has a lot of
power in his hands. It's like giving a teenager a Sony Playstation
and telling him to keep it in the box forever." - AskMen.com
IV. Ring around the rosy -- we all fall down
"Q: Are you concerned that there was a report [Taguba
report on Iraqui prisoner abuses] completed in February that apparently
--
"THE PRESIDENT: I haven't seen --
"Q: -- Myers didn't know about yesterday --
"THE PRESIDENT: Well, if Myers didn't know about it, I didn't
know about it. In other words, he's part of the chain -- actually,
he's not in the chain of command, but he's a high ranking official.
We'll find out.
"Q: The question is, should something causing --
"THE PRESIDENT: I just need to know --
"Q: -- concern, raised eyebrows --
"THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. I think you'll find the investigation
started quickly when they found out what was going on. What I need
to know is what the investigators concluded.
"From this exchange, the president seemed unaware of what the
report even was and claimed to believe that he somehow couldn't get
a hold of it until it came up through the chain of command.
"The point here isn't that the president is stupid, but that
he seems blithely indifferent to what is a huge setback to American
goals and standing in the Middle East and indeed throughout the world.
"There's an echo here of his response to the pre-9/11 warnings
streaming up through the government bureaucracy. It hasn't landed
on his desk yet, with an action plan, so what is he supposed to do?
He talked to Rumsfeld who says he's on top of it. So what more can
be done?" - Josh Marshall, Talking
Points Memo
Francine's Version -- Hezekiah's
Version -- Inspiration
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Poem -- Table of Contents
