An Artificial Island for Our Artificial Turkey

The problem lately is not what can I possibly write about. The problem is how do I decide what to write about, given the hundreds of topics awaiting me every morning.

So today I have chosen to write about our turkey's trip to Normandy for the 60th D-Day commemoration. (I can't help but think back to last Thanksgiving when Bush got up from the family dinner table and snuck off to Iraq for a surprise visit to our troops and was photographed holding a plastic turkey. As you may recall, only a few so-called lucky GIs got to shake hands with him, and he stayed only a couple of hours. Total photo-op stuff.)

It is scary enough to have Bush visiting in foreign lands to begin with and having to speak to other world leaders. I can almost guarantee America will be humiliated on such occasions, sometimes in big ways. For example, being late for one's audience with the Pope is not cool. Reports are that no apology was offered. And Bush just looked ridiculous sitting next to the pontiff. Was that just a big chair or what? Bush reminded me of the Lily Tomlin character from Laugh In. Do you recall 5 1/2-year-old Edith Ann sitting in that big white rocker? She'd do her monologue and then end with,"And that's the truth!" Then she'd sputter her tongue as she gave the audience the raspberry. But I digress......

Back to my point-and I do have one! It seems that on one day's notice military engineers were informed that the "president" would be needing a platform for his entry into a U. S. military cemetery. Oh, and also Bush would need a red carpet and an artificial island. Then he could walk in style with French President Chirac to the dais for the ceremony. Now, if you ask me, all of this is beyond pretension. It is the epitome of emperor syndrome. Who does our president think he is? I am embarrassed that our head of state, who has a less than impressive military record, would be so presumptuous as to orchestrate such a dramatic choreography for his own appearance. George Bush was, after all, one of the least important people there. We were honoring the war dead, not glorifying George Bush. His desire for elaborate fanfare certainly does not become him, especially when at one time he claimed to prefer a humble approach in world affairs. Or did I just dream that?

Well, there's more. White House staffers demanded that bleachers already erected for the event be torn down, thus limiting the number of people who could attend. I just want to hang my head in shame.

Now for the cost of all this. The platform was $100,000. The red carpet was not in the original plan, so the money for that will have to be scrounged from somewhere else. The precise cost of the bridge hasn't been determined yet. But what is certain is that the American taxpayer will foot the bill. The overall total cost of the whole production will be $30 million or more, including $6 million in value-added taxes. Of course, in our usual spoiled brat way, the U.S. has asked that France waive the taxes. It is reported that France does plan to pay some of the cost. The cost is atrocious enough, but it is the attitude of the executive branch that appalls me. Self-aggrandizement is the order of the day and always has been. Bush is our Marie Antoinette. "Let them eat cake." (I just looked that up, and apparently Marie never actually said it, and it wasn't cake but "brioche!") Where is the compassion? Why does our president have to glorify himself? Could it be that deep down he is a very needy person? Well, if that is true, he should not be the leader of our country.

AND THAT'S THE TRUTH!

To see the article which inspired this blog, click on the title above.