this is a letter that was written in the Otago university magaizine i read each week;
http://clients.straylight-studios.com/critic/view_article.php?issue=Critic_6&article=article30
A bad speech does not a tyrant make
by Sam Grover
The other day, as I was walking home from an enthralling Archaeology lecture, I had the incredible misfortune to see 17 signs protesting “Bush’s War in Iraq,” 16 of which I tore down in a self-righteous rage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as anti-war as the next guy, but it just seems like the hatred for President George W. Bush in and around Otago University, and Dunedin in general, is, to put it bluntly, really ****ing stupid.
If you were to ask someone you see on the street what your opinions on One President Bush are, he or she would invariably reply in an incredibly negative fashion and possibly compare him to someone in the same vein as Stalin, or even Hitler! This is heavy stuff, as I’m sure you can well see, so surely there is some kind of justification for this slander! Well, sort of.
“He made the Patriot Act!” (Wrong, the majority of Congress passed the Patriot Act.)
“He stole the election!” (Debatable, but he won the next one, so even if he did cheat he’s batting .500, which could be worse.)
“He started the war in Iraq!” (Yeah, probably not an amazing move on his part, but definitely not a unique one.)
However, the core issue for all the Bush haters is that he can’t make a good speech. Some even go as far as to say that “He’s stupid”, as a couple of pictures floating around the Internet of him doing things like looking the wrong way through a pair of binoculars clearly prove. It really is saddening to see that there are so many people around Otago University who are that shallow, not to mention easily influenced. He can’t make a good speech, huh? Who :cen: cares? How relevant is the fact that he is not an amazingly charismatic public speaker, day in and day out? The fact is, if you really analysed it, (not that any of you philistines ever will, of course) I’m sure you’d realise that all those examples that you see on TV and in Michael Moore’s stunningly well-balanced films ad nauseum probably represent something around 2 percent of President Bush’s speeches. Give the poor man a break.
How’d you feel about the last President the United States had? Ah, Billy. That lovable rogue, what were we going to do with him? He couldn’t keep his :cen: in his pants to save his life, he happily passed gun control laws that trampled on US citizens’ second amendment rights, (What, you don’t like George for stepping on the first, but Slick Willy can literally piss on the second with impunity? Picking and choosing isn’t allowed in this game, pal) and he started a damn war. Have you people forgotten Kosovo? Are you people so incredibly thick that you don’t have the hindsight of a few short years? I’m sure the Albanians remember it vividly, but you certainly don’t. The man made damned good speeches, after all.
Or the late Mr Reagan! Oh, how you loved him, with the same roguish charm as Mr Clinton, but with the added “grumpy old man” factor! As with Mr Clinton, you love to gloss over all those yucky little details of his presidency, such as the fact that his brain was literally melting a little more every day, but boy oh boy, did he gave some good one-liners or what?
The only president that you people happily hate with nearly the same amount of vehemence as the current one is Daddy Bush himself, which is equally stupid if not stupider. Can any of you honestly say that you gave him a second thought before his son succeeded him? I thought not.
I’m not championing for President Bush in any way, so please don’t misinterpret me. I merely want to point out that there is absolutely no reason why you should hate him more than any of the other presidents that the US has put in power of the past couple decades. The fact is, the position sucks and sucky people get it. Presidents will always cut corners, they’ll always pass laws you don’t like, and they will always, always start wars. It just comes with the territory.
Don’t hate the player, man. Hate the game.
your comments?
http://clients.straylight-studios.com/critic/view_article.php?issue=Critic_6&article=article30
A bad speech does not a tyrant make
by Sam Grover
The other day, as I was walking home from an enthralling Archaeology lecture, I had the incredible misfortune to see 17 signs protesting “Bush’s War in Iraq,” 16 of which I tore down in a self-righteous rage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as anti-war as the next guy, but it just seems like the hatred for President George W. Bush in and around Otago University, and Dunedin in general, is, to put it bluntly, really ****ing stupid.
If you were to ask someone you see on the street what your opinions on One President Bush are, he or she would invariably reply in an incredibly negative fashion and possibly compare him to someone in the same vein as Stalin, or even Hitler! This is heavy stuff, as I’m sure you can well see, so surely there is some kind of justification for this slander! Well, sort of.
“He made the Patriot Act!” (Wrong, the majority of Congress passed the Patriot Act.)
“He stole the election!” (Debatable, but he won the next one, so even if he did cheat he’s batting .500, which could be worse.)
“He started the war in Iraq!” (Yeah, probably not an amazing move on his part, but definitely not a unique one.)
However, the core issue for all the Bush haters is that he can’t make a good speech. Some even go as far as to say that “He’s stupid”, as a couple of pictures floating around the Internet of him doing things like looking the wrong way through a pair of binoculars clearly prove. It really is saddening to see that there are so many people around Otago University who are that shallow, not to mention easily influenced. He can’t make a good speech, huh? Who :cen: cares? How relevant is the fact that he is not an amazingly charismatic public speaker, day in and day out? The fact is, if you really analysed it, (not that any of you philistines ever will, of course) I’m sure you’d realise that all those examples that you see on TV and in Michael Moore’s stunningly well-balanced films ad nauseum probably represent something around 2 percent of President Bush’s speeches. Give the poor man a break.
How’d you feel about the last President the United States had? Ah, Billy. That lovable rogue, what were we going to do with him? He couldn’t keep his :cen: in his pants to save his life, he happily passed gun control laws that trampled on US citizens’ second amendment rights, (What, you don’t like George for stepping on the first, but Slick Willy can literally piss on the second with impunity? Picking and choosing isn’t allowed in this game, pal) and he started a damn war. Have you people forgotten Kosovo? Are you people so incredibly thick that you don’t have the hindsight of a few short years? I’m sure the Albanians remember it vividly, but you certainly don’t. The man made damned good speeches, after all.
Or the late Mr Reagan! Oh, how you loved him, with the same roguish charm as Mr Clinton, but with the added “grumpy old man” factor! As with Mr Clinton, you love to gloss over all those yucky little details of his presidency, such as the fact that his brain was literally melting a little more every day, but boy oh boy, did he gave some good one-liners or what?
The only president that you people happily hate with nearly the same amount of vehemence as the current one is Daddy Bush himself, which is equally stupid if not stupider. Can any of you honestly say that you gave him a second thought before his son succeeded him? I thought not.
I’m not championing for President Bush in any way, so please don’t misinterpret me. I merely want to point out that there is absolutely no reason why you should hate him more than any of the other presidents that the US has put in power of the past couple decades. The fact is, the position sucks and sucky people get it. Presidents will always cut corners, they’ll always pass laws you don’t like, and they will always, always start wars. It just comes with the territory.
Don’t hate the player, man. Hate the game.
your comments?
I also think that everyone has something to contribute to society even if it is only to serve as a bad example.
