Saturday, February 14, 2004
Blessed are the Phonies?
Now that questions about his National Guard service and his Iraq WMD claims have finally dented the public's perception of George Bush's vaunted credibility, 201k recalls another time in which the president's bona fides didn't exactly shine.
In a 1999 Republican primary debate Mr. Bush was asked, along with the other candidates, to name the "political philosopher or thinker" with whom he identified most. He answered, "Christ, because he changed my heart."
201k, watching the debate, was intrigued by the notion of Christ as "political philosopher or thinker," and waited eagerly for Mr. Bush's answer when he was asked to elaborate for viewers.
Mr. Bush's elaboration was: "Well, if they don't know, it's going to be hard to explain. When you turn your heart and your life over to Christ, when you accept Christ as a savior, it changes your heart and changes your life, and that's what happened to me."
This non-answer struck 201k as bewildering at the time, and has stuck in our heads ever since. How could George Bush, a self-described "born-again" Christian, be unable to cite even one specific example of the philosophy of Christ?
Not one.
201k were not exactly the star pupils at bible class--and yet we can think of four right off the top of our heads. Candidate Gary Bauer, who also named Christ, quoted scripture and mentioned the obligations he felt Christians have. But the best Mr. Bush, who supposedly reads the bible every day, could come up with was, "if you don't know then I can't explain"?
His campaign claimed that this response reflected a conscious decision on Mr. Bush's part to avoid turning the debate into a religious discussion. But that just doesn't cut it.
The truth is Mr. Bush's answer was lame. Particularly since he was the one who'd brought Christ into it in the first place.
The uncomfortable question this episode raised in our minds--which has lingered to this day--is whether Mr. Bush was a sincere born-again Christian who truly felt that Christ was his favorite philosopher but after saying so wasn't able to articulate precisely why--or if he was the type of person who said things he thought people wanted to hear, and got churlish or evasive if asked to back them up.
Nothing that's happened since has dissuaded us of the impression that it's the latter.
In a 1999 Republican primary debate Mr. Bush was asked, along with the other candidates, to name the "political philosopher or thinker" with whom he identified most. He answered, "Christ, because he changed my heart."
201k, watching the debate, was intrigued by the notion of Christ as "political philosopher or thinker," and waited eagerly for Mr. Bush's answer when he was asked to elaborate for viewers.
Mr. Bush's elaboration was: "Well, if they don't know, it's going to be hard to explain. When you turn your heart and your life over to Christ, when you accept Christ as a savior, it changes your heart and changes your life, and that's what happened to me."
This non-answer struck 201k as bewildering at the time, and has stuck in our heads ever since. How could George Bush, a self-described "born-again" Christian, be unable to cite even one specific example of the philosophy of Christ?
Not one.
201k were not exactly the star pupils at bible class--and yet we can think of four right off the top of our heads. Candidate Gary Bauer, who also named Christ, quoted scripture and mentioned the obligations he felt Christians have. But the best Mr. Bush, who supposedly reads the bible every day, could come up with was, "if you don't know then I can't explain"?
His campaign claimed that this response reflected a conscious decision on Mr. Bush's part to avoid turning the debate into a religious discussion. But that just doesn't cut it.
The truth is Mr. Bush's answer was lame. Particularly since he was the one who'd brought Christ into it in the first place.
The uncomfortable question this episode raised in our minds--which has lingered to this day--is whether Mr. Bush was a sincere born-again Christian who truly felt that Christ was his favorite philosopher but after saying so wasn't able to articulate precisely why--or if he was the type of person who said things he thought people wanted to hear, and got churlish or evasive if asked to back them up.
Nothing that's happened since has dissuaded us of the impression that it's the latter.
