Bush, "I Have no compassion."

[revtj]

Omigosh...I just watched W's interview with Elizabeth Vargas on abc news. Of course it was edited & sanitized by the White House but there was one exchange that they must have missed, it blew me away!

Vargas was asking him about the drunk twins and if there may be a White House wedding. He said any suitor would have to come to the Oval Office & talk to him first. Vargas asked him if he realized how intimidating that could be and then said, "Don't you have compassion for the boy?"

"No. I have no compassion," he replied.

And that my friends has been what these last 6 years have been all about. He literally sucked the soul of the nation out, such that we are now hated almost everywhere on the planet. He looted the treasury such that we are 8 trillion dollars in debt. The effects of global warming are out of control
such that catch-up may be impossible.

And where did he spit the aftertaste? On us, on gay people. He used gay marriage and fearmongering to do his deed. (No, not on Muslims-- he is still in bed with the Saudis and the UAE, & he has no clue nor care where Osama is hiding.)

Gay people ended up being the wrench that connected the dots for him. When 'Amurrica' comes back to its senses (as it seems to be, slowly) I hope the price of homophobia becomes clearer to us all.

[keltic63]

I looked up that interview online, there is a transcript. It's a bit scary.

VARGAS: Do you have compassion for the people that they do date, and probably …
BUSH: No.
VARGAS: No, OK — well that settled it. (Laughter)
BUSH: No, I don't have compassion.
VARGAS: OK.

He cut her off and answered bluntly from the looks of things. That's very indicative of his character, in my opinion.

[revtj]

Thanks, Keltic...the actual exchange is even scarier in print. I think he thought he was being "cute" in reality, but, as Shakespeare said, "How oft the truth is spoke in jest."

I say Bush has no soul because he has tried to serve 2 gods : Christ and Mammon. yikes, revtj

[schoolboi]

wow I don't know what to say

[SolInvictus]

Yikes. Indeed, he (Bush) has no compassion.

[Vanessa White]

I think I always sensed that he didn't have much warmth or compassion for any person, but this just clinches it in my mind. No matter what bad choices that President Clinton made personally, and even dodging issues at some point politically, I always felt he had a character that really, genuinely cared about other people and their circumstances. I have never sensed that from President Bush, and that is part of why his response to the human factor of the levee breaches in New Orleans felt so emotionally hollow. It is unfortunate that we as his citizens pay the price for his insensitivity, but we have to strengthen our resolve. Easier said than done??????

[revtj]

Yeah, you know the Kennedys for all their sadness and sins are very well known for giving plenty of time and money to charity. So are the Clintons and they're not nearly as rich as the Kennedys. But Cheney with 236 million (when he went in to office in '00) has hardly given pennies. Same with the Bush criminals.

These people have convinced me that greed is a demon that takes over your soul. I mean, if he has 236 million, why steal (through no-bid contracts and missing money in Iraq)? Why on earth would you be tempted to steal if you had 236 million?

As foreign as it is to my liberal lips, I can only find one answer : it's SATAN.

Well, gotta go get a beehive hairdo and pick up the snakes for the prayer meetin' tonite.

[Emproph]

As much as I enjoyed the 'antichrist' reference to Bush I can understand it being the wrong tone for this forum. I wanted to leave this explanation instead of deleting it entirely to avoid any confusion because there's referrences to it.

[revtj]

Economic Indicators report that a depression might be on the way. Not hard to understand when the nation is 8 trillion in debt, sunk into war without end, and most American households are up to their eyeballs in debt.

All of this could increase hatred, blame and projection. I am concerned that hate crimes against gays will increase (even more).

Do we need to start a Gay Underground Railroad? Start finding ways out of the country for our people?

Please tell me I'm over-reacting.

[schoolboi]

I must say I have been eyeing Canada for quite some time.

[Zerbie]

You are not the only one to have that thought, TJ. You're not alone at all.

At this point in time, TJ, yes, to think that way is overreacting. But if things get worse, at some future time it's possible that it might be an appropriate reaction to have. Things are falling into place to make life significantly worse for queerfolk, and some of the gains we've made *could* be rolled back. It *could* happen. Not it *will* happen.

All my intuition says that things can go in any direction from here. I have no sense that there is a need for us to flee. To the contrary, I feel that now is the time for us to stand our ground.

But please don't feel alone when you have those scary thoughts. I'll confess to you that I'm very afraid of something terrible happening to gays in America, and by terrible I mean worse than the things we've seen so far. But I believe that fear is irrational at the present moment.

It is a conversation I've had with my friends many times. At some time in the past year and half, ALL of us have had the very same question you just posted, TJ. The parallels between the US now and Germany in the 1930s are striking, and it is NOT an exaggeration to make some analogy between them. But at this point, talk of running away is overreactive, yes.

We need to wait and see what happens in November. Consider: with Iraq a monumental disaster, with Katrina a hideous disaster, with illegal spying scandals, with the Abramoff scandal, what have right wing republicans to stand on? Anti-gay bias, basically, along with anti-immigration bias out here in the southwest. But nationwide, it's going to be anti-gay. With 7 outta 10 folk opposed to gay marriage, whaddaya think is going to shore up the vote for the right this election season?

Expect things to be very ugly for the next 7 months. Then we should expect a change of some kind, who knows what, after the elections. It's a year from now that we will probably see better the direction the country is going in, as far as our community is concerned.

[BruceChris]

Remember, Compassionate Conservatism is an oxy moron, Geo.
W. Bush, merely a moron.

(edit) Dfn: Compassionate Conservative. A Compassionate Conservative is someone who gives you a shot of Novocaine, just before he slides the knife in

O.K., I apologize. The above remark is un-Christian, and Geo. W. Bush is a child of God, as are we all.

However, I will point out that I believe the source of most of this country's problems, and many of the world's problems are the people that own the Republican party, as well as much of the rest of our country, and it's government.

[awediot]

A younger, less media savvy Bush expressing himself. no missed pick.jpg ...and no, he didn't just miss his nose.

[Joe Brummer]

I know this will sound like I am a party pooper, but your post is an attack directly on the president. I offer you Principle Number #3......


"A third characteristic of this method [non-violence] is that the attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil … We are out to defeat injustice and not persons who may be unjust."

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by awediot

A younger, less media savvy Bush expressing himself. Attachment 18 ...and no, he didn't just miss his nose.

Now there's the Bush we all love .....not

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Joe Brummer

"A third characteristic of this method [non-violence] is that the attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil … We are out to defeat injustice and not persons who may be unjust."

Sorry Joe, that's a hard one for me to remember.... it's an automatic reaction....

[awediot]

Were the picture photoshopped to exaggerate a point and fall into satire, I would agree and wouldn't bother with it. I feel for the man and pray he defeat those forces influencing him. I do not feel so for the "President", the office and symbol killing in my name. The principles are the target, and where they reside, crosshairs. Which this is a picture of, you decide.

[Joe Brummer]

it is not the picture, my friend. It is that you posted it. It may be the truth. It may not be altered, but your point in posting it was to attack the president. That is the violence to which I object.

By posting it, you want others to have a laugh at Bush, at his expense. How is that different from the president saying bad things of gays to gain something wrong? Whenever we do things to demean someone else, even in good fun, it is violence. I am not pointing this out to take some moral high ground, but I did see it as a chance to let us all learn, including me, what violence is, and when to reject it. I apoligize in advance if my pointing this out made you feel bad, but it doesn't change what I believe that sometimes our greatest intentions of good are unknowingly wrong.

[awediot]

Please do clarify your definition of Attack. The meaner captions that could have been included, I left out specifically in order to Not attack the man.

My intent goes much deeper than merely an uncomfortable laugh or good fun... It is different because he embodies an influence and power and capacity to alter my life. And he is WRONG. The photo shows him demeaning himself and the thousand words its worth aren't mine. I find it rather humanizing.

Don't worry, you didn't make me feel bad. "...our greatest intentions of good [being] unknowingly wrong." is a Truth we all need to discern. It also is why we are in this impossible, humiliating war.

Part of my intention is to point out where the principles we battle may reside, lest they remain permanently aloft, refusing to land for fear of causing the slightest offense. I don't consider it "violence". If the shoe fits...

[Joe Brummer]

I think you answered your own questions if you re-read your own post. Myabe you and I differ on the principles of non-violence and what they mean. I am not sure.

Bush being wrong is not a reason to put up his picture in this light. That is the truth I see. Your truth may be different, if we look at this what would be the new truth if we combined our truths?