George Bush lives in a world where ideological certitude and self-delusion replace evidence and facts. (Welcome to the "War On Reality.")

Bush continues to insist that tax cuts will increase government revenues when the evidence of both his and Reagan’s tax cuts demonstrate otherwise. He claims to be a "compassionate conservative" while he assists the Congress with the evisceration of social programs. He claims he formed a "coalition" to invade Iraq when in fact our only real partner was Great Britain, and the British people were overwhelmingly against the invasion. He stood on a Navy warship under a banner that said "Mission Accomplished" even though fighting continues in Iraq and the Iraqi population grows more hostile to the American occupation with each passing day. During a news conference Tuesday [October 28, 2003], Mr. Bush said that the banner ["Mission Accomplished" on the warship in the California harbor] was erected by the ship's crew and that its message referred only to the end of their tour of duty in the Persian Gulf. "I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff," he said. "They weren't that ingenious, by the way." But Bush staffers later said the White House had arranged for the production of the banner and had approved its presence on the ship during Mr. Bush's visit. Source: Dallas Morning News - "Clarifying a banner statement" -- 10/30/03

Source: Time Magazine cover - October 6, 2003

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Noam Chomsky said in his lectures at Harvard, "Rationality belongs to the cool observer but, due to the stupidity of the average man, he follows not reason but faith. And this faith requires necessary illusion and emotionally potent oversimplifications, which are provided by the myth maker to keep the ordinary person on course." If the faith based person is the "ordinary person" then we must count Mr. Bush among the ordinary. So who then is the "rational" mythmaker that fuels the illusions of Mr. Bush's faith which he then tries to pass off to us? Who keeps him believing in his god-appointed role and acts as Bush's "rational puppeteer?" Who pulls the strings? Judging from last nights debate, Cheney was all about confirming his role as chief puppeteer. The big question then becomes, what is the psychology of Dick Cheney? What are his end goals for himself and the world? And why does he prefer a hidden place from which to do his work by manipulating the "faith" of others? Compared to Cheney, understanding the psychology of Mr. Bush is simplicity itself. Cheney's is the "movie maker" psychology. If you can provide the "necessary illusions and emotionally potent oversimplifications" then the crowds will flock to your film and you will gain LOTS of money! But more than money you will gain the power to do whatever you want regardless of the needs of others. The movie maker is like a puppeteer hiding in the dark away from the view of the public's eyes. Obviously a much more powerful position than the puppet's. The puppeteer dictates the movements of the puppet and through his engaging not-too-real little puppet enchants the audience. The puppeteer is the dictator sheilding himself behind the screen. We hardly even see him or know he is there. We come to believe that the puppeteer is the illusion and the puppet is the reality. We even forget about the whole puppet show itself. The puppet dances. The audience smiles. After all it's all just a bit of theatre, just a movie, isn't it? A piece of entertainment that we can enjoy while eating our popcorn. A kind of comforting hypnosis. But eventually (hopefully) the audience must leave the dark theatre of faith and illusion and be shocked into consciousness by the bright light of reality.	cloudwatcher	10/6/2004
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