The Bush jubilee
The Bush jubilee
Posted 11:41pm (Mla time) Jan 23, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the January 24, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
WHAT has US President George W. Bush's extraordinary second inaugural address wrought? Mainly, it has pushed Americans right to the brink. The leader of the world's only superpower has asked his fellow citizens to take a leap of faith with him, but in truth it is a suicide jump into a dangerous world.
On its face, the new Bush doctrine is both categorical and unobjectionable: "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." But the doctrine seeks to spread the gospel of freedom throughout the world in a way guaranteed to subvert it.
Bush is not the first American president to raise the banner of freedom on inauguration day. His own father, in 1989, unfurled the flag. "For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over." (Bush senior was the same man who, in 1981, toasted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos' "adherence to democratic principles.")
But most American presidents have used freedom's standard, not to reshape the world, but America itself. In 1969, in Richard Nixon's first address, the challenge was racial. "We have given freedom new reach, and we have begun to make its promise real for black as well as for white." In Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, it was primarily economic. "The time has come for a new American emancipation-a great national drive to tear down economic barriers and liberate the spirit of enterprise in the most distressed areas of our country."
Most American presidents have also believed that freedom is best served through the power of example. In 1965, for instance, Lyndon Johnson described the United States in city-on-a-hill terms: "Conceived in justice, written in liberty, bound in union, it was meant one day to inspire the hopes of all mankind." In 1981, the first time he took his oath, Reagan described a similar vision: "We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom."
Most American presidents have also preferred to speak of freedom in the language of service. Carter: "The passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new spirit, there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on this day of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane." Bush senior: "We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world."
Now what has Bush junior done, exactly? In an increasingly pluralist world threatened by the specter of religious extremism and political fundamentalism, he has turned freedom into an American religion.
Using evangelical language, Bush announced the new mission. "America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof." It is an echo of Leviticus 25:10, when the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob instructed Moses: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you."
Thus, the new Bush doctrine is not merely a restatement of Jimmy Carter's confession in 1977: "Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clear-cut preference for these societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights." It is not merely a reiteration of Bill Clinton's pledge in 1993, in his first inauguration. "Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is America's cause."
The new Bush doctrine is Manifest Destiny all over again, but this time in theological terms. As author David Domke has written: "The result, by implication in the president's rhetoric, is that the administration has transformed Bush's 'Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists' policy into 'Either you are with us, or you are against God.'" Pity the opposition, both in the United States and abroad.
By assuming his new role as high priest and prophet of freedom, Bush has not made the world safe for democracy. On the contrary, he has made it more difficult for democracy to take root elsewhere in the world.
Posted 11:41pm (Mla time) Jan 23, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the January 24, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
WHAT has US President George W. Bush's extraordinary second inaugural address wrought? Mainly, it has pushed Americans right to the brink. The leader of the world's only superpower has asked his fellow citizens to take a leap of faith with him, but in truth it is a suicide jump into a dangerous world.
On its face, the new Bush doctrine is both categorical and unobjectionable: "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." But the doctrine seeks to spread the gospel of freedom throughout the world in a way guaranteed to subvert it.
Bush is not the first American president to raise the banner of freedom on inauguration day. His own father, in 1989, unfurled the flag. "For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over." (Bush senior was the same man who, in 1981, toasted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos' "adherence to democratic principles.")
But most American presidents have used freedom's standard, not to reshape the world, but America itself. In 1969, in Richard Nixon's first address, the challenge was racial. "We have given freedom new reach, and we have begun to make its promise real for black as well as for white." In Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, it was primarily economic. "The time has come for a new American emancipation-a great national drive to tear down economic barriers and liberate the spirit of enterprise in the most distressed areas of our country."
Most American presidents have also believed that freedom is best served through the power of example. In 1965, for instance, Lyndon Johnson described the United States in city-on-a-hill terms: "Conceived in justice, written in liberty, bound in union, it was meant one day to inspire the hopes of all mankind." In 1981, the first time he took his oath, Reagan described a similar vision: "We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom."
Most American presidents have also preferred to speak of freedom in the language of service. Carter: "The passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new spirit, there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on this day of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane." Bush senior: "We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world."
Now what has Bush junior done, exactly? In an increasingly pluralist world threatened by the specter of religious extremism and political fundamentalism, he has turned freedom into an American religion.
Using evangelical language, Bush announced the new mission. "America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof." It is an echo of Leviticus 25:10, when the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob instructed Moses: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you."
Thus, the new Bush doctrine is not merely a restatement of Jimmy Carter's confession in 1977: "Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clear-cut preference for these societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights." It is not merely a reiteration of Bill Clinton's pledge in 1993, in his first inauguration. "Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is America's cause."
The new Bush doctrine is Manifest Destiny all over again, but this time in theological terms. As author David Domke has written: "The result, by implication in the president's rhetoric, is that the administration has transformed Bush's 'Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists' policy into 'Either you are with us, or you are against God.'" Pity the opposition, both in the United States and abroad.
By assuming his new role as high priest and prophet of freedom, Bush has not made the world safe for democracy. On the contrary, he has made it more difficult for democracy to take root elsewhere in the world.
posted by Dante at 10:06 PM
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