Laura and George: Hypocritical Ghouls of Disaster
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
"Threatening to overthrow foreign governments has
apparently become so routine at the Bush White House, the president lets Laura
do it."
The Mad Invader, George Bush, finds nothing shameful in
drafting his wife into the international outlaw business. No doubt Bush beamed
with pride from the shadows as Laura Bush last week exploited the deaths of
tens of thousands to issue veiled threats against the military rulers of
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The First Lady proved as alien to diplomacy
as her husband - and just as much the bully - by insulting the Myanmar junta in
the same breath that she asked free passage through Myanmar's borders to aid
hurricane victims. One does not curse a man while seeking permission to help
his household - unless, of course, one's real mission is insult and aggression,
not philanthropy. Mrs. Bush charged the ruling generals with failing to give
their people adequate warning of the storm's approach - as if her verbal
assault on their character and competence, whether true or not, would cause
the junta to eagerly cooperate with American disaster relief efforts. As should
have been expected, the junta, their faces publicly slapped, did not welcome
foreigners with open arms - especially not the Americans, much of whose
assistance was to be delivered by U.S. Navy ships and aircraft.
The Myanmar junta is corrupt and cruel, but not stupid
enough to throw open their borders to a military whose commander-in-chief is
named George Bush, the Regime Changer. So busily bellicose is President Bush,
he finds it necessary to delegate Myanmar-related threat-making to his wife,
Laura, who last October demanded
that the country's generals "step aside," forthwith. Threatening to overthrow foreign governments has apparently
become so routine at the Bush White House, if the president's schedule is too
crowded, he lets Laura do it.
"Bush doesn't give a damn about the people of Myanmar, and
neither does his wife."
Traditionally, American First Lady's are expected to be
concerned with humanitarian affairs, but not to soil themselves with the dirty
business of armed aggression. However, the Bush regime has succeeded in
popularizing what they consider Humanitarian Wars - aggressions that are for
the other guy's own good. Shock and Awe with a heart of gold. The benevolent,
armed embrace of weaker countries. Tough love among nations.
The Bush's invasion compulsion must be contagious, because
much of the ruling circles of America have caught it. Time magazine
asked if it was time
to invade Burma which, it is assumed, will go back to its old name once the
generals are removed. The influential (among warmongers) publication Aerospace
& Defense Network, for obvious reasons, argues that it's past time to
fly the American flag over Myanmar which, incidentally, has substantial oil and
natural gas reserves. According to the magazine, the U.S. considered invading
Myanmar on several previous occasions, in order to remove that country from its
number two place in the global heroin trade. It appears the Americans thought
they could do a better anti-drug job in Myanmar than they've done with the U.S.
puppet states of Afghanistan and Colombia, currently ranked number one
worldwide in heroin and cocaine, respectively.
As Kanye West informed us in the wake of a U.S. disaster,
George Bush doesn't care about Black people - to which wisdom we add: Bush
doesn't give a damn about the people of Myanmar, either, and neither does his
wife. They are both ghouls, drawn to sites of death and horror, eager to feast
- and ever anxious to invade.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted
at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
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