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The Bush Doctrine: Answering an age old question

George Bush is a sinner. Not a wretched sinner like the kind that will burn in hell for a thousand years, but a sinner like most of us, guilty primarily of “omissional” sinning—sins done by not doing rather than by actively doing. Any time you hear a Conservative say, “Bush has failed to do … ” you should think “sin of omission!”

Even though I believe we all sin to a greater or lesser degree, sins of omission are serious buisiness when you’ve got a heavy responsibility like the President. It’s hard to judge, because the more responsibility you have, the more you have to do, and so the more you have to forget and so on—it’s a tough juggling act, I’m sure, so I wont be too Bush-vituperative right now. I’ll just say that his transgressions are legion, to the point I won’t innumerate them here.

But George Bush is also a Saint, and has some superlatively admirable qualities: he’s winsome, humble (Lefties re: arrogant), optimistic, bold. And he tells us he reads the Bible every day! If this is true, and I have no reason to think otherwise, it’s impressive. But true or not, one thing is sure, he’s at least read through the first few chapters of Genesis. George Bush’s brainchild (lovingly coined the “Bush Doctrine” after a plethora of other “Doctrines”—failed, mostly, but canonized nonetheless in the lexicon of American political experiments) is an answer to one of the Bible’s first and oldest questions.

Thousands of years ago, one of the Bible’s premiere characters, murdered his brother out of jealousy. It was the world’s first murder, and like most murders, had something to do with a sacrifice, vegetables, and Satan. The brother’s name was Abel, and the culprit was the now-infamous Cain. When confronted by the Lord about his brother’s whereabouts, Cain feigned ignorance and gave this bit: I know not. Am I my brothers keeper? Not a good thing to say to an all-knowing, all-powerful Being. So, Cain suffered the consequences.

Well, Cain died long ago (Big Foot???) but his one-liner lives on. Indeed, thousands of years later, the debate over that seemingly innocuous question still rages. Thankfully, George Bush offers us and the world an answer. The following excerpts are from his 2007 State of the Union address. Similar remarks can be found in speeches dating all the way back to the Presidents first year in office.

Bush’s answer: “We are our brothers keeper.”

In the Presidents own words:

What every terrorist fears most is human freedom—societies where men and women make their own choices, answer to their own conscience, and live by their hopes instead of their resentments. Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies—and most will choose a better way when they’re given a chance. So we advance our own security interests by helping moderates and reformers and brave voices for democracy. The great question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security, we must.

We will continue to speak out for the cause of freedom in places like Cuba, Belarus, and Burma—and continue to awaken the conscience of the world to save the people of Darfur. American foreign policy is more than a matter of war and diplomacy. Our work in the world is also based on a timeless truth: To whom much is given, much is required. We hear the call to take on the challenges of hunger and poverty and disease—and that is precisely what America is doing. We must continue to fight HIV/AIDS, especially on the continent of Africa.

I ask that you fund the Millennium Challenge Account, so that American aid reaches the people who need it, in nations where democracy is on the rise and corruption is in retreat. And let us continue to support the expanded trade and debt relief that are the best hope for lifting lives and eliminating poverty. When America serves others in this way, we show the strength and generosity of our country.

Our enemies are quite explicit about their intentions. They want to overthrow moderate governments, and establish safe havens from which to plan and carry out new attacks on our country. By killing and terrorizing Americans, they want to force our country to retreat from the world and abandon the cause of liberty.

The great question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security, we must. In the last two years, we’ve seen the desire for liberty in the broader Middle East—... And in 2005, the Iraqi people held three national elections, choosing a transitional government, adopting the most progressive, democratic constitution in the Arab world, and then electing a government under that constitution. Despite endless threats from the killers in their midst, nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens came out to vote in a show of hope and solidarity that we should never forget.

Only time will tell how history will judge the presidency of George W. Bush. Let us hope, at the very least, that we remember the Saint along with the Sinner.