George and Laura Bush did an interview for StoryCorps, a national oral history initiative, conducted by his sister Doro Bush Koch. In it, the outgoing president and the first lady touched upon the normal talking points that I would expect (Afghanistan, HIV/AIDS relief in Africa, No Child Left Behind), but the underlying messages strung through the whole thing leaves me so angry:
-Bush talks about the unconditional love he received from his father. “It is the greatest gift a father can give a child,” he said. “And it has made life to much easier in many ways, because if you have the ultimate gift of love, then the difficulties of life can be easier handled.”
- On faith playing into politics, Bush says he’s read the Bible every day since he was inaugurated in 2001, but he cautions other politicos from dragging their faith into the public arena: “…politicians should not be judgmental people based upon their faith. They should recognize — as least I have recognized I am a lowly sinner seeking redemption, and therefore have been very careful about saying accept my faith or you’re bad…”
Then, he goes on to say that the best part of being American is that we can choose to be religious or not, “and be equally American. And it doesn’t matter how you choose to worship; you’re equally American…It’s very important for any President to jealously protect, guard, and strengthen that freedom.”
Um… all of those sentiments are all well and good, but I can’t take an ounce of what he said seriously. Remember in 2004, when the Republicans using the Rovian playbook, decided to further polarize the country by basically running a national campaign on same-sex marriage? It may as well have been George Wallace in 1964, running under the banner of segregation. As we know, any issue pertaining to gay rights, polarized (and continues to polarize) families. Where’s the unconditional love for teenagers who are kicked out of their homes for being honest with thier parents by coming out? Well, it’s not in the form of shelters because federal funding has been cut off to support those places of last resort.
Better yet, where’s the governmental protection of such peoples’ basic rights? You know, like making sure people aren’t fired from their jobs because they are LGBT? How about allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military instead of allowing ex-cons to take guns and shoot at Iraqis? How about a bill that would make sure that if someone is violated because of his sexual orientation, the offender would be effectively punished?
Why didn’t these things happen? Because President Bush, and his conservative, Christian cronies and followers played the Bible Card. Somehow, letting people just live their lives goes against the Bible — gays can’t reproduce, so they shouldn’t be allowed to prosper in society like the rest of us. But now, in 2008, Bush will tell you that faith shouldn’t play too much of a role in the political process, and that children should have the unconditional love of their families. Too bad a lot of people who were listening to you four years ago will never show their children the unconditional love that George Senior and Babs give him.
Check out an excerpt of the interview here.
