George Bush actually believed he was the biblical Divine Warrior which is one of the reasons he never took accountability for the intelligence failures of 9/11, the W.M.D. intelligence debacle, the illegal ' outing ' of a CIA case officer, the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, the human costs of his disastrous illegal Iraq occupation as well as the countless scandals and deceptions of his admistration.
Bush's god was an old testament God of Wrath and both Cheney and Rumsfeld played into that scenario to accomplish their neocon agenda ~ as witness the recent release of Rumsfeld's daily worldwide intelligence briefing folders for Bush ~ which were always emblazoned with front cover Old Testament quotes such as this one from the book of Psalms: "Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him ... To deliver their soul from death." http://www.truthout.org/051909R?n
As Keith Olbermann noted last night on "Countdown," "The Bible might be the most quoted, least clearly understood book of this time."
And today a BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Chad Rubel
demonstrates the dangers of a literal interpretation of the bible along with a classic West Wing 3 minute video clip on the same subject ~ " Whatever you might think of the source of the words in the Bible or the Koran or any other religious book, they are still subject to human interpretation and misinterpretation. But hopefully, when they are used to justify an unjustifiable war, we can all agree that this is the wrong way to go."
Obviously the bible was used most inappropriately by the Cheney/Bush administration to justify our unjustifiable war and present occupation of Iraq.
Since it is now common knowledge, as confirmed by Woodard's Book State Of Denial, that Bush was the head cheerleader for a Cheney/Rumsfeld neocon agenda and that the REAL decider was Darth Vader himself, Dick Cheney ~ who, in blazes, did Bush answer to ?
Obviously, he did not answer to the American people .
The Answer ~ He really answered to a ' higher authority ' and the millions of Americans who believed he was the ' anointed one ' or the long awaited ' divine Warrior '
In Bush's narrow messianic mind ~ It's the final confrontation between good and the 'evil doers' and he dragged all of us along on this self destructive ride.
The script is in the bible, the Apocalypse of St John the Apostle . Chapter 18 The fall of Babylon ( about 100 miles from Baghdad ) and Chapter 19 ~ Enter the Divine Warrior ~ " who is called faithful and true, and with justice he wages war... and from his mouth goes forth a sharp sword with which to smite the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron ."
And guess who saw himself as the Divine Warrior.
It's the ultimate act of ego inflation and projection ~ based on his own deep denial and fueled by his hardcore Christian fundamental right wing base.
This explains why Bush was so oblivious of his failings and his rock bottom approval ratings.
He didn't care what you or I thought ~ He answered only to his own externalized Old testament God of Wrath and Judgement.
Remember, Bush blew up frogs as a young child, put to death more people on death row than any other sitting governor and is responsible for over one million deaths and displacements of civilians during his illegal war and occupation of Iraq.
Bush's inauguration speech on January 20, 2005 was really a not so subtle Scripture lesson to his base ~ the purpose was to reinforce his position as the religious hard right's Divine Warrior. Mathew Rothschild, Editor of The Progressive, researched that speech and revealed the hidden passages of Bush's address which he felt " carried a profoundly disturbing message about the separation of church and state in this country. "
Excerpt: " When Bush said, “History also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty,” he was being none too subtle. But he was also alluding to Acts 3:15 (“You killed the author of life”) and Hebrews 12:2 (“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”)... If you follow his metaphors and allusions to their logical ends, you realize that Bush was cloaking our secular values of freedom and liberty and justice in distinctly Christian garb ... Both freedom and Jesus satisfy the hunger and the longing of the soul ~ For Bush, they are one and the same." Rothschild went on to write specifically about
a few more of the hidden passages.
" When Bush thanked the American people for granting him patience in “good measure,” he was echoing Luke 6:38, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure. . . .”
When Bush talked of the “ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever,” he was echoing Hebrews 13:8, which says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
When Bush talked about the “untamed fire of freedom” in a passage that included the phrase “hope kindles hope,” he was echoing passages from Jeremiah. For instance, Jeremiah 17:27 says: “I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem.” And Jeremiah 50:32 says: “I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.”
When Bush said, “History also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty,” he was being none too subtle. But he was also alluding to Acts 3:15 (“You killed the author of life”) and Hebrews 12:2 (“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”).
Toward the end, when Bush said, “Freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul,” he was echoing Psalm 107: “For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness. . . .”
In these passages, Bush may have been intent on reassuring his evangelical base that he is one of them.
But in the process, he was also doing something dangerous to our democracy.
Our First Amendment says that there shall be “no establishment of religion.” In his speech, Bush was clearly establishing religion. He was denying a place in the United States for those without faith. And while he waved at those of other faiths, his repeated allusions were mostly to the Christian Bible.
If you follow his metaphors and allusions to their logical ends, you realize that Bush was cloaking our secular values of freedom and liberty and justice in distinctly Christian garb."
“The Author of Liberty” is “The Author of Life,” and that author is Jesus.
The “ideals of justice and conduct” equate with Jesus, since both are “the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”
Both freedom and Jesus satisfy the hunger and the longing of the soul.
For Bush, they are one and the same."
In Bush's America, there was no distinction between our public, secular values and Bush's private, religious faith ~ and both Cheney and Rumsfeld used that knowledge for their own neocon agenda.
As such, Bush answered to God and Cheney in that order and ignored both the constitution and the American people in the process.
I believe it was Shakespeare who correctly wrote ~ The Devil can quote scripture for his purpose ~ and we are still paying the price for this affront.
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/05/20.html
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