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“God, I Love Freedom!”
Here’s one of the stupidest and most ignorant things George W. Bush has ever said:
If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you’d be saying: God, I love freedom, because that’s what’s happened.
And there are killers and radicals and murderers who kill the innocent to stop the advance of freedom. But freedom’s happening in Iraq. And we’re making progress.
He said this during a press conference yesterday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy — ThinkProgress has the clip.
The “freedom’s happening” and “we’re making progress” lines are stupid and ignorant, of course, but we’ve heard them before, in various forms. What deserves attention here is the “I love freedom” line.
Of course, Saddam was a brutal dictator, his regime among the most monstrous ever. I don’t deny that, and, indeed, the removal of Saddam and the destruction of his regime was what I was hoping for when I supported the war way back when. I am a strong critic of the war and occupation now, like so many others, like the majority of the American people, but such criticism does not imply retroactive support for Saddam and his regime.
Regardless, the “I love freedom” line exposes Bush’s massive and profound ignorance as much as anything he’s ever said.
Would Iraqis prefer Saddam and his regime to what they have now? No, likely not. Do they “love freedom”? Well, some do, surely, if they have much of an understanding of it at all. But to suggest that Iraqis should be expressing their love of freedom, or of whatever they imagine freedom to be, while the despised U.S. occupation continues, while sectarian violence rages throughout the country, while bodies pile up in the morgues, given the Sunni insurgency and the Shiite militias and al Qaeda and local tribalism and Kurdish separatism and a central government that is impotent and corrupt, given the lack of electricity and health care, given widespread poverty and sickness, given social discord and infrastructural collapse, given a state of chaos and uncertainty — well, with all that, and more, I think an Iraqi, even one with Saddam and his regime on his mind, would tell Bush to take his freedom and shove it…
Freedom is great, don’t get me wrong — but what does it mean when you live in fear, when your country is occupied (by America, no less), when you can’t even walk safely down the street, when death and destruction are all around you?
Not much — and you might just think it’s not quite everything it’s cracked up to be.
(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)
13 Responses to ““God, I Love Freedom!””
Michael, the old saying goes, ‘The only thing worse than tyranny is anarchy.’ Iraq is a good example.
As for Saddam- bad guy, but in the pantheon of Major League dictators, he’s strictly AA ball.
It’s disappointing that to hedge anything we must tend to hyperbole.
Among the “most monstrous?” Shouldn’t this statement require some rigour before use? Brutal seems easy, but most “most monstrous ever?”
One day I’d like to see a discussion of what all these terms like freedom, liberty and democracy mean when they are practiced, not merely preachd as abstract udeals that will come true if only you vote for the right party, fight the right war or back the right leader..
It’s strange that I can discuss these matters with my friends (we are not an unusual group), but it never happens in the blogosphere. I’ve tried, with tersm like ‘personal liberty’ and ‘equal opportunity’ only to be ment with silence or an admonition that I just don’t get it (i.e., I’m not a naive fan of the latest political fad).
I don’t object to using these terms per se, but after the rallying cry, I want to see a reality check via some reference of what the real possibilities and repercussions are.
Freedom is, of course, something everyone longs for. The question is, how will I be able to practice it? What are the limits on my freedom? Who will be the referee when my freedom runs into someone else’s freedon?
I don’t mind on principle if people like Bush use words like freedom and democracy. I do mind
if those words are used to imply that he abstract word in itself provides the answer to all that alis this difficult life.
egrubs-
You remind me of the debate over the Armenitan genocide /not genocide.
The argument devolves into one over terminilogy, and trying to just discover the facts becomes secondary.
Is there a competition over the ‘most brutal’ title?
Can’t we have a list of many ‘most brutal’ regimes, and just talk about what they did to earn mention?
The Iraqi man on the street says “God I love freedom! But I wish we could tell the Blackwater guys to get out of our country…”
Or “God I love freedom!, But these folks will have to keep waiting for it”
I wonder if the French walked around Paris in the 1940′s expressing their love of freedom too?
Bush cites progress again. I guess we should expect a round of spectacular violence pretty soon. He’s got an uncanny ability to be perfectly wrong.
[...] House “God, I Love Freedom!†» This Summary is from an article posted at The Moderate Voice » Domestic and international news [...]
As with pathological Bush-bashing, as with ridiculous alarmism about global warming, as with true bigotry and hate directed at “social conservatives” and the Religious Right in particular, et cetera, ad nauseum…the most ridiculous and poor-quality stuff I simply don’t respond to these days; it’s more merciful just to avoid it.
In the interest of quality control and improvement on this site, I’ll interject here a much better, well-written criticism of our foreign policy in general, as well as a well-aimed stab at the Bush administration that applies to Iraq as well as to here at home, such as with FEMA and Katrina. It’s by Mike Huckabee, who is critical of the Bush administration as well as being a Religious Right member who dispels a number of myths deeply cherished by the Usual Suspects. From an interview with him, here is what he says about our foreign policy and leadership, a hyperbole-free, much more rigorously constructed criticism than what you typically encounter here:
Doma: There is no argument over the Armenian genocide. 1 million + people systematically slaughtered, and only the Turks and their alibiers defend it.
Game over.
Freedom is, of course, something everyone longs for. The question is, how will I be able to practice it?
If one makes no Attempt one never gets the chance to “PRACTICE” freedom.
Brutal seems easy, but most “most monstrous ever?â€
Those on the left have actually began longing for the days of Saddam Hussein to return to the Iraqis so that he can murder and torture in private with no press watching it. That way the left can get back to their agenda of “Animal House” America.
Now, we’re the bully that people resent
Reality check. America has always been resented. If this is what should drive our foreign policy then once again…….its back to Isolationism and training our military with broom sticks.
DLS,
That Huckabee quote is precisely what Democrats have been saying for years now. Maybe it’s more “hyperbole-free” than some on the Daily Kos left, but not by much. In fact, that speech could have been given by any Democratic contender, tone and all.
Somebody,
America has always been resented, but never by this much. Check out all the world surveys of attitudes about America. We’ve never been more despised than now.
DLS sais:
“As with pathological Bush-bashing, as with
ridiculous alarmism about global warming, as with true bigotry and hate directed at “social conservatives†and the Religious Right in particular, et cetera, ad nauseum…the most ridiculous and poor-quality stuff I simply don’t respond to these days; it’s more merciful just to avoid it.”
Yet,the person who complains does respond,. every simple time, with his/her own repetitive bashng – only changing the object of derision to be the Left,. Democrats, this site, any poster disagreed with, abt cinnebt dusagreed wuth ets.
Bash. Bash. Bash.
Not onw word about freedom or how it is perceived or experienced by real live people, the topic of the post..
Not one word .
Very telling.
VEry depressing.
If only those who presume to knwo betterled by example.
(and envied)