41:43
by Malik Isasis



In the Oscar-winning film, Crying Game, Forrest Whittaker’s character a British Army Officer, Jody tells Stephen Rhea’s character, a thug, named Fergus of the parable The Frog and Scorpion for which there are hundreds of variations.

The scorpion needs a ride across the riverbank and asks for a ride on the frog's back.

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you won't try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

"What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help?!"

The frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his sting.

A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we both shall die! Why did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged.

"I couldn’t help it. It’s in my nature."

The frog and the scorpion both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

The Iraq Study Group has made its recommendations for the Occupation of Iraq, public. ISG has made 79 recommendations, some rather, commonsensical ideas that should have been considered before the invasion and others, are just out right imperialistic: like privatizing Iraq's oil.

The ISG has inspired the obtuse media to ask, “Will Bush listen?” and the Democrats to say, “I hope he listens,” when 6 years of evidence has proven, otherwise.

George Bush is incapable of listening. I explained this lack of capacity in my column Lesson From Brother John for George Bush. In the column I stated:

“George Bush is willfully ignorant and blissfully unimaginative, and only bows to power and influence. To understand Bush is to understand his privilege; born with a silver spoon and failed upwardly, all of his life. George W. Bush has never had to take responsibility for the chaos he has left in his polluted wake. In order to have compassion, one must have empathy. This blind spot in Bush’s scripted life allows him to have contempt for those who disagree with him.

Bush doesn’t understand losing; privilege has protected him from this painful, albeit necessary life experience. He’s like that child in the grocery aisle throwing a temper tantrum because his parents never says no. His father President George Herbert Walker Bush has done his son and ultimately our country a disservice by not allowing his child to fail. As George W. Bush’s presidency is headed toward the record books as one of the worst presidencies, ever, his father has once again come to his aid by providing him cabinet members from his Administration, again saving his son from the lessons of life. Too bad it is us who have to suffer for the father-son co-dependency.”

Former President George H.W. Bush affectionately called 41 by current President Bush, broke down and sobbed last week while paying tribute to his son Jeb Bush. I found his vulnerability, moving. Former President Bush like most parents, see their offspring for who they want them to be, rather than for who they are, it’s blinding. Over caring is just as bad as under caring. It’s painful to see Bush 41 defend Bush 43; he twists himself into a pretzel trying to justify his son’s style of governance. 41’s defense is purely emotional and is not grounded in reality. A CNN report: An Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm reported that Bush 41 during Desert Storm was able to muster a 34-country coalition, which included Arab countries such as Syria and The United Arab Emirates. American troop level was 500,000 with coalition totaling 160,00 troops. At the high-end, the war cost 71 billions dollars, with 54 billion coming from donor countries around the world. Everything that Bush 43 had done with his invasion, was in complete contradiction with Bush 41’s philosophy. It’s sad to see Bush 41 defend a policy he knows has cost hundred of thousands of lives, will possibly costs millions more in the future, if the current civil war escalates.

What is it about President George W. Bush that brings out the co-dependency nature in people? He has the same affect on the U.S. media, who protects him from scrutiny by pacifying his vacuous curiosity, an inability to articulate policy, emotion or his ideas…and the fact that he’s in way over his head. The country has suffered a great deal in the world for this co-dependency of Bush.

“Will Bush listen to the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations?” The media naively asks.

If you understand Bush 43, you’ll understand he’s like Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip and cartoon, who always seems to be able to talk Charlie Brown into kicking the football while she holds it; Even after years of knowing that Lucy will yank the football just as he tries to kick, Charlie Brown would still go for it, ending up on his backside, yet once again, because like in the past, Lucy has yanked the ball.

George Bush is Lucy.

He’s incapable of listening.

Why?

Because it’s in his nature.


Sources:

United States Institute of Peace, Iraq Study Group Report
Associated Press. Farrington, Brandon, “Former President Begins to Sob While Paying Tribute to Son.”
Peanuts
CNN, An Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm. 2001
There are hundreds of variations on the parable, The Frog and the Scorpion. For more on parables go here.
The George W. Bush Funnies Collection.

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