It is now obvious that the Bush Administration used Friday
the Eleventh of November, the day to commemorate the ending of one war, to
start yet another, this one with his own people and country.
Rather than admit the error of his ways and ask the American
people to forgive him for lying about the Bush-Iraq War, Mr. Bush did what Karl
Rove, his General Tactician, always has him do. Deny the truth and accuse the
opposition of being unpatriotic. It has been the standard GOP war plan for the
past 30 years. In following this advice the president continues the fateful
journey of his Presidency along the chaotic path of a King Lear.
The comparisons are painfully unavoidable. Karl Rove is the
Fool. Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld are Bush�s Goneril and Regan. However, with
all due apologies to Mr. Shakespeare, there is one rewrite that is required.
There is no Cordelia. Her part must be incorporated into a hybrid
Lear/Narcissus protagonist.
Up to now the plot lines between fact and fiction have been
practically indistinguishable. We have a leader clearly in love with himself at
the expense of all others in his realm. He gets his advice from a fool who
babbles and mutters in a form of doublespeak. Not being up to the challenge of
governing he gives his power and authority to two subordinates. They in turn,
in their frailty and weakness, drive the country into chaos and despair with their
greed and lust for power.
There is no happy ending to Lear. The best that can be said is that Lear
does finally see how wrong he was and truly repents. But that cannot stop his
destruction or the destruction of his world. We have not yet reached the final
act of our real life morality play. We may still be able to overcome the
madness and put an end to the chaos and death before it consumes us all.