President Bush

Your word: It's not all his fault

Don't want to be an American Idiot. So begins one of the most popular and influential albums of recent years. It supposedly marked Green Day's progression from cartoonish punk to political commentators. But this album was not a political commentary. It was a blind tirade against one man, the Texan Cowboy, Dubya or whatever other term you prefer. This album is a clear reflection of the Bush-hatred, which has at this stage become a worldwide cult.

Let me be clear, I don't agree with President Bush's policies. I am against the War on Terror, the US's superpower status and the warped American Dream. I acknowledge that President Bush has a lot to do with these things, he is president of the USA, he is Commander in Chief of the US army and he is one of the most powerful men in the world. But he is one man.

Bush has somehow become a convenient scapegoat for all the world's problems. The ozone layer, the oil shortage, unfair trade? All down to Bush. September 11th? Supposedly a great big Bush conspiracy. World War Two? Oh yes, that was Bush's unborn spirit.

People have become so obsessive about this issue that they fail to see the lunacy of some of their arguments. It is stated as fact that Bush stole the election in 2000. If this were the case he would have been brought to justice, though American ideals have become twisted there is still democracy.

The world's no. 1 conspiracy theory is that the president orchestrated the September 11th attacks. However we must work under the assumption that President Bush went into politics because he had a dream, because he was an idealistic student and because he thought he could make a difference. Again, this may have become twisted but in every speech he delivers this man says the words "God Bless America". He could not and did not plan the deaths of thousands of American people.

He is blamed for globalization, capitalism, right wing politics, racism, energy shortages, the lack of world peace, crime levels, multi-national corporations, and materialism. President Bush may not have solved these problems, he may have added to them but he is not the cause. Issues such as these are inherent to our society, everyone is at fault. But rather than blaming ourselves we have chosen a person who can take the world's blame.

People have declared that this is a huge political movement, that the world has joined together to try and change things and that young people are getting involved in politics again. This is not the case. The vicious attack on Bush, which has gone on for the last 5 years, is not a political movement. People who say the words "I hate Bush" are fooling themselves. These people do not know Bush and in many cases don't even know that much about his policies. All they know is that the world is screwed up and Bush isn't helping so they "hate" him.

Why don't we take a real stand? Rather than declaring that Bush is a war-hungry cowboy why not look at the bigger picture, look at the problems in society and how governments worldwide and society as a whole can address these problems. President Bush is a part of those problems and we should address that but let it be part of a greater movement, don't let it be the movement.

By: Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin

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