French
Historian, author of this article and France's leading
neo-con, Alexandre
Adler
Le Figaro, France
Bush 'No Pariah' … His 'Clan' Made Obama
Possible
"Then came the enlightened conservatives who, aware of
the magnitude of the race problem, didn't want to be imposed upon by the regressive
communalism of street demagogues like anti-Semite populist Jesse Jackson, and intellectuals
and artists full of hate like Spike Lee or Harvard historian Cornell West."
The
Chronicle of Alexandre Adler
Translated
By Sandrine Ageorges
November
8, 2008
France
- Le Figaro - Original Article (French)
How to be original when such an earthquake is
affecting the entire planet? Perhaps it will be renamed "Planet Obama."
On one point, there is unanimity from John McCain to Europe's extreme left:
the sin of segregationist America has finally been purged.
It's for this reason,
beyond anything that can be said about Obama the man, the program - or rather
the absence of a program - one can only pay tribute to this courageous politician and exceptionally talented orator - who made such a miracle possible.
But in the interest if fairness: the rise of a Black President of the United States
was first desired by a plethora of Hollywood scriptwriters - White ones - who have
for twenty years repeatedly given Black actors roles as chief executives,
leaders and fathers, in a word, for them to occupy the symbolic place that American
society had always denied them.
Then came the enlightened conservatives who, aware of
the magnitude of the problem, didn't want to be imposed on by the regressive communalism
of street demagogues like anti-Semite and populist Jesse Jackson, intellectuals and
artists full of hate like Spike Lee or Harvard historian Cornell West.
To dampen the rocketing ascent of such sad knights as this, it
was better to quickly choose exceptional Black talent, the rise of which would
be the result of merit, and who were indeed recognized at a somewhat earlier stage.
This was due, first of all, to military leaders, and then politicians like Henry Kissinger
and Frank Carlucci, savior of Portuguese democracy. And then there is Soares in 1974, to whom one owes
the promotion of Colin Powell. And then through the unanimous willpower of the Bush clan, first as
leader of the American Army and then in 2000, head of U.S. diplomacy, where despite
everything, he seccured some exemplary successes in Pakistan, China and Korea.
Then came Condi Rice, whom
Bush wanted to make the second [Black] chief of diplomacy, and who surprised
the world with her mixture of charm, firmness and wisdom at the Department of
State. The same sagacity was found in the private sector, where large corporate
enterprises like Time Warner, American Express, Merrill Lynch, one after the other,
picked African-Americans to lead, all of which was generally welcomed with satisfaction.
Just to dot the i’s, one cannot erase the merits
of the progressive wing of the Republican Party and of George W. Bush in
particular, since it put in place this exceptional trend that ultimately
permitted Obama to deploy his exceptional talent. The Obama presidency opens in a
detestable climate, with financial and strategic issues unresolved and
widespread. But setting aside any trace of great nobility or intense charity, is this a reason to
take it all out on George W. Bush, as we see happening today? The former president
seems to me, like many characters who embody periods of transition, a kind of God
Janus [Roman God of Doors, see photo, above left 
]
who in turn embodies both past and future, which remain in his case, inextricably
intertwined.
George W. Bush has certainly multiplied the factional
and narrow-minded reactions that helped accelerate the erosion of Republican
hegemony that was installed by Reagan in 1980: let us point to, in turn; his refusal of
any national unity, even with very patriotic and moderate Democrats after
the September 11 attacks; his immoderate irritation toward Putin's Russia, which
had initially proposed a sort of alliance; his highly damaging lack of
attention to the domestic balance of American society, and finally, the
unbearable extension of the state of lawlessness created by Guantanamo, which has
had the lasting effect of transforming cut throats and bloody fanatics into
victims of oppression, which we soon forgot was in response to a heinous crime.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
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Woodrow Wilson was President from 1915-1921. He took us America into World War I and was a driving force behind the creation of the fore-runner to the United Natons, the League of Nations. In some ways similar to Bush, he is regarded as being perhaps a bit naive about creating democracy.
Woodrow Wilson, the 13th President of the United States.
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All this is regrettably true, but a little
too quickly, one forgets to investigate the other side and recognize the great courage of
President Bush during a very trying time; his determination to bring the battle
to the heart of enemy territory in Iraq; and his commitment, which was void of any cynicism,
to democracy in the Middle East, which ultimately tipped Iraq into the Iranian
camp and Palestine into the hands of Hamas.
This very Wilsonian democratic
strategy was apparently clumsy - and while errors were committed, it also
planted new hopes in the Middle East. In the final stage of his presidency,
Bush finally began to marginalize the Rumsfelds and Cheneys who had pushed him to commit mistakes on so many occasions,
in favor of General Petraeus and Defense Secretary Bob Gates, whom Obama
himself envisages keeping at his post.
We shouldn’t treat Bush as a pariah: as his successor,
Barack Obama too, is the product of a historical process that goes beyond the U.S. turning inward or a deepening of
American democracy - items about which one day it will be said, started the moment
Bush began his second term in 2004.
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH
VERSION
[Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US November 9, 4:00pm]
