Burnt Orange Report

Bush = God's Voice

By Byron LaMasters

I saw this on Political Wire and now Pandagon, but this is a bit scary:

"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job."

-- President Bush, quoted in the Lancaster New Era, during a private meeting with an Amish group.

The belief that one is doing the work of God is one of the signs of someone who believes in the infallibitily of their own work, and of their own decisions. Remember the press conference several months ago where George W. Bush could not recall a single mistake that he had made as president?

In no way do I compare the works of George W. Bush to the following, but the language and rhetoric of justification of one's works by faith in God is strikingly similar:

"I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews I am fighting for the Lord's work." - Adolf Hitler

"I place my trust in God and not in some illegal political tribunal. God
has already told me that this period in history is a part of the
inevitable human process. My sacrifice will be recognized in many years.
That is my hope and my faith." - Slobodan Milosevic

For more insightful reading, check out the Falwell-Robertson-Bid Laden Quiz.

I could certainly find many more examples given the time. However, this ought to do for now. I know this will bring about certain outrage from some on the right. And in no way am I comparing Hitler and Milosevic to Bush (and allow me to point out that Bush resorted to using images of Adolf Hitler alongside images of Howard Dean and Al Gore while attacking his opponents in a campaign sponsored web ad). George W. Bush's campaign compared the words of Democratic leaders to those of Adolf Hitler. Therefore, if the Bush campaign feels it appropriate to compare the words of Dean and Gore to Hitler, then comparing the words of Bush to those of Hitler and Milosevic must certainly be considered fair political discourse by the Bush campaign. Unless, they're hypocrites, or something like that.

Having said that, I'm not comparing bush to Hitler or Milosevic. Hitler and Milosevic were evil doers.. eh, I mean murderous dictators. Bush, rather, is just a poor president who squandered a huge surplus, and took us to war under false pretenses. Saying that, the rhetoric of leaders who maintain that God speaks through them, or that they are carrying out the work of God is highly similar. And whether it comes from a dictator or a bad president, it is rhetoric that ought to have no place in politics. Let priests, reverends, rabbi's, preachers and clerics tell people how to go about doing God's work. The president of the United States should steer clear of such rhetoric.