Indignant Indifference Act
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has recently been exemplifying a trait that seems to be pervasive in the Bush administration. Although this isn't new for him, he does seem to present a public image of being indignant whenever he is confronted or criticized.
Indignant: "feeling or expressing anger or scorn, esp. at unjust, mean, or ungrateful action or treatment"Websters
I've seen Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, and especially Rice act this way repeatedly in the face of criticism. It's as though they think criticism is beneath them somehow, that they don't deserve to be criticized by anybody, let alone by the lowly American public. Their indignation is almost reminiscent of royalty. How dare we criticize them!
What we most often criticize them for, though, is their apparent indifference to values dear to us, such as the value of the lives of our sons and daughters in service to our national defense, or the value of our environment, or the value of the positive reputation of our nation in the world, or the value of a strong economy, or the value of our civil liberties, or dozens of other values dear to us that Bush and his gang and their supporters and defenders seem indifferent to.
For the first few years of the Bush reign, their indignation seemed somehow inappropriate, but now we seem to all just take it in stride. We almost don't even notice it... almost... We do still notice some of the indifference and yes, the administrative indignation does still prod us to react sometimes, but we keep our reaction to ourselves. Bush has somehow earned enough political capital to avoid criticism for his indignant attitude toward criticism of his indifference.
However, I think it's time to institutionalize this phenomenon. It seems that the will of the American public is to not only tolerate but actually reward this behavior. Furthermore, it seems to be the majority consensus that we should all accept indignation from our leaders, particularly from the White House. We are indeed a nation prepared to have a king. It is time to take the first step.
So I propose that Congress pass legislation called the Indignant Indifference Act that establishes the right of our nation's leaders to practice both indifference to American values and indignation toward all those who are upset by that indifference. I leave the exact wording of the bill to the legal scholars who draft such legislation.
Indignant: "feeling or expressing anger or scorn, esp. at unjust, mean, or ungrateful action or treatment"Websters
I've seen Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, and especially Rice act this way repeatedly in the face of criticism. It's as though they think criticism is beneath them somehow, that they don't deserve to be criticized by anybody, let alone by the lowly American public. Their indignation is almost reminiscent of royalty. How dare we criticize them!
What we most often criticize them for, though, is their apparent indifference to values dear to us, such as the value of the lives of our sons and daughters in service to our national defense, or the value of our environment, or the value of the positive reputation of our nation in the world, or the value of a strong economy, or the value of our civil liberties, or dozens of other values dear to us that Bush and his gang and their supporters and defenders seem indifferent to.
For the first few years of the Bush reign, their indignation seemed somehow inappropriate, but now we seem to all just take it in stride. We almost don't even notice it... almost... We do still notice some of the indifference and yes, the administrative indignation does still prod us to react sometimes, but we keep our reaction to ourselves. Bush has somehow earned enough political capital to avoid criticism for his indignant attitude toward criticism of his indifference.
However, I think it's time to institutionalize this phenomenon. It seems that the will of the American public is to not only tolerate but actually reward this behavior. Furthermore, it seems to be the majority consensus that we should all accept indignation from our leaders, particularly from the White House. We are indeed a nation prepared to have a king. It is time to take the first step.
So I propose that Congress pass legislation called the Indignant Indifference Act that establishes the right of our nation's leaders to practice both indifference to American values and indignation toward all those who are upset by that indifference. I leave the exact wording of the bill to the legal scholars who draft such legislation.
posted by Bill | 9:21 AM
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