"Mr. President, I knew Harry Truman. Harry Truman was a friend of mine. Mr. President, you're no Harry Truman."
So Dubya is fascinated with the man from Independence, and fancies himself Harry Truman's spiritual heir due to Dubya's own massive unpopularity with the American voting public.
Just more evidence that Dubya is not even close to being a student--of history or of anything else, for that matter.
Number one: Korea was a United Nations "police action." The US played a large part in it, yes, but our involvement in Korea was not a bit like our involvement in Iraq. We were working within the context of the world community in Korea. In Iraq, the US went in unilaterally, has consistently ignored the opinion of most of the rest of the world, and has generally thumbed its official nose at everyone who dared question what "we" were doing.
Besides, Truman was unpopular with the voting public for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Truman was no FDR. Dubya is no Bill Clinton, but that's irrelevant in this context. Clinton appealed to the "good times" Bubbas. Dubya appealed to the "family values"Bubbas. Furthermore, Truman saw military service in WWI. Dubya studiously avoided it, with Daddy's help, during Vietnam.
Number two: Truman had the balls [pardon my French, but no other word is adequate in this instance.--Ed.] to fire Gen. Douglas MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to escalate things by nuking China. Dubya had to be forced to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and even then he couldn't be honest about it. He claimed he had made up his mind to fire Rummy before the recent elections, and as if that weren't bad enough, he praised Rummy to the skies in Rummy's official farewell ceremony last Friday.
Number three: Harry Truman worked in and with the rest of our allies and indeed, the entire world community. He didn't alienate us from everyone else in the world. He didn't sink the standing of the USA by his actions and his decisions. As a true student of history, Truman understood the world and how best the USA could operate within it--all the while protecting our own interests. Dubya's approach is "my way or the highway," however, and he actually seems to take delight in playing at being more macho than anyone else on the planet. The esteem in which many others in the world traditionally have held the USA has disappeared right down the toilet of Dubya's ambitions. So despite Dubya's insistence that he's protecting the US, he's succeeded only in making the whole world less safe for Americans.
Number four: Harry Truman knew his own mind. He didn't need the advice, guidance, leadership, or decision-making skills of others to decide what he was going to do and how he was going to do it. Contrast Dubya, who frequently seems to have turned over all Executive Branch decision-making processes to Vice President Dick Cheney and all political posturing decisions to advisor Karl Rove.
Number five: Harry was no poseur. He didn't come from money, and he didn't see any need to pretend to be something he was not. Dubya, on the other hand, grew up as a Connecticut preppie, the child of wealth and privilege, and has convinced himself that he's just a "good ol' boy" from Texas. I'll give Dubya this: he does have the accent correct, down to his monumentally irritating mispronunciation of the word "nuclear." At some very important levels, however, the only person he fools is himself.
Ah, well. There are none so blind as those who will not see, and Dubya is as blind as a bat. If not blinder. A bat won't knowingly fly right into the middle of a situation adverse to its health or safety.
How can we even dream of having a Merry Christmas when our troops are dying for no good reason?
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