An Editorial by Matt Hurley
One of things I keep hearing from John Kerry and the Democrats (sounds like a bad 80's band doesn't it) is that President Bush is arrogant. As regular readers know, one of the theories we have here at WMD is that liberals project their own weaknesses onto conservatives. What they really object to is his righteousness.
Before we get started, let's clear up a few semantic details. Dictionary.com defines "arrogance" as:
Far more diverse topics come up when you apply the same search criteria to John F. Kerry. (Google) Let's explore a couple of these to drive the point home.
While on a break from the campaign trail, John Kerry took in some skiing. Apparently he fell, which is no big deal except that THE John F. Kerry doesn't fall. He dug the hole deeper for himself when he cursed out the Secret Service agent whose job it is to take a bullet for him. (Source) After making claims about the number of foreign leaders who supported his candidacy, John F. Kerry told a voter that it wasn't anyone's business who those leaders were. (Source). And the last one deals with a pizza, John Kerry, and a flight to Vietnam that you just have to read to believe. (Source)
Now, do I hate it when the President gives us that little smirk right before he says something that he thinks is going to be a big line? Yep. Do I think that makes him arrogant? Uh, no. Not to make too much out of pizza, but I'm going to think you're arrogant if you eat my pizza without asking because you think I brought it for you on a long flight. Go back to the definitions of arrogance and righteousness and ask yourself which adjective applies to whom.
I'll choose righteousness over arrogance every time and twice on Sunday.
Before we get started, let's clear up a few semantic details. Dictionary.com defines "arrogance" as:
1) The state or quality of being arrogant; overbearing pride.And "righteousness" is defined as:
2) The act or habit of arrogating, or making undue claims in an overbearing manner; that species of pride which consists in exorbitant claims of rank, dignity, estimation, or power, or which exalts the worth or importance of the person to an undue degree; proud contempt of others; lordliness; haughtiness; self-assumption; presumption.
3) overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors
1) The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude.Many a liberal in the media has written that George W. Bush is too religious, too moralistic, or some sort of religious fanatic. (Source) Here is a sampling of what I'm talking about:
Note: Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it chiefly occurs, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.
2) A righteous act, or righteous quality.
3) The act or conduct of one who is righteous.
4) The state of being right with God; justification; the work of Christ, which is the ground of justification.
For Georgie Anne Geyer, writing in the Chicago Tribune on March 7, the president's intention to invade Iraq "is based primarily on religious obsession and visions of personal grandiosity."The reference to "arrogance" that comes up most often in regards to President Bush seems to be directed towards foreign policy in general and Iraq in particular. (Google) Which I think is a tough sell when you consider the number of nations in the Coalition of the Willing and the amount of time the administration spent attempting to secure a UN resolution that meant something.
"The president of the United States of America," she alleged, "sees himself as part of God's divine plan."
Newsweek dedicated its March 10 cover to Bush's religiosity. And in a separate opinion article, Martin E. Marty acknowledged that "few doubt that Bush is sincere in his faith," but fretted about the president's "evident conviction that he's doing God's will."
Likewise, Jackson Lears, in a March 11 opinion article for the New York Times, worried that Bush's certitude about his carrying out "divine purpose" can promote dangerous simplifications and "slide into self-righteousness." As Lears sees it at the White House, "faith in Providence frees one from having to consider the role of chance in armed conflict, the least predictable of human affairs. Between divine will and American know-how, we have everything under control."
In the London Times on March 1, Stephen Plant wrote: "Bush's supporters have inherited the idea of manifest destiny. For them war on Iraq is not about oil, it is America's next date with salvation."
Far more diverse topics come up when you apply the same search criteria to John F. Kerry. (Google) Let's explore a couple of these to drive the point home.
While on a break from the campaign trail, John Kerry took in some skiing. Apparently he fell, which is no big deal except that THE John F. Kerry doesn't fall. He dug the hole deeper for himself when he cursed out the Secret Service agent whose job it is to take a bullet for him. (Source) After making claims about the number of foreign leaders who supported his candidacy, John F. Kerry told a voter that it wasn't anyone's business who those leaders were. (Source). And the last one deals with a pizza, John Kerry, and a flight to Vietnam that you just have to read to believe. (Source)
Now, do I hate it when the President gives us that little smirk right before he says something that he thinks is going to be a big line? Yep. Do I think that makes him arrogant? Uh, no. Not to make too much out of pizza, but I'm going to think you're arrogant if you eat my pizza without asking because you think I brought it for you on a long flight. Go back to the definitions of arrogance and righteousness and ask yourself which adjective applies to whom.
I'll choose righteousness over arrogance every time and twice on Sunday.
