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Originally Posted by AXEAM
Bruh.. comparing Bush to the likes of Mandela and Tutu is like comparing apples to oranges, Bush's character falls far short of Mandela's and Tutu's.
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I wasn't comparing Bush to anyone per se, just holding up what statesman can or should be. One's ideological bent is not necessarily a reflection of character. Personally, I do think many African Americans are off-base with Bush: they confuse character and ideology. By all accounts Bush is has no racial animus vs. blacks;and he seems to be a personable and funny man. Now, he's a politician and he's surrounded himself with people to do his dirty work and push his agenda.Now, one can vehemently disagree with a policy prescriptions and their ideological underpinnings withour stooping to unwarranted personal attacks. This is important for two reasons. When we play this game of demagogues, we risk making people blind to REAL issues and how to attack them, and people are reduced to consumers of propaganda and give up their critical thinking skills, and are the mercy of unscrupulous political hacks because what becomes important are symbols which pols use to manipulate people's basest emotions and fears. This is how a Hitler can come to power given the right circumstances, and how some Republicans have adroitly played on racial fears, and some so-called black leaders play on our fears to corral us into the Democratic camp,and are self-serving.
The examples I used were in contrast to the apparently more conservative bent of Mon. Shinerbock, to show that principled leaders and statesmanship is not a function of one's ideology or party. People can, for the sake of what is right, transcend their partisan inclinations and political bases and do what is right, if they so choose.
There is a second reason why this is important to me:it grows out of my convictions as a Christian believer. I believe that all human beings are created in the image of God; therefore we are accorded freedom of choice, and our ultimate identity and destiny is grounded in God. We cannot make God-like judgments about people to pigeon hole them so that we can dehumanize them,even if they are diametrically opposed to us. Out of this understanding of God as creator of all is Jesus' summons to love one's enemy. People can change,even though it can be hard, given the reality of evil and pressures to conform. The examples I used did this, from Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin to Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, men of very different religions, ideologies,etc. who for the sake of their peoples and higher principles chose the high road--the road of statesmanship. Bush can do the same, if he choosed to. That's the point I was making.
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