Official insults

How can you?! Evangelicals may have felt insulted to learn that their darling, George W. Bush, is not a believer# in the literal interpretation of the Bible. The insult comes when assumptions -- that a fellow believer had not been honest about his views -- all along. But the reality is that one's personal religious beliefs should not be up for mass jusdgment, even if you are the POTUS.

How can you not . . . ? President-elect Obama and his family have a right to feel insulted because there is no room for them at Blair House when they need it. The insult comes when the official response could be interpreted as not up to the spirit of an announced bipartisan agreement between the old and new administrations. But the reality is that the nicely/nicely relationship was bound to break down at some point. It is ironic that it would be over hospitality, something so out of character for the Bush family, steeped in propriety.

How can this happen? President George W. Bush had the right to feel insulted when an Iraqi reporter threw his two shoes at him at a news conference. In Middle East cultures shoes, etc. represent the ultimat manner in which an adversary can be insulted. But the reality is that it is pretty mild compared to how Iraq might actually feel about the occupation. Prime Minister Malaki is walking on a knife edge there.

Official insults happen with regularity. The other name for it is "diplomacy." Hillary Clinton, indeed, has her work cout out for her in this topsy-turvy world, with an incident that Bush calls bizarre and laughs off.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo*" and Jon#.

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

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