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October 19, 2004
On Alter's 10/18/04 Newsweek column Try a Slice of Humble Pie
To the Editor,
In Jonathan Alter's October 18, 2004 Newsweek column, Try a Slice of Humble Pie, he says: "From the outset, Bush has treated John Kerry like a terrorist".
The proper logical construction is not that Bush treats Kerry like a terrorist; it's that Bush treats anyone who disagrees with him, anyone who sees things differently, as "them", the Other. The woman who asked the debate question about whether he had made any mistakes, the media, the terrorists, Democrats, non-Fundamentalist Christians, cabinet members who've criticized him, are all evil, out to get him (and goodness in general.)
A tactical benefit of seeing one's enemies as "them" is that it allows one to maintain a facade of civility while waging battle using inhuman tactics. There is no strategic difference between Abu Grab and the Swift Boat ads; they both assume an any-means-necessary approach justified by the ends.
Bush doesn't treat John Kerry like a terrorist; he sees John Kerry as a terrorist. To George W. Bush, if you are not with him, you are against him, and if you are against him, you cannot be a righteous person. This way of thinking in anyone is dangerous; in the leader of the free world, it is catastrophic.
Phil Rose
New York, New York
Posted by prose at October 19, 2004 11:18 PM