SAY SOMETHING MEANINGFUL

Say anything meaningful!! Bush took a tour of the Minneapolis bridge collapse yesterday. Always the able statesman, he had a prepared statement ready for the press. A statement meant to highlight his understanding of what has happened and what needs to be done. A statement designed to demonstrate his deep and insightful take on the tragedy, yet to offer a positive outlook on us as a nation. "There was a man on the bridge when it collapsed. He immediately went to a schoolbus nearby where he heard screaming children to help bring them to safety." He paused to let the press catch up with his deep thoughts. "Ya know, it's an amazing country we live in where someone's instinct... someone's first instinct is to help save lives." When I first heard this I rolled my eyes (a now involuntary reaction whenever I hear his voice). It is sad that he thinks this type of reaction is somehow distinctive or uniquely American. On a hunch I went to CNN.com and looked at today's headline Iraq story. Here is a quote from an Iraqi citizen who had been near some bombs that The U.S. dropped on a target yesterday... "Shrapnel hit my front window ... then two explosions took place," said minibus driver Ali Abdul-Karim, 28. "Other drivers and I ran fast toward the sound of the explosions, to help evacuate the victims." Apparently Iraq is an amazing country too, since saving lives is obviously their first instinct. I would wager that the people of Iran are similarly amazing... and Egypt, and Mexico, Lybia, Cuba, Pakistan, Argentina, Sudan, Bulgaria, China, Panama, Lithuania, Turkey, Syria, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Korea, Philipines, Congo, Chad, Mayanmar, Kenya, Burma, Tanzania, Poland, India, Malaysia...* I can see the average-joe-U.S.-citizen thinking that another average-joe instinctively helping out injured victims is somehow unique to our country and therefor 'amazing'. But The Commander and Chief should have a slightly better idea of what mindsets, values and 'instincts' people from other countries have... particularly those with whom we're at war! How does an educated, world traveled statesman honestly become amazed with human behavior so common it happens every minute around every corner of the globe? More spectacular to me is that we live in a country where The President's first instinct is to make sure that no one in his administration ever be incarcerated for crimes against the state... wait... now that I think about, I guess that's not so amazing after all. I mean every dictator in the world protects his inner circle by bypassing the courts. *I can hear Bush now saying "Heh heh, this Bricotrout guy sure makes up some funny names for countries! Put a wire tap on him."