I've been pondering it for weeks, and Julia Turner hits the nail on the head here. Why do I want to like Laura Bush in spite of her husband, and why do I lately find myself instead looking at her and seeing that same evil grin I often see George wearing?
It's because she's been, willfully or not, leading liberal America on for four years. As Turner points out, Laura's image as a librarian makes liberals swoon, and when our fears of George are at their worst, we want to believe that a reader like Laura couldn't possibly have married someone as dimwitted as George seems. Through her, he gains hidden depths. We've never seen them, but we believe they exist because, well, why else would this nice lady marry this seemingly incompetent baboon?
Lately, though, I've been looking at the things Laura Bush says in interviews and realizing that she's not the saving grace we've all been hoping she is. She may make calculated deviations from the party line to make her husband seem moderate, but in the end she's a marketing tool whose complicity in her husband's potential reelection can't be excused. I'm sure her speech tonight will be more of the same pablum about what a strong and decisive leader he is and what courage he showed by shaping up at age 40, under threat of divorce, and then getting his hands on the Texas Rangers using money gained from his family name and an insider deal, converting that interest in the Rangers into a greater amount of money by getting Arlington taxpayers to foot the bill for a stadium, and using his newfound fame and, again, his family name to become governor of Texas. OK, she may focus more on how he turned to Jesus to save himself from--well, she won't say what, though one gets the feeling he had a taste not only for the drink but also for nose candy back in the day. Through it all, by being married to Laura, George has made himself look acceptable, because how can we believe that such a seemingly great gal would marry a heartless dunce?
Believe it, and don't trust a word she says about how great her husband is. Smart women marry idiots all the time. There's no reason to pretend that's not the case here.
[Update: Still don't believe? Check out this scary-looking photo of Laura with the twins...]
2 comments:
You're going to have to describe these radio spots for me; I willfully avoid radio by bringing CDs in the car. What are they saying?
So true. I found myself looking at one of her "evil grin's" the other day and wondering the same thing. The Stepford wife does have a brain on her; too bad she married the town idiot.
Nia
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