Bush's historical thesis

Everyone loves to pick on Bush's unconventional use of the English language. The other day, when he explained his reading list was "epileptic," America-haters had another chance to make fun of our commander in chief. But anyone with any critical reading skills and any knowledge of real literature knows that Bush didn't misspeak. I knew what he meant: that the books are so exciting, they're downright seizure-inducing. And if you've read The Stranger,
you'll know what I'm talking about. I think I speak for all sophisticated readers when I say Camus gives me the shakes.



But even liberals have to give credit where credit is due. And when Bush described terrorists today as the " successors to fascists, to Nazis, to communists and other totalitarians of the 20th century," can anyone really challenge his analysis? Say what you will about our president, he has a keen understanding of the terrorist mind-set, ideology, and even religion. At a meeting with Iraqi Americans in 2002, the president was confused by the distinction between Sunnis and Shiites. A lesser president might have pretended to understand the conversation and waited until after the meeting to ask Dick or Condy,What's all this Sunni Shiite mumbo-jumbo. But Bush is a straight shooter, so he said, "I thought the Iraqis were Muslims." After understanding that there are Sunni and Shiite Muslims, understanding distinctions among islamism, fascism, Nazism, communism and totalitarianism is a "cake walk."