Arrogant or Incompetent?

I was born in 1934 and grew up during the 1940s, 1950s and (yes, still growing, but at a sadly slower rate) 1960s and 1970s. I won't comment on my growth in the 1980s and beyond, but truly believe that I am at least beginning to see the light in the Twenty-first Century.

Whoa! I can just see my brother, Richard from Connecticut, thinking, "What in the world is my crazy brother, Joe, going to write this time?"

But whatever, during those fabulous years back then (40s and 50s, in particular) I recall that the United States of America was a country that everyone world-wide admired, and many countries even tried to imitate us -- even through the 1970s, 80s and 90s! I lived in a lot of those countries, and can attest to the true (heartfelt) admiration felt towards Americans by these people. I lived in places like Hawaii (okay, that's really more or less part of America now, isn't it?), Vietnam, Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- besides enjoying long working/teaching stays in places like Thailand, Japan, England and Turkey.

I spent almost two decades overseas before returning to the great State of Washington where I now reside in my waning years.

Okay, I will admit that, at times, I noted some frustration shown towards us -- and surely some distaste shown for our music, language (the English are really something again!), and advertising -- everywhere. And, of course, jealousy!

But the increasing feeling shown, according to polls such as those conducted by the Pew Research Center, that we are arrogant began in the 1990s, I think, and was a natural consequence of our having, at that time, emerged as the only Superpower. I surely sensed that while living almost that entire decade in the Middle East.

But even that was mild.

It took the 2003 invasion of Iraq and current occupation of that country to heighten that feeling of arrogance and, in addition, to bring to the fore a true questioning of our very competence in handling of foreign affairs.

As I read various newspapers on the web and watch my nightly TV, I would even go so far as to state that there is a growing hostility towards America and our leadership. And a lot of it is tied to what is perceived to be arrogance and incompetence -- when the world is crying out for compassion and leadership!

The fact is, we are, as a nation and as a population of folks going about our daily tasks, not arrogant, nor are we incompetent -- but we seem, in my opinion, to be perceived that way.

And yes, it's Iraq!

The world has come to believe that our invasion of Iraq was a mistake, at best, and arrogant to the core. And the occupation -- incompetence at its worst!

The picture that the world has of our President, in particular is almost exactly the way the cartoonists portray him -- like an Alfred E. Newman who is led by the nose by a gang of greedy and "evil" (in their perception) advisors, sycophants and old comrades-in-arms from his days as Governor of Texas.

So the question should be, how can we change this perception of both our country (that's us!) and our President?

Well, for starters, we might point out to Mr. Bush how it was that Mr. Reagan emerged essentially "popular" after the Iran-Contra scandal and how even Bill Clinton emerged (finally) popular after the stupid and (very) wrong Monica Lewinsky affair.

It wasn't by stating that they were "deciders" or that they couldn't really recall a mistake that they had made; it was by admitting their mistakes -- and moving on!

The Republicans would sweep the elections in November and probably elect the next President if you (Mr. Bush) simply took a deep breath (thank my brother, Richard, for that), admitted that you made a series of serious mistakes vis-a-vis Iraq and then returned our foreign policy to one of protecting the world (not just the US) from the dangers of Global Warming, nuclear proliferation and economic collapse.

Hellfire! I could even be talked into voting for Ann Coulter in 2008 if you (well, both of you!) admitted that you were wrong and would do all in the power of the Presidency to turn this entire country around towards one that seeks peace, tolerance towards all of its citizens and compassion towards the most disadvantaged of its occupants -- to include non-citizens as well.


There is nothing like true repentance to bring the love and admiration that you so desperately crave!

Oh yes, for starters, you might read some of the great editorials printed in the Nation Magazine to get an idea where things went wrong, are still going wrong and will continue to go wrong (unless you turn them around) as regards your Iraq policy [sic].