Oblivio: Stories and such by Michael Barrish

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Something | Oct 10 2001

Interesting that I haven’t read anyone acknowledge that bin Laden has such sad, soulful eyes. Guess that’s verboten.

But I think it’s important. If nothing else, bin Laden is a poster boy, of a kind. And whatever else you think of him, the man looks way better in his role than our president does in his.

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A friend recently told me about a woman she knows, an elderly woman with Alzheimers, who suddenly turned to her daughter and said, “You know, I like this bin Laden fellow – he dresses nice and he seems to really believe in something.” There is something to be said for seeming to believe in something.

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Please read this New York Times article about the writing of Bush’s recent speech to Congress. When you see the convoluted process behind the thing, you begin to wonder how it even made sense, in the end.

Fortunately for Bush, it didn’t need to make sense (can anyone tell me what “freedom and fear are at war” means?); it needed to “galvanize” the nation, appease our allies and threaten the Taliban – all of which it accomplished, in the end. There’s something to be said for professional speechwriters.