I finally went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 today, Michael Moore's enormously popular and controversial flick.
For me, as a man who aspires to be president one day, this movie was most useful in pointing out things I should not do when president. Here's a quick list:
Lesson #1: Division is best left to mathematicians, not presidents.
There is a scene where Bush is addressing a crowd of "haves, and have more's." He calls them "my base."
That's not right. A President's base is the people - all the people. It doesn't matter if they voted for you or not, if they contributed to your campaign or not, if they're a member of your party or not, if they agree with you or not. A President has no stronger base than the people he or she was elected to represent. And that means all of them. Bush ran on a theme of restoring decency, respect, and unity - but comments like this serve only to divide.
Interesting sidenote on this clip: If you see the movie (again), pay attention to the woman sitting behind the President on the right of the screen. She seems a little uncomfortable by his first comment, and chuckles a bit to herself after she hears all the other folks around her chuckle. When he calls the well-to-do crowd his "base," she bursts into laughter about a half second behind everybody else. I think she thought it was a stupid thing to say, too - but you know how peer pressure works.
Lesson #2: Use vacation time sparingly and thoughtfully.
The movie states that President Bush spent 42% of his first 7 months on vacation. While not necessarily "vacation," it was time away from the White House. Broken down by the Manchester Guardian, that 42% was "a whopping 54 days at his Texas ranch, 38 days at the presidential retreat at Camp David and four more at his parents' place in Kennebunkport, Maine." A President shouldn't do that, especially, one would think, a newly elected President. It gives the appearance of idleness and laziness. As for me, I want a President who is on the job, working for me and the American people, most all of the time. Granted, everybody deserves some vacation now and then, but as President you've only got 4 years (8 if you're lucky) to do what needs to be done. I think we can all agree that our country, though a great one with a largely admirable history and limitless potential, has a heck of a lot of room for improvement. There really isn't that much time for vacation. Plus the President makes good money - $400K a year, roughly 8 times what I make.
Lesson #3: Don't mix political commentary with sports.
During a golf game, President Bush is talking to the press and gives what sounds like a stern warning about weeding out terrorists around the world, then immediately quips, "Now watch this drive." Can you imagine me in the White House bowling alley talking to the press about some labor strike somewhere and saying, "You think that's a strike? Now THIS is a strike!" Such talk just sounds ridiculous, reduces credibility, and tarnishes the image of the President.
Other potentially embarrassing political/sports scenarios to avoid: If one of your cabinet members is accused of sexual harassment for making a pass at and groping a colleague, you play a game of "two hand touch" football on the White House lawn. Taking a brief time out to talk to the press about your cabinet secretary's innocence, you then state, "Now watch THIS pass."
Lesson 4: Don't wear make-up.
There are clips of Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Ridge, Rice, and Wolfowitz all getting spruced up prior to live satellite feeds. Apparently, you can tap into those before they're officially "broadcast." Giving the American people the opportunity to see someone coiffe your hair for you (or God forbid to watch you use your own spit to tame your cowlick like Wolfowitz does) makes you look silly and fake. Silly and fake are not the political stereotypes you want to continue to promote.
I'd rather not soapbox so much on the issues the movie addresses. Most people already have pretty firm and defined opinions on Bush, the movie, the war, etc. In general, I think the movie's implication (or, perhaps a better word is the assertion) that Bush and his cronies used the tragedies of 9/11 to make big money for themselves and the Bin Laden family by invading Iraq under purposefully false pretenses is too much of a stretch. Do I think money, the influence of big corporations, family dynamics, revenge, etc., all have some role in the situation we're currently in? Yes. Do I believe that our president purposefully allowed 9/11 to happen, purposefully lied to the American people about the WMD claims against Iraq, and purposefully took our country to war for reasons of oil and personal gain? No. Bush may have a terribly incompetent, shortsighted administration, but they're not evil people.
Overall, Fahrenheit 9/11 gives disturbing insight into the ways our government often works (the nepotistic dispensing of ambassadorships and government work contracts, members of Congress regularly not reading the bills they vote on, etc.). Most of those people working within the system don't see anything wrong with it. Most of us outside the system don't even know about it. But let's be clear in understanding that it's not something unique to this Bush administration, and it's not all going to change if (and hopefully when) Bush loses in November.
