Some of you may recall Don Quixote, the primary protagonist of Cervantes’ Man of La Mancha (1604). One of the characteristics that made the delusional Quixote so attractive was the way he wrote his own story. Too bad for President Bush it doesn’t work like this in real life. Like the errant knight of chivalry, our Errant President of Arrogance thinks he can write his own story – and how it will end. First he tried to write history by declaring “mission accomplished” (3,700+ dead U.S. soldiers since). Then he tried to make the case that he’s a “war president,” only to find that war means more than shortchanging American troops by sending them into battle with no plan (other than a fervent belief in his gut). He will likely go down as the only U.S. president to leave office as a failure on two war fronts.
Undeterred, President Bush once again is allowing impulse and fantasy be his guide. Incredibly, our modern day Don Quixote has declared there will be peace between Israel and Palestine before he leaves office: “I believe it's possible - not only possible - I believe it's going to happen that there'll be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office.”
By the end of Cervantes’ book Don Quixote had the good sense to give up on his utopian search. And our Errant Knight of Chivalry? He flies around the world on a ‘quixotic’ quest to create a world his incompetence has made impossible - and along the way he will be tilting at windmills only he can see.
I don't know if this is sad, or embarrassing. It's probably both.
- Mark
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