George Bush is Batman

One of the more peculiar op-eds I have ever seen was published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday. The writer, Andrew Klavan, actually goes into print saying that George Bush is our Batman, our Dark Knight, the man who has done what had to be done, knowing that the price is to be despised by the public. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121694247343482821.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

To quote:

"There seems to me no question that the Batman film The Dark Knight, currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand."

Did he see the same film as the rest of us? The one in which Batman's actions are completely manipulated by the Joker until the very end? The one where Batman kills his girlfriend and tortures his enemies -- which events as mentioned before -- are entirely planned by the forces of evil. It is only at the end when Batman realizes what he has been made to do by The Joker that he finds a way out. But by then it is too late, he is a criminal and he must run. To extend Mr Klavan's analogy (since we haven't actually caught our Joker yet) would be to admit that the last seven years has been Bin Laden's plan all along, a plan that seems to have succeeded only too well: to enrich and empower Saudi Arabia while crippling and humiliating a country that should be the light of reason and law throughout the world -- The United States. I agree with Mr Klavan that bad things sometimes do have to be done by good people for the greater good of us all, but as Machiavelli wrote, to be virtuous is important, but to appear virtuous is even more important. To attempt to justify this administration's failings by claiming that authorizing torture and lying not only to this country's allies but to its own citizens as well took moral courage is one of the most bizarre leaps of logic I have ever encountered.

Comments

[latinopride]

Batman and the Joker are two sides of the same coin. Both advocate ideals divorced from reality, perfect justice and chaos respectively. John McCain is more like Batman, he suffered and then became this hero 'politician' advocating permanent war just for the sake of justice. He could even be the Joker, because money is no object to him in his pursuit of an ideal world. Bush on the other hand is like Robin, following the likes of Dick Cheney, who is 2-Face with his one sided smirk and personal willingness to kill innocent civilians or shoot them in the face with a shotgun.

[Cathexis]

It takes more than a passing familiarity with codpieces to make one "Batman."

[Cathexis]

But with his ill-conceived tax cuts for the wealthy and record deficit spending, it is clear that he HAS been robbin'!

[Michale32086]

@DakatoMinnesota

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All by his lonesome, huh?
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If he get's the blame for the bad, then he gets the credit for the good.

You can't have it both ways...

Michale.....

[Michale32086]

@DakotaMinnesota

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"Hysterical" left, eh?

Which side is freaking out about flag pins?
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That would be the Hysterical Right...

What's yer point???

Michale.....

[rickmv]

W and Batman. Both cursed to protect millions of imbeciles who hate them for doing what needs to be done but they themselves don't have the cojones to do. Both men self sacrificing, both men heroes.

[DakotaMinnesota]

The typical abusive relationship: one convincing the other that they are stupid and helpless.

Conservatives sure have done a good job of that. You seem to have accepted the programming.

I don't need anyone to protect me from Osama Bin Laden, thanks very much. I do a fine job of that by simply avoiding working in any major financial district or military-industrial command center. Plus, I have a hired Blackwater escort surrounding me at all times. They're a hoot at cook-outs!

[dana94591]

NO. George Bush is the Joker!!!

[westwind]

A spoiler alert would have been the professional way to start this article! Just because it's been breaking box-office records doesn't mean everyone's already seen it.

[DDike88]

I second that.

[psf]

I'm still trying to figure out how batman killed his girlfriend. did YOU see the same movie as the rest of us? sure, batman perhaps shouldn't have been misled by joker's misdirection (telling batman that rachael was at the address that harvey was at) but this was early in his career and his first encounter with joker, so cut him some slack. he failed to rescue her, he didn't kill her. we'd have to lock up plenty of doctors if the definition of killing someone suddenly equaled failing to save them, y'know? as far as torturing his enemies, the best scene in the movie, and the one that gets to the essence of the character in the eyes of real batman fans, was when he was dangling eric roberts over the building's edge and roberts says a fall from this height won't kill me and american psycho, i mean batman says "i know" and drops him.

[Sumocat]

I agree with Klaven. Bush is our Dark Knight. Of course, one of the themes of the movie was that the Dark Knight was to be replaced by the White Knight, the elected official sworn to uphold the law. Thus, I see nothing wrong with comparing Bush to the Dark Knight when it so clearly illustrates his failure to fulfill his sworn role.

[Michale32086]

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I agree with Mr Klavan that bad things sometimes do have to be done by good people for the greater good of us all,
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If you do, then you are probably the only one on HuffPo that does...

Michale.....

[peterg76]

Of course, a person could also be despised by the public because they are genuinely despicable.

[Michale32086]

True, but usually there is real and tangible evidence to support it.

Something beyond bigotry and the court of public opinion, I mean..

Michale.....

[tjntn]

So true Michale - there is usually evidence and in Bush's case, it is ample. Things like memos that point out Bush was planning to go to war with Iraq no matter what (there are many references to pick from but how about http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/03/iraq.usa). Or how about evidence that he "stovepiped" raw data from the intelligence agencies so he could use unvetted information to justify the war. For that one you can just read the 9-11 commission's report. The list goes on and on. You like to toss around words like "bigotry" without many facts in your posts.

I think Peterg76's use of despicable seems to be a good description.

[Fairfloss]

Osama bin Laden's plan all a long? Or could you attempt to look at it from a different angle, because that leaves the liberal left and the Progressive Democrats looking,...well, I hate to say it, but, stupid..
With a herd mentality. I would never call them that, but they do seem as if they are being lead, right over a cliff.

I think the job of President of the USA, does not allow much time to watch and analyze movies. This is just another heartless attempt to destroy a man. Cruelly and sadly. Have we all lost a moral compass?

[salvesons]

Are you dumb enough to not realize that we've played into Bin Laden's plans these past eight years? really? Let me tell you...I love this country, and so I want the best for it. that sometimes includes providing a little critique to improve it. A smarter strategy could have neutralized OBL, using our leadership and peaceful worldwide economic diplomacy while world opinion was against him. Instead we wasted money, lives, and our rep. Instead, why did so much on his wish list come true? 1-Loss of american prestige and innocent lives around the world, painting americans as violent agressors unmindful of the innocent, bent on Christianizing the world, thus creating a religious/culture world war with frightening implications. 2-Removal of american troops from middle east stations such as saudi arabia. 3 bankrupting the US treasury...perhaps the worst long term legacy ever dumped on our grandchildren. 4 Reduction of freedoms in the US: including freedom of the press, freedom from illegal detention, the freedom of privacy from big brother spying on you
As one smart man put it...They hate us for our freedoms and would like to take them away from us...so just to fight that we'll take them away ourselves! Dumb. Now the best we can hope for is that we can get some of the good people of this country together to dig us out of the hole we've been put in.

[Michale32086]

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Are you dumb enough to not realize that we've played into Bin Laden's plans these past eight years?
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Are you mature enough to admit that you COULD be wrong???

Michale.....

[Michale32086]

"No great country has ever been saved by 'good men'. Because good men will never go to the lengths that may be necessary."
-Horace Wapole

What do President Bush, President Franklin D Roosevelt and President Lincoln have in common??

All were reviled, castigated and attacked in their day for curbing the freedoms of the American people.

Michale.....

[Fairfloss]

While FDR and Lincoln are praised as great leaders in spite of the stress they were forced to work under. No doubt, so will GWB.

[Michale32086]

If history is any indication you are correct...

Michale.....

[Michale32086]

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I agree with Mr Klavan that bad things sometimes do have to be done by good people for the greater good of us all
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Do you???

Do you REALLY understand and accept the concept???

"No great country has ever been saved by 'good men'. Because good men will not go to the lengths that may be necessary."
-Horace Wapole

Consider this. In his day, Abraham Lincoln had to make some VERY unpopular decisions. Decisions that earned him more scorn and attacks in his day than Bush experiences today..

Yet today, Lincoln is revered as a great hero and it is understood that Lincoln had to do some very bad things for some very good reasons..

Same with FDR....

So, can you concede the possibility that 200 years from now, when the FULL story of this era can be known, that Bush COULD be looked upon then as Lincoln and FDR are viewed today??

Is that within the realm of possibility?

For those who simply refuse to acknowledge the possibility, that is simply bigotry talking..

Michale.....

[holyhandgrenaid]

I see that as a possibility, however, I pray to all that I hold dear that that does not become the case. For to date, there has been little positive to show for the 'sacrifices' imposed on the American people by the present administration. We have not captured OBL, we have not successfully defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan by any reasonable marker. We systematically increased the power, clout, and motivation Islamic Fundamentalists such as Al Qaeda. We have turned a nation that was gradually departing from a hard-line fundamentalist philosophy, and turned into one of our greatest enemy, simply by adding it to the 'Axis of Evil', a list of countries that, at the time, had either nothing to do with one another, or in the case of Iraq and Iran, never would have been willing to be on the same list, apart from 'Countries that start with I'. Sometimes, yes, evil must be committed to achieve good. But only in extreme cases. In most cases, as in this one, acts of evil simply sow further evil, both by the 'enemy' and by the 'good guys'. Wickedness in this world is a slippery slope, once you start, there is no going back, and the ends never justify the means.

Especially if there are no ends.

[Michale32086]

}}}}}} and the ends never justify the means.

I could give you so many MANY examples of how you are wrong in this assertion...

Both examples that I have personally lived thru and examples or scenarios provided during OCS...

Michale.....

[Gary50]

200 years from now Bush will be considered the worst president ever. Did he lie us into an unnecessary, illegal, disasterous war, against a country that posed no threat to us? Did he, as a result, murder half a million people, including 4100+ US soldiers and cause the maiming of 30,000 more? Did he refuse to send sufficient troops to get Bin Laden? Did he suspend habeus corpus? Politicize the Justice depatment? Ignore dire threats allowing 9/11 to happen? Promise to "deal with" anyone in his administration involved in outing Plame and then commute the sentence of Scooter and overlook the fact that Cheney was behind it all? Use torture? Allow New Orleans to drown for nearly a week before anyone from the government showed up? The list of his incompetence, corruption, malfeasance and malevolence is virtually endless. And the whole problem here, according to you and the other twenty some percent of apologists for Bush, is that liberals are bigots. The chance that Bush may one day be considered a peer of Lincoln and Roosevelt? Absolute zero!

[Michale32086]

The fact that you are predicting the future is complete proof of your delusional state..

You simply CANNOT know what is going to happen 200 years from now..

Your's is simply wishful thinking..

Nothing more...

Michale.....

[Darsan54]

No, it's not within the realm of possibility. Lincoln and FDR's "sins" were in the moment and against an actual enemy. Bush's actions were for his own benefit and against the American people. The failure to acknowledge the present circumstances is simply delusion.

[Michale32086]

Uhhh.....

Newsflash for you, cupcake...

Lincoln's "sins" were committed against fellow Americans. He jailed those Americans who disagreed with his war policies and suspended Habeas Corpus for Americans. Something not even BUSH has done.

FDR's "sin" was against fellow Americans. He incarcerated thousands of Americans whose SOLE crime was their ancestry... Something not even BUSH has done...

The failure to acknowledge the past circumstances is either delusional or willful ignorance..

You are correct in one aspect, though. The comparison between Bush and Lincoln/FDR is not entirely accurate.

Bush has not done even a TENTH of the Constitutional violations that were committed by FDR and Lincoln... And yet, today, FDR and Lincoln are revered as great leaders.. Strange how that is, eh??

The simple fact is, you are speaking from hysteria and emotion. Not from logic.

Michale.....

[kathy001]

Ok, I'll acknowledge the possibility. It's also possible that, some day, pigs will fly. I think it's even more possible that the day will come when we find out just exactly how corrupt Bush's administration really was.