From The Washington Post, June 18, 2004:
Later, opening a two-day western swing, Bush used remarks at a GOP fund-raiser in Spokane, Wash., to argue for patience in Iraq, drawing an analogy to the ruins of Germany after World War II. Bush told the audience he wanted to read "something from the New York Times." This drew derisive laughter, but Bush interrupted to say the passage was from 1946.
"Germany is a land in an acute stage of economic, political and moral crisis. The basic elements of recovery and peace are lacking," he read. Bush then said: "Now, that was a pessimistic view of the future for Germany. Fortunately, my predecessors were not pessimistic people." Bush did not mention that the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe was not proposed until 1947.
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So, when the NYT printed this, it was true, and perhaps in some way this statement of a painful truth helped focus people on what would become the Marshall Plan.
But what does George W. care? He got his cheap, ignorant laugh at the expense of the New York Times. He has no doubts about the correctness of his plans and certainty of their success, even when events go against him. His lack of understanding gives him the resolve to "stay the course". For Bush, ignorance is strength, and, like blinders on a horse, allow him to plod forward without the doubts that a more perceptive person would have. And all the better to be able to laugh at his critics, even though they speak wisely.
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The "Nobody-is-wrong-all-the-time Department"
Bush is right about one thing: "my predecessors were not pessimistic people". But neither were they callow and poorly-educated, given to seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.
