Many days I ponder the strange life we all lead with ironic twists of fate or comical double standards or just the fact that the sun can actually shine in Vancouver . Today is definitely one those days – the sun is still not shining though. Tonight was George Bush’s farewell speech to the country. The last “this is what I have done” and “why I have done it” because “you will write about how much of a screw up I have been” talk to the nation. It is his final tv plea to historians or maybe – if the stars are aligned – his plea to a judge in a court of law. So what happens on his final speech night? A plane crashes in New York – oh irony how I have missed you.
Plane crashes in New York will be the next movie title of George Bush’s legacy. Each crash changed the way I looked at life and leadership.
As I watched the first plane hit the tower I remember wondering what the hell was wrong with that pilot? I was not processing that an assassin had plotted this terror on innocent civilians. I remember when George Bush hit the national scene as a president. I did not process that he would mastermind a diabolic war that assassinated over 100,00 Iraqis and 4,000 Americans. Maybe I should have understood that a man who allows his political team to spread vicious rumors of his political enemies – McCain (illegitimate black baby), Kerry (Swift Boat) etc … – would turn out to be no better than the enemies that attacked on that horrible day.
The second plane struck the tower and then we all knew.We knew that there are people in this world that are pure evil. An evil that is masked by twisting the true word of God. An evil that has a father send his son to be a suicide bomber. An evil that has no honour. It was the second plane that provide George Bush with the leverage to go to Iraq – without a doubt the stupidest strategic decision since hmm… I can’t think of the name of that country somewhere in Asia that has created so many movies of stoned kids fighting for no good reason hmm… I am sure it will come to me.
Can you believe that a third plane goes down in New York the day he give his farewell speech. Writers all over the world are going to have a field day with this one. I almost started laughing out loud – only after I found out everyone was alright. It made me believe that everything is going to be okay. Bush is out. A plane crashes and no one dies in New York. We are headed for better days and someone is sure sending us a clear message.
Wondering what i thought about when I saw the third plane crash? I thought about the hero. The pilot who in a terrifying moment used all of his knowledge and experience to take on a challenge that looked fatal and lead the people to safety. A true hero. I think back to Sept 11th and how the president took his plane and hid and then proceeded to Iraq (We can all agree that Bush did well going into Afghanistan). I am hoping that the pilot’s heroism will foreshadow the Obama administration. Let us hope that this will be last of plane crashes and George Bush.
P. da Silva - educator 