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| Home Front: Politix |
| President Bush, as the Indians Saw Him |
| 2006-03-04 |
| From Powerline -- scroll to Friday.. as John says "It's interesting how odd it seems to read accounts of President Bush that are written by people who don't hate him. Based on my review of Indian newspapers, President Bush's visit to that country was a success. Little of the coverage was devoted to the inevitable protests, and it lacked the snarky tone of virtually all mainstream American press coverage of anything the President does. If you go to Power Line News and run your cursor over the Indian subcontinent on the newspaper map, you can access approximately ten Indian newspapers, all in English. Their accounts of the President's visit are generally consistent. The Tribune writes: Mr George W. Bush today wooed India like no other US President had ever done before and admitted that he had been “dazzled” by India. Like a seasoned Indophile, he reeled out facts after facts, with a liberal sprinkling of quotable quotes from two great makers of India — Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru — to convey to his countrymen back home that India had arrived. “The United States and India, separated by half the globe, are closer than ever before, and the partnership between our free nations has the power to transform the world.” The Hindu writes that "Bush gets a glimpse of rural India": "A brief visit to Hyderabad on Friday gave US President George W. Bush a glimpse of how India's rural economy sustains itself and, contrastingly, how young and modern-looking entrepreneurs plan to compete with the world's best in industry. Mr. Bush saw the use of simple and cost-effective technologies by farmers to improve yield and innovative methods to market their produce when he visited the Agricultural University named after an eminent son of the Andhra soil Prof. N. G. Ranga. Harking back to the days he spent at his ranch in Texas, the US President tried his hand at a tiller, a rake and a moisture-testing meter. Barely 30 minutes later, he was at the gleaming premises of the Indian School of Business, a management school supported by the Wharton and Kellogg Business School of the US, talking to a group of 16 young entrepreneurs, where he stated, quite significantly for India, that the US "rejects objections against outsourcing of jobs." He said the US was looking at the 300 million strong Indian middle class for business opportunities. Perhaps for the first time, Mr. Bush saw the simple Indian wooden plough and posed for photographs with it slung across his right shoulder. Amused by a jumbo-size pumpkin, Mr. Bush lifted up to his chest and parodied as if he was going to fall under its weight. He spent time at the premises of the National Seed Project talking to progressive farmers, learning the intricacies of operating a handloom for weaving silk sarees, besides talking to women of self-help groups who informed him of how the 6.20 lakh SHGs had raised hundreds of crores of rupees by saving one rupee a day. With no other public interaction in his four-hour-long itinerary, Mr. Bush did all the right things that pleased the hosts like lifting up a child, Venktaramana, in his arms, pecking the cheek of a woman in the midst of a field and obliging women with countless photographs. He displayed interest in export of mangoes to the US, the Chief Minister later said." It's interesting how odd it seems to read accounts of President Bush that are written by people who don't hate him. You can read Indian blogs, too, like this one: These protestors are idiots. They do not know the interests of India. It is in our interst that Iran is not nuclear. We need sofisticated wepons, Nuclear energy plants, Technology, capital to build this country to meet and exceed Shanghai levels. Thats the way forward. Not protests, engagement with Bush and the US. It's an interesting view from the other side. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #9 Thank God for G.W. Bush and his parents. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. |
| Posted by: Asymmetrical Triangulation 2006-03-04 20:25 |
| #8 Lol, Ptah. Better stop right there, bro. ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2006-03-04 20:13 |
| #7 He displayed interest in export of mangoes to the US, the Chief Minister later said. Not as silly as it looks: When God took the Garden of Eden to heaven, He left behind the mango tree to remind the children of Adam of the Paradise he lost. ------- One of Bush's strong points is his humility: He's willing to let others take the credit for what he does provided that the real beneficiaries get helped. In that dimension, he beats James Earl Carter. (*BTW, I will start referring to James Earl Carter by his full name, and not his desired dimunitive, because only Presidential assassins get the "full name treatment".) |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-03-04 20:10 |
| #6 fair enuf |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-03-04 19:52 |
| #5 I guess keeping those grannies and old vets in lawn chairs peering through Ziess 7x50's across the Rio Grande must be a "strategy" too. I'd like to see him get his head into tbe immigration and border protecton game. |
| Posted by: Visitor 2006-03-04 19:47 |
| #4 The truth he is a hell of a lot smarter than the press gives him credit for. In the end, President George W. Bush will come out on top. |
| Posted by: bgrebel 2006-03-04 18:58 |
| #3 My guess is that he's very clear about his priorities. If it takes throwing wads of money at programs to keep enough congress critters on board with his WOT, he'll do that. I don't like the levels of the deficit spending, but I'm not sure I think he's wrong overall. A major terror hit in the US - 10,000 to 100,000 dead immediately or in the weeks afterwards - would do about as much damage to the economy, if not more. 9/11 did a bad enough job on NY's economy. I have the mixed fortune to have moved here just a year before the attacks. Our daughter worked a few blocks away from the towers. That job vanished, companies moved out and the mess in Albany got even worse as a result. The current Fed Reserve chief looks like he wants to monetarize the debt, which is an iffy proposition, but if China won't deal with the renimbi it may make sense to do a little of that. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-03-04 17:31 |
| #2 I think there will be alot of BDS animosity among the professional academics who they trot out to define "best and worst" presidents. It will ultimately take past our lifetimes before the challenges, and responses he made, are accurately evaluated. He will be a top 10, like Reagan. I just wish he'd take tighter reins on spending and get the tax cuts made permanent |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-03-04 17:26 |
| #1 Years from now, in retrospect, Bush II will be regarded with awe because of his amazing talent at "strategery". That new word is actually appropriate, because what he does seems to transcend ordinary strategy so far that it becomes a different thing altogether. Before he had even announced he was running for president the first time, he had already sewn up every big money dime in the republican party. His nomination was assured before step number one. That is "strategery." Again, before he had announced, the "family ranch" was being constructed in Crawford, Texas, as a "Texas White House". Finishing touches were put in place just before he was sworn in. Again, "strategery". From day 1 in office, the ranch was ready for a president and all of his visitors and official needs. His administration had pre-planned every possible contingency for Gulf War II at least a year before we launched. Had circumstances changed, it would have been moot, but they did not change. Ergo, when the much-maligned "Mission Accomplished" banner was unfurled, the mission *had* been accomplished. Though it seemed reconstruction of Iraq was disordered, this was not the case. Deception as to progress was always the rule, not to conceal problems, but to conceal successes. Right now, Iraq has not been a real issue for over a year, preparations for Iran have been what has been taking place with US forces in Iraq. Though Iraq has not been ignored, the great minds have long been scheming every possible contingency for the future. This too, is "strategery" As is his India-Pakistan whistle stop tour. Even as he does everything right to seduce the Indians to American friendship, he is laying the groundwork for incredible relationships in the future. Relationships of immense, perhaps irreplaceable value to the US. For events that might not take place for 20 years down the road. And that is "strategery". |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-04 17:03 |