Books and Barbarians

The ad hominem attack is the easy fall back for anyone who disagrees with the Bush administration. For cartoonists, the first thing to do is draw an extra-large pair of ears on the President. Once that’s done, it’s time to contort his face into a vacuous expression, usually some combination of raised eyebrows, yawning mouth, and furrowed brow. And now that George W. has been transformed into Curious George, the simian storybook character, it is essential to insult his intelligence. Never mind that none of this has to do with the war in Iraq, the rape of the environment or the tax-cut for the rich. Obviously, George W. Bush disagrees with his critics because he is stupid and they’re not.

But it can get tiring after a while to lampoon Bush’s intelligence so Maureen Dowd twists the attack in a slightly different way. Bush is not just stupid; he’s also uncultured. When the President visited Paris last May, Dowd wrote that he accentuated his uncivilized caricature by “acting like a rodeo rider in King Louis’s court.” Other reporters covering Bush’s trips to Europe have noted, in the midst of news stories, that Bush struggles through stately European dinners because they begin at his normal bedtime. Apparently no one remembers that Bush peppers many of his speeches with Spanish or that on his trip to China a year ago he donned a blue silk robe, similar to the one worn by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. In these moments, Bush’s latent cosmopolitanism comes to the surface.

In the last month, the Bush White House has made two subtle attempts to fight off Bush’s uncivilized persona, though they have not attracted much attention. In his speech before the UN on Sept. 12, Bush slipped in a three-dozen word announcement that the United States will be re-entering the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO). The purpose of UNESCO, according to its constitution, is to build educational and cultural bonds between nations. Much of its work is in promoting literacy and education within its member countries, but UNESCO also facilitates technological exchanges. These exchanges have resulted in the construction of hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure improvements.

But despite the noble goals of UNESCO, the U.S. resigned from the organization in 1984 because of the organization’s left-wing bias. This was an example of the kind of snub that has hurt America’s standing in the eyes of many non-Western countries. Last Thursday, a bipartisan report was published saying that the U.S. image has greatly suffered at the UN. The report recommended that the U.S. build up its influence by involving itself much more deeply in the behind-the-scenes workings of the UN. America’s re-entry is a sign that it is finally coming around to the importance of the UN. And it is all the more significant that Bush is the one to lead the re-entry into UNESCO because he is supposed to be so uncultured and uneducated.

Another event took place this weekend that challenged the uncultured stereotype of the Bush White House. This weekend, Laura Bush hosted the second annual National Book Festival, which was an event devoted to encouraging reading and the love of literature. This book festival comes just a month after the First Lady’s latest writing symposium. A librarian and schoolteacher, Laura Bush has thrown her energy behind infusing the White House with some literary culture, and has held symposiums on Mark Twain, the Harlem Renaissance and writers in the American West—all of which drew literature experts and enthusiasts alike. Needless to say, the President attended as well.

But these literary symposiums help the President’s image not just by bringing “cultured” people into the White House. It is the way these people are selected and invited that is most impressive. The writers and literary experts recruited for these events were not the party faithful. Some of the guests have been very critical of President Bush and his policies. As the New York Times pointed out, one visitor to the literary symposium in September, Justin Kaplan, received his invitation even though he had publicly condemned the President’s “troglodytic” approach to policy issues. That Kaplan and other critics of Bush are still invited to these festivals shows the White House’s commitment to culture. But more importantly, it shows the White House’s magnanimity, which runs contrary to the stereotype of Bush as a peevish boy.

While the President may never get to the point where he reads Proust and savors escargot, these quiet steps that he and his wife have taken will eventually make an impression on his critics. And when that happens, the ad hominem attacks will have to change. This should not be too hard on the cartoonists and columnists who love to attack him. All they have to do is shift their focus from Bush’s intelligence to his policies.

Jonathan P. Abel ’05 is a history concentrator in Quincy House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.