[Newspoetry] [nyeinindia@hotmail.com: George W. Bush in India]

[Joe Futrelle]

The appall-o-meter heads for the red ...

----- Forwarded message from Mark Nye <nyeinindia at hotmail.com> -----
>From "The Indian Express" Saturday, November 6, 1999

US would-be president doesn't know Indian Prime Minister

Chidanand Rajghatta
Washington, Nov 5

The man who could be the next President of the United States does not know 
the name of the Prime Minister of India or the new ruler of Pakistan, and is 
being portrayed largely as a foreign policy klutz.

Republican front-runner George W. Bush is being roasted in the US media 
after he flunked a pop quiz during a radio interview with WHDH-TV in Boston 
on Wednesday.  The Texas Governor was asked if could name the leaders of 
Chechnya, Taiwan, India, and Pakistan, all of which have been in the 
headlines in the US lately.

He got one - partially - by hazarding that the President of Taiwan was "Lee" 
(the correct answer would be Lee Teng-hui).  Asked to name the leader of 
Pakistan, he said, "The new Pakistani General, he's just been elected - not 
elected, this guy took over office.  It appears this guy is going to bring 
stability to the country, and I think that's good news for the 
sub-continent.  General.  I can't name the General. General."
(the answer is General Musharraf, who took over Pakistan last month in a 
coup that shocked the world)

Asked to name the Prime Minister of India, Bush said, "The new Prime 
Minister of India is
 (pause)" (this is Prime Minister Vajpayee's second 
term in office) and then countered, "Can you name the foreign minister of 
Mexico?"  To which the radio show host, Andy Hiller, who has the reputation 
of being as aggressive journalist shot back: "No sir, but I would say to 
that, I'm not running for President."

Bush: "What I'm suggesting to you is, if you can't name the foreign minister 
of Mexico, therefore, you know, you are not capable about what you do.  But 
the truth of the matter is you are, whether you can or not."

The American media and Bush's opponents were unsparing in the way they 
exposed and criticised the Republican front-runner's lack of familiarity 
with international affairs.

Political discourse in the US on South Asia - and many other parts of the 
world - is virtually non-existent or oversimplified.  The western media 
often offers a dumbed down version of the region's history or politics, much 
to the dismay of many knowledgeable American interlocutors.

For instance, the US media now routinely describes India as "Hindu India" - 
an appellation as needless and infantile as calling the US "Christian United 
States" - despite the country's stunning diversity and the fact that 
minorities enjoy equal status and greater freedom than in many other 
countries.

Many commentators agree that such ignorance, insularity and isolationism is 
particularly evident in the Conservative Republican sections of the polity.  
The Indian community in the US is particularly distressed at Bush's flub.

---------------------------------------------------

To me, it seems Mr. Bush has fallen prey to little more than political 
trickery.  How could a bad memory for names possibly affect his ability to 
govern?  After all, the world is a big place and a lot of these names sound 
kinda funny to a good ol' boy from Texas.  Hiller should have given Bush the 
opportunity to redeem himself, perhaps by asking names of various CEOs and 
others representing US corporate interests.  I'm sure this is an area where 
Mr. Bush would have performed flawlessly.

----- End forwarded message -----

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Joe Futrelle                  | "Antony crash-dived." -- Pat Beverley
Team Leader, Emerge           | Woodbridge 
Scientific Data Tech. / NCSA  | 
http://emerge.ncsa.uiuc.edu/  |