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By Mario Fernando Prado

September 27, 2005

Original Article (Spanish)

A Man that History Will Not Soon Forget

If Prince Charles of England is my European hero, President Bush is my North American hero. And the fact is that someone has to speak up in defense that misunderstood and much-maligned statesman, who is gambling everything for the sake of democracy and the survival of the Western world. Why, if those who wear the turbans can knock down two of his tremendous towers, doesn’t he have the right to knock down their tiny towers?

For all the sacrifices of George W. and for all that he has suffered and still suffers, carrying a piano like Iraq on his back, he will only be compensated by the eventual judgment of history. The dead of that war - U.S. and foreign - have been like stabs to the heart of a good boy who chose to do his duty by fighting that war - not to remain in Iraq - but not to return to his country either, without the coveted black gold [oil]. Let us remember that the gringos are in this world to win wars, and now must invent them to do so.

George Bush Got a Little Talking to at the Vatican

Didn’t he have to carry the burden when that magnanimous, apostolic Roman Catholic [the Pope] asked him to reconsider going to war alone, and when people compared him unfavorably to his Papa [George H.W. Bush]? Can you imagine his sleeplessness, obsessing about his troops, for whom he prays and prays in eternal vigilance, beseeching God and imploring him for world peace? 

A man who suspends his well-deserved vacation and leaves his ranch so abruptly - and we have already verified the neglect that this has caused (he almost forget to tune up his pick-up truck) - to attend to problems of State deserves the respect and the admiration of the free world. He is an honorable man and does not deserve the unjust commentaries that have befallen him of late. Could it be that he caused the tragedy of New Orleans? Could it be that Katrina or Rita were his inventions? Could it be that he didn’t have capable enough subordinates to handle the floods? Or perhaps he never called to get their advice?

But no! It so happens that now, Bush has taken full responsibility for the irresponsibility of those who paid no heed to the evacuation orders and were later found dead, and for being unable to stop an enraged Mother Nature from attacking his land. 

However, when he was able and when he was sure that there were no snipers that could bring down his helicopter, he went straight to the scene of the events, because whatever happens, he is George W., and he does not live in the background, hesitate to extinguish fires nor turn back floodwaters.

No, sir! The most powerful man in the world has a very congested agenda and everything is done at the proper time, the right moment.

Alien to that Latin American tradition of holding orphans, embracing widows and wasting time catering to matters of the heart, he is more often in the Oval Office, meditating and thinking up new strategies. He knows better than anyone that all problems - even spiritual ones -can be solved with a bill - and that is what he has obtained: hundreds of millions of dollars to attend to the tragedy. Some of the other issues he faces are tropical fever, crying crocodile tears and being forced to cluck 'I am sorry.'

Bush is a man of action and few words, like any of Clint Eastwood’s memorable western characters: very little bla-bla-bla and lots of ta-ta-ta. Unconcerned with looking smart and winning public acclaim, he will leave a legacy that - I repeat - only with time will be recognized - when history places him on a pedestal as one of humanity’s all time greats.

If not for him, we would be begging the Persian Gulf and Commander Chavez for crude. His is the democracy that must defend and teach - like a soldier capturing the Palace of Justice - with armor, tanks, bombs and swords.

Good for Bush. I myself hope he is elected three times more. And good for his lady, her daughters and their nieces – the very models of discretion, and even more for his father, handsome and old, and his mother Barbara, beautiful and old, who with her statements caused the critics to viciously attack her beloved son. Long live Bush and long live my beloved Prince Charles!