Ambiguity & Love in the Criminal Compact
How can I tell the many thousand ways
By which one heart another heart divines?
How can I tell the many thousand ways
By which it keeps the secret it betrays?
-Longfellow, Emma and Eginhard
This story reveals an episode which until today, remained unknown to me. Bush rebuked Rove over his role w/Plame over two years ago? Bush felt they botched the smear job on Wilson by their clumsy revelation of Plame? I realize this story is supposed to put a little distance between Bush and Rove, but the opposite is the result.
A person who rebukes privately, who finds it necessary to make "his life miserable about this" behind closed doors, all the while smiling in front of cameras and telling everyone the opposite is a person who is deeply in love. To rebuke Rove publicly would mean to betray him. After reading this story, I'm convinced that is how Bush sees this. And no, I'm not suggesting any passionate love affair between the two. But I am suggesting that what seems like stubborn loyalty is in fact a deep, abiding, enduring love. I mean that. Study this quote.
The reason I find this so important is that love is a potion that easily concocts evil plans. People who love each other need not communicate, explicitly, what they desire to do. A nod, a wink, a back rub, all communicate far more between lovers than the longest of discussions might between strangers. That ambiguity of language has set the stage for some of the greatest crimes in history, and some of the greatest stories ever told. I think a lesson which hopefully will make its way out of this mess is the following: Leaders can't rely on the judgments of their lovers. More on this later.
By which one heart another heart divines?
How can I tell the many thousand ways
By which it keeps the secret it betrays?
-Longfellow, Emma and Eginhard
This story reveals an episode which until today, remained unknown to me. Bush rebuked Rove over his role w/Plame over two years ago? Bush felt they botched the smear job on Wilson by their clumsy revelation of Plame? I realize this story is supposed to put a little distance between Bush and Rove, but the opposite is the result.
A person who rebukes privately, who finds it necessary to make "his life miserable about this" behind closed doors, all the while smiling in front of cameras and telling everyone the opposite is a person who is deeply in love. To rebuke Rove publicly would mean to betray him. After reading this story, I'm convinced that is how Bush sees this. And no, I'm not suggesting any passionate love affair between the two. But I am suggesting that what seems like stubborn loyalty is in fact a deep, abiding, enduring love. I mean that. Study this quote.
"Karl is fighting for his life," the official added, "but anything he did was done to help George W. Bush. The President knows that and appreciates that."Appreciates? He's willing to sacrifice the integrity of his entire career in order to protect Karl. That is more than appreciation. I appreciate my financial planner, but if his doings looked like they may negatively impact my own career, I wouldn't hesitate to fire the man.
The reason I find this so important is that love is a potion that easily concocts evil plans. People who love each other need not communicate, explicitly, what they desire to do. A nod, a wink, a back rub, all communicate far more between lovers than the longest of discussions might between strangers. That ambiguity of language has set the stage for some of the greatest crimes in history, and some of the greatest stories ever told. I think a lesson which hopefully will make its way out of this mess is the following: Leaders can't rely on the judgments of their lovers. More on this later.
posted by Federalist X at 10:10 AM
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