August 14, 2005

When George W. Bush was voted into the White House for the second time in November 2004, it was not because of the love of the American people wanting to see him continue as their president for another four years. It was simply because John Kerry proved to be a dismally weak opponent who failed to motivate the younger Democrats to come out and vote for him. Managing to win yet again with just one State tipping the balance, Mr George W. Bush, nevertheless was back in the Oval Office to continue his oil-centred, geo-political agenda for another four years.

The 2004 US presidential campaign had revolved more around the anti-Bush rhetoric rather than a pro-Kerry lobbying. And with Bush’s indiscriminate accession actions on Afghanistan and Iraq and his blatant oil-driven politics throughout his first term in office, there was enough fodder available to the Democrats to base the anti-Bush campaign on. The past four years have thus seen a rise in the Michael Moore stamp of journalism, which is based more on ridiculing the target rather than providing analytical comment.

Continuing in somewhat the same strain is Laura Flanders’ book, Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species. It illustrates the controversial role of women in Bush Jr’s scheme of politics and looks into the “inner circle of the US president’s cabinet and sub-cabinet”. Touted as the first book to investigate the women in Bush’s inner governmental circle, Bushwomen is an “expose” revealing how the women — meticulously chosen and patronized — were used or rather cultivated in a professional capacity as key tools to rally support for W. Bush.

Tracing the past and present machinery of the Republican party, Flanders has profiled eight women. Bushwomen zooms in on Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State; Katherine Harris, Secretary of State of Florida; Karen Hughes, Communications Director; Ann Venemen, Agriculture Secretary; Elaine Chao, Labour Secretary; Christine Todd Whitman, head of the Environment Protection Agency and Gale Ann Norton, Secretary of the Interior. By uncovering their pasts, Flanders draws readers’ attention towards the Republican party’s discriminatory strategy initiated by Ronald Reagan, labelled by Flanders as an out and out supporter of white men.

The women named in the book are ostensibly handpicked by Bush to create the required facade to swing conservative voters. They are strategically chosen at their face value to divert attention from reality. They put a female face on anti-feminist policies, they succeed in presenting a “diverse” look to staunchly prejudiced aristocratic notions, they were responsible for increasing Bush’s voter list to include suburban, married women with children and they are responsible for getting the much required media attention to the most “media-un-savvy” president of the USA to date. And the favours bestowed on these women in return have also been detailed with their critical roles as sinister politicians.

Flanders writes, “In fact Bush was sending messages, first and foremost about himself. If news accounts revealed little of substance about his female cabinet members, the fact of their selection was handled as if it said everything about George. The women and people of colour he chose to populate his inner circle became to the President as a reflective surface is to a fashion model — excellent for casting him in a flattering light. It was as if, at the dawn of the 21st century it is still a mark of good character in a man to hire capable women to do his work.”

Though Flanders’ investigations may be sound, as she seems to have gone to great lengths to unearth the truth, the entire content is reminiscent of Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11”, based on the style of mud slinging journalism where hatred overshadows critical observation. Published before the November 2004 US elections, this was most probably part of the concerted effort crucially timed to cut Bush’s vote bank.

However, ever since George W. Bush became the man we all love to hate in our part of the world, Flanders’ book makes a juicy read, especially for neo-political-aficionados, like me. It is definitely thrilling to delve into the ‘allegedly’ devious backgrounds of these women and find out why Chevron named an oil tanker after Condoleezza Rice; how the Agriculture Secretary — hyped as the daughter of a poor little peach farmer’s daughter — pit the largest corporations against the smallest farmer and how financial ties to big tobacco companies got Secretary of the Interior, Gale Ann Norton dubbed, “the woman from Marlboro Country”.

The book rounds up the role of wives in the Bush presidency by outlining the parts played by Laura Bush and Lynne Cheyney — sisters in arms — to pump up the wholesome family image of the president and vice president of America. But while Laura Bush spoke to the women of the nation on how terrible a thing war is, George W. Bush a week later attacked Afghanistan to, “smoke ‘em out and get ‘em runnin’”.

While Laura Flanders has attempted to lay bare the duplicity of the Bush government by detailing incidents which blatantly expose George Bush Jr’s strategy of war and abuse of civil rights, Bushwomen is too much a pro-Democratic and anti-Republican campaign stunt. It ends up being a party to the corporate spin, the same stratagem it vehemently abuses the Bush government of cashing on.