George Empathy
My goal has always been to obscure my personal opinions but I must say I know exactly how George 'W' Bush feels right now.
Once upon a time, when I was a mere runt of a 9 year old my family picked up what we had and moved from the quiet suburbs of Portland, Oregon back to Nairobi, Kenya. It was a time of excitement since we'd been itinerant from our African home for 5 years. Even before we'd settled into a home in Nairobi, I began to attend a British school called Rusinga.
It is here precisely where I have my connection to Mr. Bush. The well kept, mannered and nurtured children at the school took one look at me and thought: EGAD, what an American! To them I was over the top, brash, arrogant, boisterous, cavaliering, loud and without compunction. I asked questions and as my voice dripped with that American accent I could feel their eyes on me the same way the press looked in incredulity at Mr. Bush during a joint press conference with Tony Blair in which 'W' said in earnest:
"Okay, that's the last question since the Prime Minister and I are fixin' to have lunch"
They could not imagine my barbarism when I asked if I could play handball with them on my first day of school, at the very first recess! Their courteous response was to ignore me (he's American after all - how could he know better) but I wasn't to be ignored. I grabbed the guy closest to me and proceeded to beat the tar from him (I was American after all and I had to be heard) - he was just big enough for me to get respect but not the biggest guy since I had carefully premeditated my doctrine of unilateral preemption.
When the girls wandered by I would be Colin Powell; American yes but well mannered, articulate, the sort of chap that had overcome his bruttish nature and managed to in the very least communicate. Still American and not to be agreed with but diplomatically tolerable. When they made off I became Donald Rumsfeld: an obnoxious and guile-less machiavellan that deserved as much respect as disgust.
In the end I made friends - the guy I fought with, Kaval, ended as my best friend during my tenure at Rusinga. By the time I returned to the US for college I was looking around me and thinking to myself 'what sort of over the top, brash, arrogant, boisterous, cavaliering, loud... ' of the Americans around me.
I'm afraid of Americans (~1984)
5:12:32 PM 
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