Indian anger at Bush's petal tribute to Gandhi

[PhilipShore]

Telegraph-Uk
Indian anger at Bush's petal tribute to Gandhi
By Peter Foster in New Delhi
03/03/2006

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/03/windia03.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/03/ixnewstop.html

President George W Bush faced a chorus of protest as he honoured the memory of Mahatma Gandhi during his visit to India.

Before signing a historic nuclear deal yesterday, Mr Bush, a believer in the doctrine of military pre-emption, sprinkled rose petals over the memorial to the philosopher of non-violence.

President Bush, with wife Laura, during a visit to the Mahatma Gandhi's memorial

Arundhati Roy, the Booker Prize-winning novelist and social activist, wrote that millions of Indians would "wince" as Mr Bush paid his tribute. "It will be as though he has poured a pint of blood on the memory of Gandhi," she said.

[Greeby]

1. A reminder when a Preisdent visiting the memorial didn't outrage the world

*sigh*

[0007]

2. ....dim were the good old days, sigh!

[Evergreen Emerald]

3. I cannot believe he had the nerve to do that

Is he thumbing his nose at the world or is he totally out of touch?

[Demeter]

40. Yes. To Both. n/t

[DemExpat]

4. It is just so.....obscene!

:puke:

DemEx

[MaryBear]

14. Obscenely out of touch

and deliberately thumbing his nose at the world.

[bowens43]

5. Bush visitng the Gandhi memorial

is like the US taking a big steaming shit on it. They have every right to be outraged. I am.

[confuddled]

32. Yes, it defines 'cognitive dissonance'. n/t

[saigon68]

41. THE CHIMPANZEE'S ARRIVAL IN INDIA

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. "pre-emption" suggests Iraq had the ability to attack the US -

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.
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We all should know that with the no-fly-zones OVER IRAQ's OWN COUNTRY, the discriminate bombings, the sanctions, and the constant presence of the UN inspections,

that Iraq was of NO danger to the US before Bush authorized an unprovoked attack, invasion and occupation despite objections from the united Nations and it's largest trading partner. yeah that be us Canucks . . . .

The United States of America, the most powerful nation in the world, attacked a crippled country.

From the posted Article:

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" asked Gandhi."


So Bush threw the flowers that were supposed to greet his genocide in Iraq on Gandhi's memorial

I wonder why 100,000 Indians protested Bush's visit - -

:eyes:

"More than 100,000 people, many from India's 160 million-strong Muslim population, took to the streets of New Delhi this week in vociferous but peaceful protests at his visit."

Now if only y'all could get that many USA citizens to protest Bush every time he showed up in public

Yeah right

"Home of the "Brave" my ass

Brave when they are behind a gun or weapon of some sort aiming at others with inferior or no weapons at all . . .

(sigh)

[WiseButAngrySara]

15. Excellent observations and comments, friend from the North. ....n/t

[Patchuli]

18. I must strongly and respectfully disagree...

do not paint us all in that shade. Some of us have been fighting, marching, working elections, speaking out, writing/calling/haranguing senators/congresspeople, donating for just causes and disaster victims ignored by our government, etc. from Day One.

Thank you, very much. I'm no coward.

[Patchuli]

19. And on second read of this:

"Home of the "Brave" my ass

Brave when they are behind a gun or weapon of some sort aiming at others with inferior or no weapons at all . . . "

That was shitty. If you are so "concerned," your comments would be more responsible than that. You would also know that the majority of us disagree with everything this Dimson has done. Just how would YOU deal with your government if they had gone insane? Please, pray advise us ignorants.

That was a pretty cold shot, Mr. Canuck. Do not accuse folks you don't know of cowardice. My family fought in the American Revolution. We don't raise sissies.

[Citrene]

28. Thanks for being here with us and "if only" is right.

Peace.

[Canuckistanian]

34. Someone once said..

The military "victory" was the equivalent of beating up an old lady.

There were no defenses. Burning oil pits? OOOOooo, scary. No air force (if it flies, it dies).
No communications. An army in tatters. UN inspectors destroying the missiles. Crippling sanctions, no ability to buy paper clips if they might have a "dual use". Near-constant surveillance by high-tech satellites and UAV's with the capability of watching him scratch his ass when he gets up in the morning.

Saddam was the equivalent of a third-world country like Bangladesh or Sudan in terms of military strength.

It was only a matter of time.

[ConcernedCanuk]

37. "The military "victory" was the equivalent of beating up an old lady."

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.
.

close, very close

But they furgot to mention it was a CRIPPLED old lady.

with oil

[VegasWolf]

7. Yes, and he grins like a monkey while he does it. nt

[saigon68]

26. He is a CHIMPANZEE

[VegasWolf]

8. Yes, and he grins like a monkey while he does it. nt

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. What a great quote from Gandhi's autobiography...

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"

[Lautremont]

10. That really says it all.

[prolesunited]

20. Excellent quote

How could his handlers possibly think this would be a good idea?

[cliss]

23. Easy answer = they have no taste.

They are absolutely lacking in decorum, protocol, and diplomacy. Remember Dick Cheney, who showed up at a European memorial last year? He showed up in a ski parka, with white fur trim around the hood. He looked like such an idiot.

Consider also how Bush consistently drinks on his overseas trips. It's just so lacking in class.

I've seen other photos of Bush in Denmark, in the Philippines, he just looks like a village idiot who's been invited to the Castle.

[bobbieinok]

11. see the following 'back-to-back' Gandhi pics..W in 2006 + Clinton in 2000

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=555054&mesg_id=555686

#42 followed by #51

maybe somone could post the pictures side by side??

[HuffleClaw]

21. wow. good catch.

bush looks like he's tossing something from a mardi gras float compared to clinton's respectful appearance.

[soup]

29. Thank you malaise and bobbieinok

from your link -

I don't know how to get them side by side, but here are the pics:




from respect and honor to grin and chuck.

[truthisfreedom]

33. "here, have a snack." then he crashed his bicycle into the memorial and

dickie took a pot shot at it.

[JNelson6563]

39. Side by side

[Generator]

12. You mean the torture King who didn't care while one of his own

cities drowned? That guy, oh yeah. I thought this was all a nightmare. But even Indians seem to pay as much if not more attention than we do.

Bush/Ghandi that is too much of disconnect for anyone.

[alarcojon]

13. "Mahatma Bush" by Norman Solomon

Evidently the president’s trip to India created an option too perfect to pass up: The man who has led the world in violence during the first years of the 21st century could pay homage to the world’s leading practitioner of nonviolence during the first half of the 20th century. So the White House announced plans for George W. Bush to lay a wreath at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial in New Delhi.

While audacious in its shameless and extreme hypocrisy, this PR gambit is in character for the world’s only superpower. One of the main purposes of the Bush regime’s media spin is to depict reality as its opposite. And Karl Rove obviously figured that mainstream U.S. media outlets, with few exceptions, wouldn’t react with anywhere near the appropriate levels of derision or outrage.

Presidential rhetoric aside, Gandhi’s enthusiasm for nonviolence is nearly matched by Bush’s enthusiasm for violence. The commander in chief regularly proclaims his misty-eyed pride in U.S. military actions that destroy countless human lives with massive and continual techno-violence. But the Bushian isn’t quite 180 degrees from the Gandhian. The president of the United States is not exactly committed to violence; what he wants is an end to resistance.

“A conqueror is always a lover of peace,” the Prussian general Karl von Clausewitz observed. Yearning for Uncle Sam to fulfill his increasingly farfetched promise of victory in Iraq, the U.S. president is an evangelist for peace -- on his terms.

More...

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2830

[WiseButAngrySara]

16. How sadly ironic. At least the Indians get it. K & R. ....n/t

[WiseButAngrySara]

17. I changed my avatar and sig line as a result of this post!

Thanks.

[ConcernedCanuk]

25. Maybe there is hope for Texas after all, Sara!!

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:thumbsup:

[f-bush]

22. shrub is such a fucking hypocrit...

if I was him, I'd be so ashamed of my beligerant war mongering legacy I wouldn't have the guts to go to such a revered site.

WHAT AN ASSHOLE, AND THE SAD PART OF IT IS, HE'S TOTALLY CLUELESS and so are the rest of the neo-con, fundy asswipes who voted for him!

[Bhaisahab]

24. Another 'insult' controversy at Gandhiji's memorial

Last night, a few news channels in India repeatedly focused on american security forces allowing sniffer dogs to sniff around in Gandhiji's memorial, which most people consider one of the most sacred places in the country. the commentary that accompanied the news was clearly designed to play to people's sentiments regarding the sanctity of the memorial, which had presumably been defiled by the presence of dogs. looks like it did not work, since no other news channel or the print media thought it fit to carry teh report, except the national newspaper The Statesman as an aside:

Bush bows to Mahatma, but bow-wow
The US President, Mr George W Bush’s visit to Rajghat generated a controversy today after US secret service agents, who were accompanied by a sniffer dog of the K9 squad, checked the marble structure, leaving the staff of Gandhi Samadhi fuming but helpless.
This took place just before the US President arrived to pay his obeisance at the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. The staff was upset when US security personnel took their sniffer dog on the pathway around the memorial of the father of the nation. They said this was the first time a dog was brought so close to the memorial of the venerated figure.

continued at: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=108445

personally, i prefer a dog at Gandhiji's memorial than war criminals like bush and sharon (who also was allowed to visit the memorial when he was in india last year). dogs are good, they don't kill for profit. and i know Gandhiji would agree with me.

[rooboy]

27. I wish * would show solidarity with Gandhi and go on a hunger strike. nt

[Nomen Tuum]

30. It could have been worse....

...at least he didn't have Andy Williams singing "Jesus Loves Me" as he did the petal shtick!

[alcibiades_mystery]

31. What do you think of Western civilization? Ghandi was once asked

I think, he said, it would be a very good idea...

:rofl:

[ConcernedCanuk]

38. Close - very close. But Ghandi was a wee bit more emphatic

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"I think it would be a great idea."
Mohandas Ghandi's answer when asked what he thought of Western Civilization

http://www.bfm.nl/quotes/phil.htm
_______________________________________________________

And I thot I'd just post this other quote from the same link

Some here might find it appropriate for our times
_______________________________________________________

"It's no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Krishnamarti, (1895-1986)
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[stepnw1f]

35. Like the Devil Paying Tribute to Jesus

This guy is really sick and delluded... I bet he giggles after mockingly apprearing for these photo-ops.

[Just Me]

36. Profoundly disturbing.

Profoundly so. x(