Donald Miller on President George W. Bush

From Storylines, by Donald Miller, thanks Donald:

I’ve always had mixed feelings about George W. I voted for him once (his second term) and coming from Texas, had something of an emotional tie to the former President. Not only that, but I like him. I naively believe, of all the former Presidents, he and I would get along the best. I’d rather sit in a duck blind with a dog and George W. than with anybody else. I think we’d get along. If only he drank beer.

That said, I wonder at times if his Presidency didn’t get swayed too strongly by Dick Cheney and the whole Neo-Con control machine (without which he would not have gotten elected). It’s a shame, really. W. may have done more for the continent of Africa than any other President, at least from a foreign policy/financial perspective. Despite popular belief, he was a strong advocate for the poor and marginalized. And I like the fact he wanted to lower taxes, but I hate the fact he increased the national debt….

What is interesting to me about the fact the President is painting now is that it means he’s exploring, creating, feeling something, being vulnerable, if you will. You have to be vulnerable to create art. Art is difficult if you’re defensive.

There is no question this man has spent hours wondering about his decisions, and there’s no question he’s wept over the lives lost.

Dick Cheney seems like a man who justifies his decisions no matter what evidence you stack against him. George W. Bush doesn’t. I think the man is honestly objective.

And here’s the reality, and perhaps the point of this post: We tend to demonize people, don’t we? We tend to think other people are either angels or demons. But they aren’t. There is a messiah and a devil and then the human race caught in-between.