For the third time in twenty-six years, there is the frightening possibility of a Bush being a viable presidential candidate. The United States voter has a short memory indeed, if he or she will even consider casting their ballot for former Florida governor Jeb Bush, son of one-term president George Bush, and brother of the self-proclaimed ‘War President’, the disastrous George W. Bush.
Mr. Jeb Bush’s connection to these worthies in and of itself would seem to be a disqualifier, but on May 7 of this year, Mr. Bush stated that his brother George is one of his main foreign policy advisors, especially on matters relating to the Middle East. Is Jeb not aware of the disaster that George wrought there, or the cost in terms of human life, not to mention in cash? Or perhaps he doesn’t care about such issues; after all, most of those people killed were Muslim, and we all know that, in the twisted fantasy world of conservative Republican politics, ‘Muslim’ equates to ‘terrorist’.
While Jeb’s grasp of foreign policy is an area for close scrutiny, it is one aspect of his domestic policy that draws our attention today. The former governor recently endorsed what is bizarrely called ‘religious discrimination legislation’, laws proposed in many states enabling people to discriminate against others if their religious beliefs supposedly mandate it. These various proposals are frequently, oddly enough, proposed by legislators who purport to be Christian, although the version of Christianity that they follow is one that Jesus Christ wouldn’t recognize.