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The Bushiad Foreword Chapter 1- The Rage of George Chapter 2- Rattling of Sabres Chapter 3- Entreaties Rejected Chapter 4- Osama Speaks Chapter 5- The Underworld Chapter 6- Fatherly Advice Chapter 7- The Gods of War Chapter 8- Juggernaut Chapter 9- The Prisoners Chapter 10- Interrogation Chapter 11- George Dreams Chapter 12- In the Clouds Chapter 13- Déjeuner Chapter 14- Secret Agent Chapter 15- The Tyrant Flees Chapter 16- Out of Order Chapter 17- George Descends Chapter 18- Master Kim Chapter 19- Uncurious George Chapter 20- Asana Chapter 21- Doing the Patriot Act Chapter 22- Immaculate Reception Chapter 23- The Little Prince Chapter 24- Mission Accomplished
The Idyossey
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With the recent release of Troy, starring Brad Pitt, the subject of Homer's Iliad is now all over the media. Not surprisingly, when one searches on Google for “the battle of Troy,” the link to The Bushiad and The Idyossey appears prominently on page one of the results. I can only imagine the confusion brought to bear upon the mind of a 13-year-old trying to complete his 7th grade report on the Trojan War, who might not understand that The Bushiad is was not written by Homer. Since posting The Bushiad and The Idyossey a scant eight weeks ago, its journey into the collective archives of the World Wide Web has become an Odyssey in its own right. Perhaps the most telling moment was the day my site statistic report showed a sequence of email addresses that were recorded because the email user had included a link to The Bushiad in the content of their email message. Such links in emails has not been unusual; in any given day the site’s URL is sent by email to dozens of people. What caught my attention was a sequence in the middle of the email sending mailbox address, “IBB.GOV.” Any one point, more than eight separate email addresses with that sequence appeared in a short list of referring URLs. The .GOV caught my eye. Within a few minutes, I determined the specific agency whose employees were sending around The Bushiad URL: International Broadcasting Bureau, www.ibb.gov, the propaganda arm of the United States Government. IBB manages The Voice of America, Radio Sawa (the new Arabic station in the Middle East), Radio and TV Martí (Office of Cuba Broadcasting), and WORLDNET Television and Film Service. In addition, the IBB provides engineering and program support to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. Needless to say, my imagination has run amok. My fantasies range from tapped phones and surveillance cameras ordered by a crew-cut, square-jawed internal security specialist to ordinary secretaries yukking it up about the crazy new Homeric website they found about Foul Rumsfeld. Within a few hours the IBB addresses stopped appearing, and the emails had run their course. There is no dispute, however, about one fact: the U.S. government has discovered The Bushiad. The entire launch and subsequent earth orbit of this work has been a fascinating foray into the workings of the web and the networked society which we all now inhabit. I am reminded of a book by Orson Scott Card entitled Ender’s Game. Written long before Al Gore invented the internet, Card’s book recounted the life of Ender, a boy born into a world of interconnectedness via computer. A boy of extraordinary talent, he excels in computer games and possesses a keen intellect. As I recall, at one point he begins to post messages on the network of such brilliance and clarity that millions begin to read his thoughts. His “voice” elevated by an international and instantaneous media, emerges from the crowd and his status begins to grow. Ultimately, of course, he saves humanity. I don’t envision such a course for myself, but I have long been struck by the idea of emergence of the “voice” in a global network. In some ways, the web’s great unexplored territory consists of the many “voices”; what many call the “Blogosphere.” In a nation that no longer reads books like it used to, where the major book publishers have decreased in number and consolidated behind an integrated “best-seller” marketing model, the web has become the daily diary for hundreds of thousands of people with lots to say. Much of it is dreary 14-year-old “my mom made me wash the dishes” drivel. But much of it is striking, not so much do to its content, as for the fact that these throngs seem so intent on purging themselves of their innermost thoughts and sharing them with anyone with time and interest in reading them. We are talking millions of words written by perfectly average folks every day. Sometimes such comments are just a sentence or two, often fragments of sentences only. Other missives are massive tomes, rivers of words gushing forth like waters from a broken dam. The best among these get referred to others of similar interests. It is, in its own way, the most openly democratic torrent of free speech in the history of the world. Accordingly, one must ask the question; why does the opinion of a Molly Ivins or a Paul Krugman carry weight? The system in which these editorial writers emerged still exists, but newspapers are now probably as well-read on the web as they are in print. Both Molly and Paul, exceptional and bright as they are, nonetheless have only their personal opinion to express, as do tens of thousands, every day. Ultimately, those who speak for the nation today have reached the heights of punditry by selflessly working their way up the career ladder available to them. Anointment by the major media is still the best way to have a “voice” recognized as worthy of recognition, and such anointment is often a matter of who you know, or said differently, who’s asses have you kissed that hold positions of power? In 60 days, The Bushiad has been viewed the by U.S. government and 45,000 people from over 60 countries around the globe. At any given time, people in eight to ten countries are on line reading The Bushiad. I have been stunned by the global reach of the network, as viewers in nations like Luxembourg, Thailand, Columbia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Hong Kong, and Cuba join the predictable viewers in England, France, Austria, Germany and Australia. Perhaps more intriguing has been the record of viewers in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait and Iran. And as China, South Korea, the Russian Federation and Japan joined the list, allies and past political opponents of the United States, not to mention enemies, seemed to enjoy Homeric satire as well. The French seem particularly fond of the site, and in one online review said that “Homer is turning in his grave” at the contemporary satire of The Bushiad. Whether the humor was lost in translation, or the French simply must make an intellectual contest of all written works, the reviewer went on to find deep meaning in the work never intended by the author. I think Jacques Derrida is turning in his grave. When www.michaelmoore.com chose The Bushiad as it’s website of the week in April, the numbers really heated up. Michael’s site, managed by able editors and staff, spends much of its screen real estate hawking Mike’s movies and books. No question about it, though, Mike Moore is a “voice” that has emerged, despite the hostility of the major media to his personal appearance and persona. His first film, Roger and Me, so skewered General Motors and the entire corporate culture that Mike became a working class media hero to millions. In the intervening years, he has learned the lessons of keeping the public on his side by using humor to tell his tales. It is his humor and the ability he has to deal with a deadly serious “third-rail” subject without getting electrocuted that keeps his work fresh and his name in the news. Accordingly, when his website focused on The Bushiad, thousands went to site every day for weeks. About the same time, because like all media, the web feeds off itself and builds stories on stories, www.counterpunch.com and www.buzzflash.com linked to The Bushiad and thousands more began to read the epic tale. The emails began to roll into my mailbox. One of the first, and still one of the best was from a gentleman who remarked that “your name cannot be real, because it is just too perfect.” He then went on to reflect upon my creation of a psychological profile of George Bush, and how it remained internally consistent throughout the book. He had, quite obviously, read the entire thing, all 48 chapters of narrative poetry. He concluded with an observation that Saddam had been told by a woman in the State Department that the U.S. would not interfere if he invaded Kuwait to protect his oil assets, which he charged were being stolen by lateral drilling techniques. He thought this a matter of consequence, but could not recall the name of the State Department official. April Glasspie, I reminded him in reply. Another writer took issue with my portrayal of Osama Bin Laden; too sympathetic, he opined. I thanked him for his comments, and conveyed to him my attempt, perhaps only somewhat successful, to undercut the official U.S. portrait of Osama as simply a blood-thirsty demon intent on raining death on innocents. In drawing a picture of Osama as a religious true-believer I was, I explained, comparing him with George Bush, who also believes he is doing God’s work. I never heard back from the writer. One correspondence asked me if I might, like Homer, be blind. He then went on to tell me that generations from now, high school students will be reading and discussing The Bushiad much as earlier generations have reviewed The Iliad. Now that was an ego boost.
The host of a liberal talk-radio program on
the east coast contacted me and asked for my permission to open his show
each day by reading a chapter of The Bushiad. I was more than happy
to consent, and his web-streamed broadcast even gave me the opportunity to
listen in. Given that the Homeric Epics were recited live at three day
festivals, I must admit to real pleasure in the knowing that the words
would be spoken aloud.
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