Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Georgsama bush Laden

George Bush and Osama bin Laden have more in common with each other than I do with either one. Both are wealthy scions of powerful families who spent their youths as feckless playboys. They both became deeply religious fundamentalists and both now claim to do God's bidding. And terrifyingly, they both believe that they are fully justified in their use of violence to achieve their political goals. Are these similarities merely superficial? Or do they mean something?

Correction: I just read a succinct biography of bin Laden. He was not in fact a feckless playboy in his youth; that rumor is apparently unfounded. George, the story of transformation from boozy coke-head into born-again religious fanatic is yours alone!

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