The other day President Bush (the lesser) quoted Albert Camus while talking in Brussels. Now we have to give the most powerful imbecile a little bit of credit - he did pronounce Camus' name correctly (Kə-Mu) but one has to wonder if he was either reading Cliff's Notes, or someone else told him to use the line. I'm voting for the second scenario since Mr. Bush admitted he didn't read.
So what's the big deal? The quote is a nice one. As Bush related it:
"Albert Camus said that 'Freedom is a long-distance race, We're in that race for the duration and there is reason for optimism."
See, nice. I'd agree with the sentiment. However, if we move past the Cliff's Notes version (I don't think they do a Camus publication) we see that the quote actually reads more ominously in its full incarnation:
"I didn't know that freedom is not a reward or a decoration that is celebrated with Champagne. Nor yet a gift, a box of dainties designed to make you lick your chops. Oh, no! It's a choice, on the contrary and a long-distance race, quite solitary and very exhausting. No Champagne. No friends raising their glasses as they look at you affectionately. Alone in a forbidding room, alone in the prisoner's box before the judges, and alone to decide in face of oneself or in the face of others' judgment. At the end of all freedom is a court sentence; that's why freedom is too heavy to bear, especially when you're down with a fever, or are distressed, or love nobody."
Um... yeah. I would agree more with Bush's version to some extent. However this is the same man who, on more than one occasion, has complained about the press taking him out of context. Most recently he was shown as saying (on the recording about his marijuana use) about the press "They just float sewer out there." Well, I'm not sure exactly what he was trying to say but I am assuming he is saying that the press makes up stuff - or misquotes stuff. So perhaps if he decides to use the work of a French Existentialist he should be sure that his aides actually read the work first.
My favorite Camus quote:
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
My favorite Bush quote:
Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.Posted by dmason at February 28, 2005 01:37 PM