George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 245

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“Well, I don’t know.”

To George Bush Sr.’s surprise, his son’s response was rather lukewarm. This was likely because Bush already had ‘one person’ like that around him. In fact, the person who would actually become president if Bush died was sitting in the vice president’s seat.

Yet, this running mate was also Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney’s greatest talent was his ability to speak plausibly, which, in other words, meant he was unmatched in terms of electoral capabilities.

“I’ll try to stop it, but I don’t think it’s my place.”

Thinking his son was grooming a successor, George Bush Sr. pressed him further.

“Do you think you’ve gotten any wiser as you’ve gotten older?”

“No. No. …Maybe?”

Bush stuttered, which was very rare for him. It was related to Bush’s very core being. Currently, Bush was a person who had fused two beings and lived twice the life, wasn’t he? So, in other words, he had aged twice as much, but he hadn’t lived a complete life either, so it was hard to say it was entirely true.

However, if he were to say something ordinary like, ‘As you get older, you just get more prejudiced,’ it didn’t seem like that was the answer George Bush Sr. wanted.

Although George Bush Sr. wasn’t thrilled with his son’s response, he decided to interpret the ensuing silence as a positive sign and continued the conversation.

“With the passage of time, a genius can become a moron, and a moron can become a genius. It’s the same as how child prodigies become mediocre as they get older. Evolution isn’t always positive, and devolution isn’t always negative.”

In short, getting older didn’t automatically make you wiser.

“That’s difficult to understand. Did you have to make it so complicated?”

“Then that must be because I’ve gotten old. You’ll see when you get to this age.”

The fishing float subtly bobbed, dipping under the surface and then resurfacing. With practiced hands, he reeled it in, and a fish the size of a forearm emerged. It was so strong that the small boat rocked violently every time it thrashed.

“Personally, I prefer things to be simple and clear. There were a few times when my executive orders were ambiguous and deviated from my intentions.”

And most of those were cases where the CIA ran wild on its own. He was especially horrified when he heard that people had been kidnapped and imprisoned in South America. At the same time, it was a valuable time for Bush to truly recognize and understand the power he possessed.

‘He’s surprisingly strict with himself. But there’s no guarantee that it won’t develop in the wrong direction.’

Fortunately, the position of President of the United States was a position that could only be held for a maximum of eight years. Now, there were only four years left. It was too short a time for his character to become twisted in four years, or for everyone but himself to suddenly appear as something dirty.

The idea of a chosen people isn’t that difficult to develop. It’s just a matter of degree. From the start, everyone lives with it. However, a serious problem arises when the idea of a chosen people or elitism intervenes in politics… No, the intervention itself doesn’t matter. Even in American politics, there are plenty of people like that.

However, a serious problem arises when it becomes the mainstream or when the leading figure in the political world possesses it. There was a perfectly matching example right across the Atlantic: fascism and Hitler.

“You’ve been in that position for four years, and you’ve managed not to become a misanthrope.”

George Bush Sr., as the director of the CIA, had plenty of time to prepare himself. Unlike his son, who had only been in positions like governor or team owner, George Bush Sr. had the time and opportunity to voluntarily encounter the necessary evils that arise in order to run a country.

“Isn’t this that kind of position? A position where you have to love humanity with infinite agape [unconditional love], even if you want to hate it. Actually, it’s more like the people are embracing me rather than me embracing them. Let’s just call it a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.”

The float on Bush’s fishing rod went deep down and then bounced back up, soon floating aimlessly on the surface. What this meant was simple.

“Son of a bitch.”

As Bush cursed and reeled in the line, the reel listlessly wound up the fishing line. Only a few scraps of flesh dangled pitifully from the hook. It was probably left behind in the process of tearing the fish’s mouth.

“Haha! This is what you call experience!”

George Bush Sr. exuberantly thumped the icebox containing the forearm-sized fish. The fish inside the icebox struggled violently, pounding against the walls as if protesting about the noise between floors.

‘This guy. Just a moment ago, he was lecturing me that age is useless.’

Whether it was because he didn’t catch a fish, or because of his inconsistent words and actions, or perhaps both, Bush felt inexplicably annoyed.

“Is life after giving up all your power livable?”

“Of course. It’s very livable.”

George Bush Sr. was like a model of retirement life that many people dreamed of. And in fact, he hadn’t given up all his power. Would the power of someone who had once sat in the highest position in the country and held various key positions vanish like smoke just because they retired?

Above all, the weight of the title of former president is considerable. Especially when you have the additional title of being the current president’s father. Still, compared to being in active service, it was just an occasional side job. To this extent, it was more of an event for George Bush Sr. that injected vitality into his leisurely retirement life rather than being a nuisance.

“I have to see how far our Bush family goes.”

George Bush Sr. subtly hoped that Jeb Bush would become president after George W. Bush, but he shook his head and dismissed that thought. This was by no means because Jeb Bush’s abilities were lacking. Even when viewed coldly and objectively, apart from his father’s perspective, his administrative abilities were decent enough.

However, the reason he rejected Jeb Bush as the next president was that he thought that if he were elected, he might face a backlash from the changing times.

Although the United States was enjoying a golden age, he intuitively understood that the golden age would soon be cracked. As they say, history repeats itself, doesn’t it? Since it has risen abnormally, now all that remains is to come down normally. If Jeb Bush were to take power during this period, only God would be able to help him get through it safely.

Conversely, if God wasn’t by his side, depending on his actions, the United States could face an endless dark age. Who knows? Perhaps, like Britannia [historical term for Great Britain], which once dominated the world, Pax Americana [Latin for “American Peace,” referring to the period of relative peace overseen by the United States], a word symbolizing today’s American hegemony, might suddenly disappear like a midsummer night’s dream within the next 10 years or so.

‘But it probably won’t really disappear like a bubble within the next 10 years.’

Anyway, unless there are special family circumstances, a father’s heart is all the same. A father always wants his son to do well. This was the same for George Bush Sr., so he didn’t want his second son to go through a dark age.

“By the way, you really seem to be addicted to work. You finally took a vacation, but it’s only for two days.”

“Everyone is busy during the election season. Including me. In fact, even doing this could be somewhat problematic.”

During the election season, all actions could turn into bullets and come back to haunt you, so you had to be careful in everything. Taking a vacation during this period was something rarely seen throughout history.

“Actually, this is nominally to receive guidance from the former president. And since I’m actually receiving it, it’s hard to say it’s just nominal.”

“It’s all over anyway. The Democratic Party is pushing a young black friend. The hand itself isn’t bad in that he’s a black candidate, but the timing is bad. He should have come out next time. He was probably pushed out due to a lack of power and experience in the Democratic Party’s power struggle. Am I right?”

“You’re exactly right.”

It was so accurate that there was nothing to point out or supplement. As expected, he was still a former president.

“So, that friend’s name is…”

“Obama.”

“Ah, yes. That was the name. Barack Obama.”

George Bush Sr. made a gesture as if he remembered and reeled in the line. A minnow, fearlessly putting a bait the size of its own body halfway into its mouth, was caught on the hook.

George Bush Sr. seemed genuinely disappointed that Obama was a Democrat. It was just that the times weren’t right. The cards that man held were truly powerful. If he had waited just a few more years to mature, but he was pushed out because of that damn political fight?

Even though George Bush Sr. himself had reached the pinnacle of political struggle, he couldn’t help but sometimes feel that it was really useless. Well, even if there was no political struggle, that would be a serious problem in its own right. The absence of political struggle was evidence that it was no longer a ‘two-party’ system.

Moreover, if political struggle disappeared in the true sense, it would be a story after the extinction of mankind. Humans were designed that way.

“Anyway, the important thing is that you’re so overwhelmingly ahead that you can leisurely go fishing like this. Now is the revival and golden age of our Bush family. So, what are you really planning to do for the election campaign?”

“I have to do it formally.”

“Formally, huh? Not bad.”

It was a truly safe choice.

“In some areas, I’m even going to campaign in something like a combat helicopter.”

“Didn’t you just say you were only going to do it formally?”

A combat helicopter? He wondered if he had misheard, but when he recalled the bizarre things that had happened since his son Bush took office, he realized that it wasn’t that special and that he hadn’t misheard.

“It’s something *like* a combat helicopter. We’re just going to decorate it to look roughly like a combat helicopter. It’ll work well in areas with a lot of patriots, like the South. I’ll get some criticism from extreme pacifists, but let them do it.”

“Hmm, the election format seems to have changed a bit recently.”

If you don’t like the formal way, you can just change it, but how easy is that? After showing all sorts of strange performances, legal issues and cost issues will hold you back. But the man currently struggling with the fishing rod in front of him was the man who could change that.

“Alright, do whatever you want.”

George Bush Sr. decided to stop thinking.