George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 259

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“Burns well. Burns even better than the Saudi oil fields.”

For a brief moment, Bush felt like he was Zhuge Liang [a famous strategist from the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, known for his wisdom]. Unconsciously, he muttered to himself.

So, what was he burning?

“I’m a man of improvisation, so a well-established plan doesn’t suit me. Yes, that’s right.”

It was a well-established vacation plan. Some people write them down, some don’t, but Bush was one to always write them down. The problem was that the plans rarely went as written, but this time, he intended to stick to it.

That was until he saw Laura Bush’s condition. It wasn’t that her health was bad. Or maybe it was bad. At least, healthy people don’t have dark circles under their eyes. Her eyes, which makeup couldn’t quite cover, were a dark, dusky color.

Seeing that, Bush crumpled the one-page plan and threw it into the barbecue pit. The reddish-black burning paper gave off a smoky aroma reminiscent of wine tannins.

The plan had been reduced to one thing, so there was no need for a plan. That’s what he thought when he threw it in. Even if that weren’t the case, asking someone who’s been traveling all their life to go on a trip is just crazy. Of course, she would follow without complaint if asked, but that wouldn’t be worth it. This vacation was for ‘family peace’.

He had been forced out by the Chief of Staff’s insistence, but since it was a vacation for her, he intended to do his best.

“You’ve made me busier,” she said to Bush as her first words.

“Really?”

He knew everything. But Bush pretended not to know. It was too embarrassing to admit, regardless of the authority of the head of the household. Although he always tried to live without shame before heaven.

“Really. You know I can’t even go home, let alone the White House. The former First Lady wasn’t like this, I heard.”

It seemed to be true. He knew her work and movements, but he couldn’t confirm exactly what she was doing within that framework. He had to pay attention to the bigger picture.

Seeing Bush awkwardly putting meat on the barbecue pit, she chuckled softly.

“We’re getting older, so maybe this is better than traveling.”

“Of course! Absolutely. An ancient sage said to find peace in everyday life, not far away. I don’t remember who it was, though.”

Bush flipping the meat. Laura sitting in a rocking chair, wearing sunglasses and looking up at the sky. Everything seemed to be going well. Until this was said.

“But I don’t understand why one person is aging honestly, while the other is aging in reverse.”

That could be good or bad. If it was about his physical body, it was a compliment. Thanks to healthy eating and regular exercise, Bush’s health was better than ever.

If it was about his personality, it was criticism. Since 9/11, Bush’s personality had not been good, to put it mildly. When he threw the speech at the time, the public cheered, but many criticized him for going too far.

Originally, the ultimate in consideration and tact was to gloss over it with a good-natured smile, but Bush couldn’t overcome his curiosity and opened his mouth.

“Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?”

“I wonder.”

“But it’s not a bad thing, right?”

“I wonder.”

She just consistently answered ‘I wonder’ to Bush’s questions that poured out like a waterfall with a benevolent expression.

The first real vacation. During the 7 nights and 8 days of vacation, Bush had to hear countless ‘I wonders.’ Until the day he went back to work at the White House.

* * *

“What are you glaring at?”

“No. It’s just that you seem more tired after the vacation than before, Mr. President.”

“…Consider it a family matter.”

“A family matter. I also had circumstances during my last vacation. Do you remember?”

“Hmm, Israel, was it?”

There was no need to say more. No need to explain more. Israel was simply annoying. Even though the benefits and aid Israel received had never decreased, they always annoyed Bush. In other words, ‘We’re giving you as much as you’re taking, so why are you bothering us more?’

That’s not to say he had any personal feelings about screwing over Israel, so he left most of the Israel issue to the staff.

The problem here was the recent issue between Israel and Palestine. It goes without saying what the problem is, and to put it simply:

In short, they wanted to reconcile. More precisely, they were in a state of ‘Please, someone stop this endless conflict!’ With Israel struggling in the Second Intifada [a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence], one side had to show dominance to do anything, but what could they expect from a war with no end in sight? Moreover, there was no case in the history of war where an occupation succeeded by completely turning the people into enemies.

‘Even if they create a negotiation table, it will fall apart.’

Because the goals they aimed for were like the N and S poles of a magnet. And that was actually the case. In the original history, the negotiation table that Bush created broke down in a hostile atmosphere, and the Oslo Accords [agreements aimed at creating a Palestinian state], a kind of autonomy agreement signed during Bill Clinton’s time, also fizzled out. What could be done?

“In my opinion, the day peace comes to our friends Israel and Palestine is at least the day one of them disappears.”

“That’s very sensitive. It’s best not to say or mention it outside if you don’t want to ruin the image you’ve built up.”

“Damn it, I know. I know. But what if that’s the truth? If you drop an apple, does it go up? It falls down. Maybe these two will keep fighting even if aliens invade Earth. History and ethnicity made them that way.”

“Even if it’s true, there’s a way to express it indirectly.”

“I can’t be that kind of person. I’ve always been like this. My mouth has gotten dirtier and my personality has become more impatient since I came to this position, but I’ve never said anything I didn’t mean. You know that best, don’t you?”

“That’s true. But isn’t that what the world is like? Not everyone agrees with your thoughts, Mr. President.”

The Chief of Staff’s nagging came to Bush with a different nature and meaning than Laura’s nagging. And he roughly understood why the Chief of Staff was like this.

“Damn it, I feel like I’m meeting a university professor. I understand, so please stop. I was wrong. It was definitely not a good idea to omit ten out of twenty speeches and summarize them into five lines.”

“Five lines?”

“Yes, four lines. But if you increase the font size a little more, it will barely be five lines.”

Bush gestured as if he was zooming in on the screen of a smartphone with his finger on the document.

“Meet the standards, meet the standards. How beautiful is that echo?”

“You can’t fit everything in the world to the standards. If you see a soldier who can’t wear clothes because he’s too tall, are you going to cut off his legs to fit the height?”

“Just create a bigger standard. Like XXXXXXL size.”

“My God. Are you planning to dress a giant?”

“Honestly, I personally hope that giants exist. Oh, right. Now that I think about it, biotechnology has suddenly made great strides recently. If it develops a little more, we may be able to design life itself at will.”

The Chief of Staff stroked his chin as if he had suddenly remembered something, then smiled with satisfaction as if he had found something to tease.

“Come to think of it, the next-generation gene scissors were inspired by your remarks, Mr. President, so isn’t this also foresight? The most powerful President in the world.”

“Damn it! Stop talking about foresight. I don’t like it.”

Even though it only gave inspiration, wasn’t it taken from someone else? Even the person who stole it from was not dead or a person from the future, but a person who was alive and researching. It was for the progress of mankind, but it felt like his heart was breaking to steal the culmination of his hard work so casually.

“I understand. If that’s what you want, Mr. President, I will gladly shut my mouth. But please know that thanks to that, the complaints about the support funds for biotechnology that you have strongly argued for in Congress have disappeared.”

How could he not know that? It was also to invest more in this area, but it was also a move to somehow shake up the medical and pharmaceutical industries at the end of his term.

“I wonder if fascism will re-emerge.”

“Surely not. Unless you decide to amend the constitution. And fascism doesn’t emerge just because you’re good at politics and popular. Isn’t that what you know best?”

“I don’t know. It may emerge in another way. They say that the history of mankind repeats itself. I feel grateful to President Roosevelt again. If it weren’t for that man, we could have done this crazy thing several more times.”

“That’s a relief.”

This time, he completely agreed with the President’s remarks. In fact, if it weren’t for Bush’s desperate request, his true feelings were that he wanted to retire as soon as he found a successor. Andrew Card was too old to handle this insane workload normally.

While thinking about that and reviewing the documents to be passed on to the President next, Bush was not receiving the documents he was supposed to receive and was saying something out of the blue?

“That’s right. Maybe this is better.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I’m talking about Israel.”

“Yes, the lobbyists were extreme. They were making a fuss asking for something more. Surely, you’re not thinking of giving them more?”

“No, I won’t give them more. I don’t want to increase spending at a time when we’re gradually reducing aid. But that’s right. What do you think about setting up the negotiation table between Israel and Palestine at Camp David?”

“Didn’t you say that negotiations were meaningless?”

“That’s between the two of them. We have it. At least we can show that we made an effort, can’t we?”

“Isn’t it too early? Just yesterday, they were sharpening their knives, saying they would wipe out the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) [a political organization representing the Palestinian people]. Maybe what Israel wants right now is more of the latest weapons and soldiers.”

“That’s right. But didn’t you say it earlier?”

Bush answered, glancing at the silver-shining globe that had been modified several times.

“They also have a sense of the world.”