George W. Bush: Commodus Reborn

This must be why Garry Trudeau chose the roman emperor helmet as his symbol for Bush in his Doonesbury comic strip. ---BBB

George W. Bush: Commodus Reborn
Editorial by Shane CoryShane Cory, editor of the Washington Dispatch.
October 12, 2004

In 180 A.D., Rome faced one of its greatest challenges as Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (Commodus) succeeded his father in ruling the Empire . Due to his actions during a 12 year reign, he became arguably known as Rome's worst emperor.

Unlike his father who was thought to be kind and genuinely caring, Commodus was violent, short-tempered and thought to be literally insane.

Commodus' violent nature attracted him to death sports. He liked to play warrior, dressing up as either a Gladiator or Hercules in order to fight and kill opponents armed only with wooden defenses (while some say they were made of lead). Comparing himself to the hero Hercules, Commodus claimed to have killed thousands of men in combat.

In order to win the support of the people, Commodus gave large sums of money away to the masses on several occasions, demonstrating a complete lack of fiscally responsibility.

In protecting himself and his actions, the young emperor kept the Roman Senate and others at bay through the use of the Praetorian Guard, a special unit of men loyal not to Rome but to the emperor.

His foreign policy could only be described as erratic. Commodus created a peace treaty with Germanic tribes shortly after taking the throne yet waged war with the Germans regardless. He was also well known to take credit for partial victories in battle, requiring the Senate to Honor him for his accomplishments.

While he played Gladiator and demanded to be treated as a God, Commodus left the affairs of Rome up to corrupt men who pillaged the Empire, sharing their spoils of rule with their constantly vacationing emperor.

The similarities between a Commodus and our American president are striking for those willing to take an unbiased glance into the actions of the Bush administration.

In 2001, following the footsteps of his father, George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. In the opinion of many, he is well on his way in becoming one of the worst presidents in American history.

While Bush shares some of his father's traits such as his difficulty coherently speaking in public, he does contrast with his father's calm and affable nature by being known as short-tempered and highly emotional. Some would argue that due to his record of putting men and women to death as Texas Governor and at times mocking them, that George Bush is a violent man.

While spending a great amount of time on his Crawford ranch, Bush drives around in his pickup truck, slings chainsaws and generally plays cowboy while the media films his experiences. The president is also known for his infamous carrier landing when he unnecessarily dressed up as a fighter pilot in order to address the nation. It can be easily concluded that Bush enjoys his cowboy persona and the ability to play the warrior's role when given the chance.

Shortly after taking office, Bush enacted a retroactive tax break resulting in cash being given to the American masses. While this won the support of many people, a great deal of others questioned the fiscal responsibility of his actions. Throughout his term he continued to offer and propose further largesse despite the highest national debt in the history of the nation.

In protecting and defending his actions, Bush is cushioned by individuals who attack any political opponents who rise against the president while keeping the masses in check and on the side of their president. Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Ailes and others effectively serve as Bush's Praetorian Guard. Although the actions of the individuals above could place them in league with the later Praetorians who literally sold the emperor's seat to the highest bidder (material for a completely different column), they are at the moment committed to their president over the good of the country.

The foreign policy of George W. Bush, specifically what is now known as the Bush Doctrine, defies not only logic but also the history of the United States. The recent not-so-shocking revelation that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction proved to the world that the Bush Doctrine is flawed. Despite the glaring mistake, the doctrine is still defended by the president and his Praetorians. Additionally, Bush is prone to claim partial victories such as his May 2003 speech in which he declared that, "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Bush also commonly states that "our nation and the world are safer" in stark contrast to the daily bombings and violence throughout the world.

Bush has admittedly surrounded himself with men and women of experience and power and obviously defers matters of the nation to their judgments. These individuals, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Rove, etc., drive the agenda of the nation while some actively profit from the decisions they make as members of the Bush administration.

As Commodus had the ultimate power as emperor and could flagrantly mock and dismay the Roman government and his country, a difference only of subtlety remains between America's current president and one of Rome's worst emperors.

History does, from time to time, repeat itself without being evident until it is too late and a wrong is repeated. Thankfully, the American people can choose to end this recycling of history on November 2nd. Unfortunately, a great deal of damage has already been done that will reverberate for generations.

As part of Rome's recovery after the corrupt reign of Commodus, the Senate passed damnatio memoriae which is a damnation of memory. They Romans figuratively tossed all traces of Commodus into the memory hole. Just as Rome had to recover from the reign of Commodus, America must do the same in the coming years by rejecting forever the flawed doctrines, ruling arrogance and international ignorance of the Bush administration.