Has power corrupted Bush? Absolutely
Has power corrupted Bush? Absolutely
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/
7/5/06
A poll this week finds that anti-Americanism in Britain is unprecedentedly high. An alarming number even "hate" Uncle Sam. This is worrying but not surprising, since it is not unreasonable to fear - and fear engenders hate - the powerful, and America is supremely powerful.
Defenders of America deny this. American power, they say, is on the side of the Angels, a force to be welcomed rather than feared. Rubbish. In this context we would be wise to recall the words of the great 19th-century historian Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton had emperors, tsars, kings, popes and aristocrats in mind, since in those days they were the wielders of power.
But today it is the democratic and liberal US President. His illegal decision to invade Iraq is pretty conclusive evidence of a judgment corrupted who, at any rate for the time being, is in that corrupting position, and his illegal decision to invade Iraq is pretty conclusive evidence of a judgment corrupted. Much of his administration's rhetoric about seizing this post-Cold War window of opportunity to spread democracy to all mankind - even if this does involve acts of aggression - evokes the same damning conclusion.
Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. No exceptions. In the case of 20th-century tyrants like Stalin and Hitler, it certainly did. So far in the 21st century, however, there is only one name to which these words might seem to apply and it is not Osama bin Laden's. This is not being anti-American, it is being anti-power, even liberal and democratic power.
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