Mouse Tells the Mendacious Current Occupant of the White House What He Should Say to North Korea's Leader
"I acknowledge that you have the right to defend yourself against your enemies. And I stipulate that in naming you as one of the three members of an 'Axis of Evil' I have openly declared that I am your enemy. I also completely understand, given our actions in Iraq and our belligerent attitude toward Iran, how you might feel threatened by us, by me in particular. In a word, you as the leader of a sovereign nation are completely within your right in taking the steps you have taken.
"But there is an alternative. By asking yourself how I came to think of North Korea as an evil state, you might then try to find a way to remove or change the behaviors that led me to that conclusion. That's one way people might act when they see that they are doing something offensive to their friends. You might ask yourself whether there is another way to raise revenue for your nation other than by selling missiles and other military hardware to my enemies and the enemies of my friends. You might ask yourself whether it is wise to spend nearly all of your nation's income on the maintenance of armies rather than on feeding your people. You might wonder whether it would be better to sit down with me in a friendly discussion of these and other issues rather than spending yourself further and further into debt.
"I have asked myself these very same questions in regard to what I have been doing in Iraq, and I venture to tell you that the answers I have been giving myself are just as distasteful to me as I imagine yours would be to you. I clearly made a mistake by arbitrarily naming you as an evil nation without first trying to settle our differences. I have clearly made a mistake by going to war with Iraq. I see now that my concerns for Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction might have better been resolved by other means, the UN's inspection teams being one of them. I see now that many -- perhaps most -- of the world's problems could be resolved if you and I and other national leaders were to act more like human beings than petulant children. I see that I have been as guilty as you have in not seeking peaceful solutions to the aches and pains of nationhood.
"You may wonder how I came to this sudden change of heart. It happened quite suddenly, and came about from a conversation I was having with one of my daughters. I don't recall exactly how the subject came up but my daughter had wondered why our history books were so filled with the exploits of people like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte when, as she said, 'those guys were not much more than empire building killers.' I know she didn't mean her question to have the effect it had -- at least, I don't think she did -- but I couldn't help but see that history might record me the same way, as an 'empire building killer.'
"That started me to thinking. I asked myself, 'Why did those historical figures do what they did?' I'm not a historian but I knew enough to realize that one of them, Alexander the Great, and maybe all of them were acting probably the only way they thought they could act. Alexander was born at a time when the Greek city states were constantly at each others' throats. It must have seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to conclude that it's either kill or be killed. He might easily have concluded that he had no choice but to go to war if he was to protect his people from certain death.
"It was not hard for me to see that in today's word it's not city states but nation states that are engaged in this constant state of war. Nor was it hard for me to see myself as just another man like Alexander. It was as I say easy because by that identification I could have have created for myself a measure of justification for the things I have been doing since taking office. But as you may know, I am also a Christian, and we Christians sometimes when we're in a quandary ask ourselves, 'What would Jesus do?' I got an answer that went something like what I am proposing to you. Jesus would ask us -- you and me -- to make sure that we put our love for humanity and for life itself at the forefront of all our relationships. He would advise us not merely to say that war is a 'last resort,' but actually to behave as if we honestly and completely believed what we were saying. He would ask us to find a way to live together in peace.
"When I heard those answers, I knew right then that I had not done enough to do God's will. I had acted in the way of a barbarian, a man who had never heard Jesus's message of love. And I committed myself -- then and there -- to speak to you as I am speaking at this moment. And yes, as you might imagine, I have told my advisers and other interested people what I was going to say to you, and as you might also imagine, they were adamantly opposed. 'Haven't we already tried to meet them halfway? Haven't we exhausted all possible means to avoid direct conflict?' I answered them as I am answering you: 'Have you ever heard me say to Kim Jung Il anything like the words I have told you I intend to say?' They could only shake their heads, and that told me -- and them -- that we had not exhausted all possibilities. We have not spoken as human beings who know the difference between right and wrong. We have, as I said earlier, acted as petulant children.
"Jesus, you see, had seen what Alexander had not been able to see. Jesus saw things as God might see them. He saw that we human beings are capable of behaving out of a deeper caring for humanity than we had at any time in history. He saw that we are in fact capable of acting in a manner reflecting a care for all of humankind and not for ourselves alone. I suppose, human minds beings what they are, he had no illusions that it would be easy. But you may be assured that, in speaking to you as I am, I am doing one of the easiest things I have ever done. I am speaking the unguarded and absolute truth and, as Jesus said it would, this truth has set me free. I am more of a man at this moment than I have ever been before, and if you take me at my word, if you agree with me that there is nothing in this world that we cannot accomplish if we apply our hearts, minds and souls to the task at hand. If we do that, I am confident we can find a way to live together as loving brothers.
"I pledge to you that these words are the truest I have ever spoken. They are the best I have within me. I pray their meaning will find a comfortable place in your heart and that you and I can henceforth set an example to all the world of how people might behave when they truly accept responsibility for themselves and for all of humankind.
"Thank you, and good evening."
"But there is an alternative. By asking yourself how I came to think of North Korea as an evil state, you might then try to find a way to remove or change the behaviors that led me to that conclusion. That's one way people might act when they see that they are doing something offensive to their friends. You might ask yourself whether there is another way to raise revenue for your nation other than by selling missiles and other military hardware to my enemies and the enemies of my friends. You might ask yourself whether it is wise to spend nearly all of your nation's income on the maintenance of armies rather than on feeding your people. You might wonder whether it would be better to sit down with me in a friendly discussion of these and other issues rather than spending yourself further and further into debt.
"I have asked myself these very same questions in regard to what I have been doing in Iraq, and I venture to tell you that the answers I have been giving myself are just as distasteful to me as I imagine yours would be to you. I clearly made a mistake by arbitrarily naming you as an evil nation without first trying to settle our differences. I have clearly made a mistake by going to war with Iraq. I see now that my concerns for Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction might have better been resolved by other means, the UN's inspection teams being one of them. I see now that many -- perhaps most -- of the world's problems could be resolved if you and I and other national leaders were to act more like human beings than petulant children. I see that I have been as guilty as you have in not seeking peaceful solutions to the aches and pains of nationhood.
"You may wonder how I came to this sudden change of heart. It happened quite suddenly, and came about from a conversation I was having with one of my daughters. I don't recall exactly how the subject came up but my daughter had wondered why our history books were so filled with the exploits of people like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte when, as she said, 'those guys were not much more than empire building killers.' I know she didn't mean her question to have the effect it had -- at least, I don't think she did -- but I couldn't help but see that history might record me the same way, as an 'empire building killer.'
"That started me to thinking. I asked myself, 'Why did those historical figures do what they did?' I'm not a historian but I knew enough to realize that one of them, Alexander the Great, and maybe all of them were acting probably the only way they thought they could act. Alexander was born at a time when the Greek city states were constantly at each others' throats. It must have seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to conclude that it's either kill or be killed. He might easily have concluded that he had no choice but to go to war if he was to protect his people from certain death.
"It was not hard for me to see that in today's word it's not city states but nation states that are engaged in this constant state of war. Nor was it hard for me to see myself as just another man like Alexander. It was as I say easy because by that identification I could have have created for myself a measure of justification for the things I have been doing since taking office. But as you may know, I am also a Christian, and we Christians sometimes when we're in a quandary ask ourselves, 'What would Jesus do?' I got an answer that went something like what I am proposing to you. Jesus would ask us -- you and me -- to make sure that we put our love for humanity and for life itself at the forefront of all our relationships. He would advise us not merely to say that war is a 'last resort,' but actually to behave as if we honestly and completely believed what we were saying. He would ask us to find a way to live together in peace.
"When I heard those answers, I knew right then that I had not done enough to do God's will. I had acted in the way of a barbarian, a man who had never heard Jesus's message of love. And I committed myself -- then and there -- to speak to you as I am speaking at this moment. And yes, as you might imagine, I have told my advisers and other interested people what I was going to say to you, and as you might also imagine, they were adamantly opposed. 'Haven't we already tried to meet them halfway? Haven't we exhausted all possible means to avoid direct conflict?' I answered them as I am answering you: 'Have you ever heard me say to Kim Jung Il anything like the words I have told you I intend to say?' They could only shake their heads, and that told me -- and them -- that we had not exhausted all possibilities. We have not spoken as human beings who know the difference between right and wrong. We have, as I said earlier, acted as petulant children.
"Jesus, you see, had seen what Alexander had not been able to see. Jesus saw things as God might see them. He saw that we human beings are capable of behaving out of a deeper caring for humanity than we had at any time in history. He saw that we are in fact capable of acting in a manner reflecting a care for all of humankind and not for ourselves alone. I suppose, human minds beings what they are, he had no illusions that it would be easy. But you may be assured that, in speaking to you as I am, I am doing one of the easiest things I have ever done. I am speaking the unguarded and absolute truth and, as Jesus said it would, this truth has set me free. I am more of a man at this moment than I have ever been before, and if you take me at my word, if you agree with me that there is nothing in this world that we cannot accomplish if we apply our hearts, minds and souls to the task at hand. If we do that, I am confident we can find a way to live together as loving brothers.
"I pledge to you that these words are the truest I have ever spoken. They are the best I have within me. I pray their meaning will find a comfortable place in your heart and that you and I can henceforth set an example to all the world of how people might behave when they truly accept responsibility for themselves and for all of humankind.
"Thank you, and good evening."
posted by Benedict S. at 2:04 PM
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