A Brief Thought About Bush And Madoff

What scares me about Bush is that, in his last and failing days, even I find myself feeling empathy for him at times, which is to discount the terrible wrongdoing, incompetence and death he has caused (think of "Shock and Awe" and the criminal bombing of Baghdad alone). Bush is another Bernie Madoff, or vice versa, and the awful truth about both is the astonishing corruption (both literal and moral) that lone individuals can encompass, and the worldwide havoc they can wreak. Madoff's assault on philanthropy alone should earn him a special place in the hell I don't believe in, and I hope that my moments of empathy for Bush are simply that which makes us all human. To empathize is not necessarily to sympathize; forgiveness is a key virtue but it does not require us to forget wrongdoing, rather to learn from it. Here ends my sermon for today:-)