A Disconnect Between Speech and Action
- Share via
Re “U.S. Warms to a Cohering Europe,” Feb. 20: After painfully sitting through President Bush’s speech in Brussels, I believe I have reached an insight about the rhetoric of this president and, by extension, the rhetoric of the conservative movement in general. It simply amounts to the realization that there is a complete disconnect between what is said and what is felt or what is done.
To me this is reminiscent of a comment of Bertrand Russell on the meaning of formalist mathematics. To paraphrase, Russell said that the formalist mathematician is like a watchmaker who is so absorbed in making his watches beautiful that he neglects to insert any works. Now a watch that doesn’t work is not such a terrible thing. But a president of the United States who behaves in such a manner is a horse of another color.
Lester Goldfisher
Grover Beach
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox twice per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
