Friday I Ching from Uselesstree: Bush Will Rebound

The Useless Tree: Friday I Ching: Bush Will Rebound
Sam Crane asked Yi how Bush should handle whatever the fallout may be from the latest political scandals, and received 16 changing to 24. Hes interpreting this less as what Bush needs to do, …

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Hexagram 16 is an interesting response to what I personally think a somewhat disturbing question. It reminds me of the games arm-chair generals play, wondering what if Hitler had recognized the futility of trying to take Stalingrad and simply contained and bypassed the defiant city. Of course, a moment’s thought shows the silliness of such speculation. Ruthlessly crushing all who opposed him was a major component of Der Fuhrer’s psychological makeup, so allowing Stalingrad to stand in defiance was obviously impossibile, even if it was in retrospect the decision he should have made.
Something similar is at work in Bush number 43. I see nothing in the President’s behavior to date that indicates he is capable of the sorts of changes you and Mr Yi seem to suggest. The desire to put what’s best for the country over his own personal need to surround himself with loyal and trusted advisers just isn’t in him.
That said, I think that perhaps Bush has installed a “helper” who might shore up his political fortunes: Judge Sam Alito. And indeed, this will set the armies of social conservatives marching, traditionally Bush’s staunchest allies. With the nomination of Harriet Meiers, the President’s core constituency threatened open revolt. Giving the American Taliban the red meat they howled for, in the form of a hyper-conservative judicial activist like Alito, should keep them content for a while and prevent Bush’s poll numbers from plunging into the teens. I am tempted to say that the warning of line 1 applies to poor Harriet. When she was seen gushing over the President, saying he was the most brilliant man she’d ever known, I think a lot of alarm bells went ringing, even among her nominal supporters.
But I also see a different interpretation of Hex 16, one half in agreement with your own. Let’s say that you’re correct and along with Scooter Libby, a politically savvy Bush should also throw Cheney and perhaps a few others overboard in the interest of making a clean start. This would enrage the War Party, since the Vice President and those around him were the principal architects of the war in Iraq and the war on some forms of terror. If Bush then followed through on his military threats against Syria or Iran, I think that among those who share his imperial vision for America, he would be once again transformed into the hero he imagines himself to be: tough, brave, a man of action. The media loved Bush the hero, conqueror of Iraq, so I think they might eagerly play along in exchange for exclusive footage and a few choice embeds.
You say that the Yi suggesting another war would be “perverse”, but I say Bush’s presidency has been nothing if not perverse, an aberration in the history of this country. State sanctioned torture, “extraordinary rendition”, rampant cronyism and corruption, the suspension of habeus corpus and potentially posse comitatus as well, unabashed militarism and a unilateral war of choice in defiance of our closest allies: the list is nigh endless. My only question is what is meant by Hexagram 24. To what shall we return, Bush’s halcyon days of “Mission Accomplished”, or to the values and rule of law that once made this great nation a beacon of justice and freedom in a dark and troubled world?

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From experience, it proves not easy to interpret oracles concerning charismatic world or local leaders as some lead charmed lives (think Bill Clinton and Dr Mahathir Mohamed). Perhaps they became leaders not only from their own efforts.
After pondering on Yi’s pronouncements, we record down our interpretations and wait for the unfolding of events. Since two lines are changing in this oracle, it depicts time too. Therefore only from the unfolding of events, can we really tell whether the interpretations were indeed correct or wrong, and learn from mistakes, if any.
Then again, sincerity is of utmost importance in such divinations. The reason why one can rely on oracles given to Sam.

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This is a great comment stream. Just for matters of clarification: I do appreciate Allan’s trust in my sincerity. I try to be sincere. But I am not a political innocent. I was raised, intellectually, in a rather hard-bitten, cynical world of political analysts. My own personal politics are fairly close to Michael’s. But I have learned, rather painfully since 1980, that what I want to happen in politics is not necessarily what will happen. It doesn’t really matter that I would like the rising scandals to bring Bush down. Rather, what matters, is how larger political forces (public opinion, international events, economic conditions, even natural disasters) combine and produce particular outcomes. When we look into the future we cannot see all of these forces and how they might come together. The Yi gives us some suggestions. And if the Yi suggests that there are certain things Bush can do to save himself from the current mess, then I, for one, am willing to take that possibility seriously, even if it pushes against my own political calculations and desires. Whatever happens, the Yi is always interesting and thought-provoking.
And thanks, Michael, for the very appropriate Tao Te Ching passage.

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We all seem to agree that US President Bush needs to learn his lessons well for the good of his country and the people. Perhaps the easy is shown by the Yi to return to the Light by way of Hexagram 24 Fu / Return. When someone has gone astray, he needs to return to the path. Either that or he may have to learn through the hard way after the house collapses – Hexagram 23 Bo / Splitting Apart.
The image of hexagram 23 often comes to mind when reading Yi’s answers to Sam on matters of state in the US. Without any indication of Bo, things could be on the mend.
That said, one recalls an oracle indicating Splitting Apart given to another sincere diviner just before last year’s US presidential elections. Although his reading of the winning candidate was incorrect at the time, the Yi could be foretelling about subsequent events; as a previous oracle given to him took years to unfold.
Therefore it is unwise to jump the gun so to speak, since we never know until the Yi tell us exactly what Heaven has in store for the incumbent US President and the United States of America.
In my previous post, the last paragraph was to address ‘No mind’ on the matter of sincerity. If my perception is correct, ‘No mind’ probably has reached that state, two years ago. The next challenge is (for her) to interpret the reliable oracles.

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