Professor Cole on Suskind's "Without a Doubt"

We discussed Ron Suskind's piece here yesterday. As one would anticipate, Juan Cole give us a more academic and intelligent take on it this morning (but without the nifty graphic). He compares Bush's policy by faith to Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward in China.

Ron Suskind's profile of George W. Bush reminded me eerily of Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Suskind portrays Bush as filled with unwarranted certainty, sure that God is speaking and working through him, and convinced that decisive action shapes reality in ways that make it unnecessary to first study reality.

This approach to policy-making, it seems to me, should be called Right Maoism. The History Learning Site reminds us that in 1958 Mao initiated what he called the "Great Leap Forward" with the aim of boosting both Chinese industry and agriculture, through the reorganization of China into over 25,000 communes.

Mao's Great Leap Forward truly was a leap of faith and that faith was unfounded resulting in disaster. The same can be said for Georgw W. Bush's faith in his "gut". It too is a faith unfounded and bringing this country to the brink of disaster. Read Juan Cole's entire post at the above link.