Not King George... King George III

George Washington thought the office that was ultimately named President should be named King. He thought he should be America's King George.

George W. Bush is America's third president named George. That would have made him King George III of America, if the Father of Our Country had had his druthers.

Way back in 2003, even before W announced the "shock and awe" that had started in Baghdad on March 19th, I started calling him King George III. A relative (actually, an in-law) sent me an email saying how similar W was to... I forget, but it was either Lincoln or Washington. It was just too easy to reply with all the ways W was similar to Hitler in the days leading up to the war. So I didn't. I replied with all the ways W was similar to England's King George III.

You may recall that England's King George III (EKG3) presided over the war that eventually heralded England's fall from the strata of superpower: The American Revolution. EKG3 was also reputed to be slightly insane. He also didn't care for facts but surrounded himself with people who thought of the American colonist agitators as "a few dead-enders." He led the most powerful army in the world. He wanted the natural resources available in a land across the Atlantic Ocean, and he was willing to do anything to support the economic interests of his friends running major industries at the time (think East India Trading Company to W's Halliburton). He exhibited hubris unparalleled, wilfully blinding himself to the fact that invasions are difficult, costly, and often unsuccessful. The reasons continue to mount the more you look at the situations.

AKG3 (America's King George III) has been at this imperialistic warmongering for his corporate buddies quite a while. You'd think he'd get better at it with experience, but apparently he doesn't.

I will admit there is a difference in the two Georges' starting points for their failed wars. England's George started with friendly colonists and alienated them through bad economic and political policy, then turned to force to try to shut them down. America's George started with a strong world position and growing cultural influence and positioning worldwide, and through his awful policy he has started America's political, social, and cultural standing down the slippery slope of ruin and has spawned an entire generation of America-hating religious zealots.

I am happy that four years later, the political columnists are finally seeing things my way. (Actually, they've always seen it my way, but now they're just realizing they should be calling him King George. I wonder when they're going to clue in to the whole III thing.)