A moment of peak irony in the B*sh years

CRAWFORD, United States (AFP), Aug 17 2006
US President George W. B*sh quoted French existential writer Albert Camus to European leaders a year and a half ago, and now he's read one of his most famous works: "The Stranger."
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday that B*sh, here on his Texas ranch enjoying a 10-day vacation from Washington, had made quick work of the Algerian-born writer's 1946 novel -- in English.

Absurdism. Existentialism. Alienation. A French philosopher. Killing an Arab with no apparent remorse. The Cure. I mean... Whaddyagonnadoo? I can see why he probably might not cry at his mother's funeral either, but... damn. Dig the "he made quick work" of the book too, all 144 pages of it. I first saw this story here, which contains some fine analysis (with links) in the comments, to wit:

President Discusses American and European Alliance in Belgium
Brussels, Belgium, February 21 2005
'We know there are many obstacles, and we know the road is long. Albert Camus said that, "Freedom is a long-distance race." We're in that race for the duration -- and there is reason for optimism.'

Ronald Aronson, the author of 'Camus and Sartre: The Story of a Friendship and the Quarrel that Ended It', writes....
The quote, "freedom is a long-distance race," was ripped from its context, one that establishes beyond doubt that Camus' words were not meant straightforwardly. No, a careful reading makes clear they were intended as a spoof of the thought of his former good friend, Jean-Paul Sartre.
[....]
The paragraph from which the president quoted begins by having Clamence extolling slavery, as Camus believed Sartre had done by aligning himself with the French Communist Party. Then Camus has Clamence condemn himself of hypocrisy, for which Camus criticized Sartre in his journal, by saying that that he "was always talking of freedom. At breakfast I used to spread it on my toast, I used to chew it all day long, and in company my breath was delightfully redolent of freedom. With that key word I would bludgeon whoever contradicted me; I made it serve my desires and my power."
[....]
Camus' character, while sounding resolute and tireless about pursuing freedom, making it seem daunting and thankless but the mark of a true human being, is really prattling on about freedom. He is intimidating people with it, using it for purposes of self-interest and does not at all believe in it. The grand-sounding phrase about freedom being a "long-distance race" is just another piece of flimflam. Camus, a writer who pondered every phrase, every word, might turn in his grave upon hearing Bush misunderstand his meaning.

I was also glad to see that the experience of reading a book has prompted the Prez himself to start blogging again.