But for George Bush, the essence of the postwar months of 1991 was a succession of
personal triumphs, a succession which he hoped to extend all the way to the 1992
election. In mid-May, Queen Elizabeth II visited Washington in the context of a tour of
several American cities. In an event which marked a new step in the moral degeneracy of
the United States, Elizabeth Mountbatten-Windsor, lineal descendant of the hated George
III of Hannover, became the first monarch of the United Kingdom ever to address a joint
session of the Congress. Elizabeth spoke with the cynical hypocrisy which is the hallmark
of Anglo-American propaganda. She portrayed Britain and the United States as united by
the rejection of Mao's old dictum that political power "grows out of the barrel of a gun."
She alleged that the spontaneous reaction of both Britain and the United States to the
Kuwait crisis was the same, that it represented "an outrage to be reversed, both for the
people of Kuwait and for the sake of the principle that naked aggression should not
prevail." "Our views were identical and so were our responses," said Elizabeth, paying
tribute to Bush. She also seemed to hint at open-ended committments in the Gulf with her
line that "unfortunately, experience shows that great enterprises seldom end with a tidy
and satisfactory flourish." One who preserved his honor by boycotting this session was
Congressman Gus Savage, who called Elizabeth "the Queen of colonialism," presiding
over an exploited empire in the third world. Bush basked in the praise directed to the
leader of the free world, and for his part raised a few eyebrows by calling Britain "the
mother country." Bush's enjoyment was marred by the exhaustion brought on by his
thyroid problems. And not everyone appreciated Elizabeth: one Washington Post writer
stirred up the Anglophiles by describing her as "this fusty cartoon, this upholstered relic
in white gloves, this corgi-button defender of an ill-kept faith." [fn 95]
In early June, there was the triumph accorded to General Schwarzkopf for the Gulf war.
Bush viewed the parade and aircraft flyover from a reviewing stand set up in front of the
White House, and met Schwarzkopf personally when he arrived. In the wake of the war,
said Bush, "there is a new and wonderful feeling in America." In the Roman triumphs,
the victorious general was crowned with bay leaves, and dressed in a purple toga
embossed with golden stars. He also received the services of a slave who persistently
reminded him that he was mortal, and that all glory was fleeting. Bush would have
benefitted from the services of such a slave on that June 8. [fn 96]
The high tide of Bush's megalomania as the emperor of the new world order was perhaps
reached at the United Nations in September. It was an elaboration of the previous year's
oration on the New World Order. First, Bush made clear what the developing sector
could expect in the postwar world: "The world has learned that free markets provide
levels of prosperity, growth, and happiness that centrally planned economies can never
offer...Here in the chamber we hear about North-South problems. But free and open
trade, including unfettered access to markets and credit, offer developing countries the
means of self-sufficiency and economic dignity. If the Uruguay round should fail, a new
wave of protectionism could destroy our hopes for a better future."
Bush then claimed credit, if not for the end of history, then for a revival of history in the
areas which had been dominated by communism. "Communism held history captive for
years....This revival of history ushers in a new era teeming with opportunities and