More than once commenters on this blog have questioned why I continued to harp on George Bush. He's leaving after all. Get over it.
Get over it? Will our country get over it? That's the real question, a positive answer to which is far from certain. And as the Bush brigade is mobilized now to rewrite history to promote his "legacy," it seems more important than ever to be sure they fail. How ironic, if the only success of the Bush years were the inducement of forgetting of his catastrophic failures! In this short attention span era, where news fades as fast as the next story appears, where people care more about Joe The Plumber than Joe The Biden, where a strong and free and inquisitive press has been (permanently, for sure) replaced by the likes of Sean Hannity and owned by Rupert Murdoch, it's not at all unlikely to happen. George who?
Which is why Bob Herbert's column in today's NYT is required reading. He says, in part:
"When Mr. Bush officially takes his leave in three weeks (in reality, he checked out long ago), most Americans will be content to sigh good riddance. I disagree. I don’t think he should be allowed to slip quietly out of town. There should be a great hue and cry — a loud, collective angry howl, demonstrations with signs and bullhorns and fiery speeches — over the damage he’s done to this country.
This is the man who gave us the war in Iraq and Guantánamo and torture and rendition; who turned the Clinton economy and the budget surplus into fool’s gold; who dithered while New Orleans drowned; who trampled our civil liberties at home and ruined our reputation abroad; who let Dick Cheney run hog wild and thought Brownie was doing a heckuva job."
Read the whole thing: it says nothing new, I suppose, but it catalogs well and forcefully why we need never to forget, and why, if there's any justice at all in this indifferent universe, the very least George Bush will get is our ongoing scorn; and he ought to be continually aware of it, for as long as he lives.
Not that he'd care.
[Update: I don't hold Bob Shrum in particularly high esteem, but he's occasionally right on, as in this.]
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Ahh can't you give him credit for 7plus years of no terrorist attacks on U.S. Soil? and nahh I don't give a flyin flip about furrin soil, every man for himself I always say...and I LIKE waterboarding and listening to phone calls from Mecca...I doubt BHO will go 7 weeks before the A-rabs smack us in the nuts again...at least he's decided not to close down Gitmo...you DO know its not gonna be closed down, don't you....
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year,
Frank
Frank: if you wanna blame Barack for an attack, then you'll have to place blame on Bush for 9/11. And, for his response to it, you need to blame him for the destruction of our economy, the failure to get bin Laden, the allowing of Afganistan/Pakistan to become the REAL "central front." Or, more properly, to stay there.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of his failures are so obvious, even to you in your black heart of hearts, that I won't belabor them.
On the other hand, happy new year to you, too. I appreciate (most of) your continued input. The ones I haven't deleted.
"Black Heart of Hearts"??!! that really stings...I'm a guy who dressed up as Santa for a bunch of Haitian refugees in guess where???thats right Git-Mo!!!...OK, I did bring em some coal, which they loved, cause it was cold...OK, we'll have to agree to disagree on the whole GWOT thing, but hey!!! what about that prescription drug plan???!!! No way my old man would pay for Viagra outta his own pocket....
ReplyDeleteI agree 1,000%. Over on change.gov they're doing an open opinion thing on the big issues and a LOT of people are demanding that Bush et al be brought up on charges for their various crimes. Including me.
ReplyDeleteThere's a thing called "Citizen's Arrest" where a non-law-enforcement-officer, i.e. a "Citizen" can arrest a person for a suspected crime...even saw an episode of "the Andy Griffith Show" where it happened once...So if y'all so dad-blurned fired up to arrest and try ole "W" might want to give it a try...heck, if you do it innauguration day, he'll still be in D.C. and you should get a pretty sympathetic jury....Otherwhise...STFU!!!!
ReplyDeletehappy new year,
Frank
See, there, Frankie, STFU is exactly the sort of cogency we've all come to expect. It's smart, incisive, broadly inclusive of the facts at hand, and well-said.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you do.
So whats wrong with "Strength Though Friendship & Unity"???
ReplyDeleteJeez, I'd hate to see y'all when you lose, I'm from the South, we're used to it.
Frank
Giving Bush the credit for the lack of terrorist attacks since 9/11 is an unprovable presumption.
ReplyDeleteIt won't be easy to forget W's "top ten":
ReplyDelete1) W and the Geneva Convention Violators - "What, Me Torture?"; 2) Bushie G and the Annihilators We's classic rap - "Bomb the Crap Outta Iraq";
3) George and Alberto's tender Xmas duet, "Civil Rights, Civil Rights- Get Rid of Them in This Nation";
4) W and His Country Gentlemen featuring Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan - "Take These Rules and Shove 'Em, Ain't Regulatin' Here No More";
5) The 50's-tinged "Don't Know Much About History, Don't Care About Geography";
6) G with special guests Spinal Tap, "It's My Constitution and I'll Do What I Want";
7) W's double A-side: covers of two '60's garage band classics - the Knickerbockers' "Lies" and Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me";
8) George's spin on an Adam and the Ants favorite, "Goody Goody (He Threw Me) Two Shoes", featuring Imelda Marcos on backupvocals and relief catching;
9) The Monty Python favorite, "Dennis Moore";
10) W's inimitable version of the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes".
And that's not all! KTel's 4 disc CD set coming soon...
Frank, are you drunk?
ReplyDeleteSid,
ReplyDeleteI've read your new BLOG and it's un-becoming to be so full of hate. "W" was delt cards and he played them in the best interests of our country - not to you and the left wing polls. I can only hope and pray that BHO has the courage to do the same.
LO
It's an easy, and entirely common, response to blow off criticism of Bush as "hatred," as if it has nothing to do with what he has done to our country. In fact, it's insulting to both of us. Surely you can do better than that. George Bush "played the hand," all right, and he did so in ways that have left our country staggering and possibly heading toward failure. I DO hate that. I love the country and hate to see it so wounded by incompetence, ignorance, and narrow ideological thinking. There's nothing -- NOTHING -- Bush attempted that he didn't screw up.
ReplyDeleteI'd go further, but if you're the LO I know, I'll try to keep it recoverable.
I can only hope that BHO does better in your eyes, if not, I feel your on your way to a mental health facility commitment. I'll vist.
ReplyDeleteLO
Well, if he doesn't, we're screwed. Which is why those that wish him ill -- the Sean Hannitys of the world -- are, in fact, wishing this country ill. Those sorts are attacking him before he's done anything. At least I waited until it was clear how badly Bush was damaging us to speak out.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, about 79% of people disapprove of Bush so it's not as if I'm some sort of crazy outlier. I just call 'em as I see 'em. Like diagnosing a hot gallbladder, don't you know. You gather facts and go with them. Some people think I hate gallbladders. Wrong. I just don't like what they do to some people.
Maybe that's why some see my attitude toward Bush as bilious.
You wrote: "Like diagnosing a hot gallbladder, don't you know. You gather facts and go with them. Some people think I hate gallbladders. Wrong. I just don't like what they do to some people."
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like the same scenario that got us into Iraq. Once you opened the abdomen and saw that the gall bladder wasn't the problem did everyone in the room and the patient's family call you a liar?
LO
No, it would be like Iraq if I'd said I knew there were gallstones when the sonogram and lab work were normal. Or if the patient had a perf tic and I took out the gallbladder. There's your analogy.
ReplyDelete