Anyone else getting the impression that George W. Bush has finally realized he’s going to go down in history as the worst President ever? Not only that, but with this “Bush Legacy Tour” and his “Exit Interview” press conference, I’m beginning to think he’s trying to model his presidency after the film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” He now knows his presidency has been an abject failure, but he’s thinking maybe if he aces the final exam, history will give him a pass. The problem is he doesn’t have a time-traveling telephone booth. Side note: How wrong is it that I can imagine the President of the United States sitting in the Oval Office and actually saying, “Man, I wish I had that magic phone booth, then me and So-crates could fix all this.”
I wonder when the realization hit him? I have a feeling it was on the night of November 4th. Was it the sight of Americans rejoicing in the street after Obama won? Or was it the scenes from around the world with crowds of elated individuals waving American flags and for once the flags weren’t on fire? I’m not sure when the exact moment was that the bubble around him finally burst, but I’m fairly certain it burst that night. It had to show him the American President is not automatically hated around the world. George Bush had not inherited their disgust, he had earned it.
Shortly after election night, the Bush Legacy Tour began. The American people were treated to interviews with nearly every member of the Bush Administration. And each Bushie was doing their best to spin the travesties of the last eight years into something positive. With the tour going about as well as the one documented in the film “This is Spinal Tap” (which staffer delivered the “Stonehenge” moment is debatable), the administration decided to trot out Laura Bush to spew the talking points. She, of course, had the highest approval rating of the bunch. Sadly, not even the First Lady could successfully execute the President’s “Bill & Ted” strategy. Neither the press nor the American people were buying it.
This set the stage for George W. Bush’s “Exit Interview” Press Conference. The President’s demeanor could only be described as that of a petulant child. He would try to make a point, and when the press corps rightfully didn’t buy it, he would throw what resembled a tantrum. But what reaction did Bush expect to get when he claimed his administration’s response to Katrina was not slow? Or when he listed his biggest disappointments in office and he didn’t mention starting the Iraq War, but instead just listed not finding any weapons of mass destruction and rolling out that huge “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner? Apparently, the President had not considered the fact that both of those “disappointments” were entirely avoidable if he hadn’t gone to war with Iraq in the first place. In fact, most of Bush’s regrets revolved around PR. It was as if he didn’t regret any decisions he had made, he just regretted how his administration had marketed them to the American people.
Now I understand a President’s need to try and shape his legacy. Unless you’re a robot or Dick Cheney, you’re going to care what people think of you and how history remembers your Presidency. I can understand why Bill Clinton would fight to frame his 8 years in office as more than a punch line about a BJ and a stained dress. My problem with President Bush is his poor decisions effected more than just him, his administration, and his family. His decisions led directly or indirectly to the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Americans, as well as countless more Iraqis. And when Bush comes out and tries to alter the history of his Presidency like this, I believe it’s an insult to all those who were killed because of his decisions. It’s an insult to the families and friends of all those people who died.
So now that President Bush has tried his “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” strategy and it’s failed, I think it’s time he moved on to “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.” That’s right, it’s time for George W. Bush to go straight to hell.
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