While the world slides into a financial sinkhole, George W. Bush wants us to know he’s a good president.
“I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process,†Bush said in the interview. “I came to Washington with a set of values, and I’m leaving with the same set of values. And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values.â€
“I’d like to be a president (known) as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace; that focused on individuals rather than process; that rallied people to serve their neighbor,†the president added.
He also called No Child Left Behind (Because We’re Setting Them All Back) one of the “significant achievements of my administration.â€
Some things snark themselves. I think the line about “the political process” is particularly interesting, however. The “political process” is important. As in “due process of law.” As in “our form of government.” Governing is a process. Preserving the process is important. Chucking the process of government out the window in order to get the result you want is dangerous and foolish.
Part of the effort to pull the wagon of conservatism out of the ditch into which Bush piloted the country is going to be an effort to deny that George W. Bush was a real conservative.
Going to be? They’ve been reciting that line for at least a year.
In reality, Bushism should be understood as the highest form of conservatism. In particular, the High Bushist years of 2001-2006 represent the only time that the post-war conservative movement has had total control over the federal government. If the practical consequences of pre-Bush conservatism were less disastrous, that’s largely because conservative political power was more constrained in those earlier eras.
Meanwhile, it’s worth recalling that at the peak of his political power, when Bush was making his most disastrous decisions, conservatives not only thought he was a good president, but a great one.
Matt is pulling conservative testimonials to the greatness of Bush out of the memory hole. If you have any tidbits to nominate, let Matt know.
Sorry, Bush, you are a war criminal at best. May you go the way of Milosovic & sent to the Hague. The world will be so much better with you and your cronies gone. F*ck you and good riddance.
The jerk doesn’t have a soul…Who is he trying to bullshit?
When you have to declare yourself the decider, it’s a good indication that deciding isn’t your forte. Just like Stuart Smalley trying to reinforce a sense of security..” I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and by golly, people like me”
take all your overgrown infants away somewhere
and build them a home
a little place of their own
the fletcher memorial home for incurable tyrants and kings
and they can appear to themselves every day
on closed circuit t.v.
to make sure they’re still real
it’s the only connection they feel
(ladies and gentlemen, please welcome reagan and haig
mr. begin and friend mrs. thatcher and paisley
mr. brezhnev and party
the ghost of mccarthy
the memories of nixon
and now adding colour a group of anonymous latin
american meat packing glitterati)
DID THEY EXPECT US TO TREAT THEM WITH ANY RESPECT?
they can polish their medals and sharpen their smiles
and amuse themselves playing games for a while
boom boom, bang bang, lie down you’re dead
safe in the permanent gaze of a cold glass eye
with their favourite toys
they’ll be good girls and boys
in the fletcher memorial home for colonial wasters of life and limb
is everyone in?
are you having a nice time?
now the final solution can be applied
~ Roger Waters, “The Fletcher Memorial Home”
(Pink Floyd, The Final Cut, 1982)
Well, now, isn’t it just a little much to say you didn’t sell your soul or compromise your morals when you didn’t have any to begin with? Surely he has to accept that he and his hand-picked cadre of cronies are responsible for the tragic ruination of our economy, our democracy, and our standing in the eyes of the rest of the world? Not to mention the damage done to the environmental protection laws and the decimation of laws against torture. The list is too long, so I expect he won’t be able to grasp the enormity of damage much less take responsibility for it.
There is no hole large enough, nor any shovel strong enough to bury this fetid piece of shit president. He’ll have to live with his own stink for the rest of his life.
Donnah pretty much somes this up well.
He will forever be known as the motherfucker who almost killed my brother. Seriously, fuck that guy.
If memory serves, Reagan said that the government was the problem. And Republicans govern — at all levels — as if this is the case, and thus the whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
George W. Bush and his fellow Republicans should be held accountable for the heinous disregard of both national & international law. Actions must have consequences and justice must be served. Anything less shows us (& especially our elected officials) to be unfit stewards of democracy.
http://www.philhine.org.uk/writings/sp_pazuzu.html
Beelzebub has a “special” friend awaiting Mr. Bush………..
This guy has demonstrated over and over again a total disrespect for the truth. He has shown that he’s willing to make up and believe any nonsense that serves his cause, and further that he’ll go to any end to get others to believe in it as well. He can’t disappear from the world stage too soon, unless it’s in the dock at a war crimes trial.
Oh, I don’t think he ever compromised his principles. I think that Colbert nailed him at the White House Press Corps. He believed the same on Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened on Tuesday. And really wasn’t paying attention (hence the Potemkin Villiage that was set up for him in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina).