So, John Cornyn thinks that history will be kind to George W. Bush? I don’t know about you, but the fact that anyone could make that statement with no trace of a smirk defies rational explanation. It also makes me wonder what planet Cornyn lives on…and what color the sky is there?
Of course, in the interest of fairness, we should probably take a look back over the Reign of Error © to see just what sorts of things The Worst President EVER © might be remembered for. How about this for a not-terribly-exhaustive list:
$1.6 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy (in 2001 and 2003) that took us from a budget surplus to the largest deficit in this country’s history
Lies, manipulated intelligence, and propaganda that purchased a war in Iraq that has had NOTHING to do with 9.11 or the war against terrorism
Almost 4,500 (and counting) young American shipped home from Iraq in flag-draped coffins
Dismantling the country’s regulatory environment, which gave us both the bloodbath on Wall Street AND BP’s epic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (never mind the West Virginia mine disaster that took 29 lives)
The crippling of science in favor of overt religiosity in the federal government
Mismanaging the economy to the point where he handed Barack Obama the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression
I could go on, but you can probably see where I’m heading, eh? Man, is that some fine, Grade A leadership, or what?? No wonder Cornyn thinks history will be kind to Bush…after all, he took care of the rich, since the poor will be among us always.
HOST: Last question. We learned this week that President Bush’s memoir is going to be available really in mid October … Is this a plus for your candidates to have President Bush’s administration regurgitated, discussed before election day? …
CORNYN: Look, I think President Bush’s stock is going up a lot since he left office…I think a lot of people are looking back with a little more — with more fondness on President Bush’s administration, and I think history will treat him well.
I’m sure the millions of unemployed (of which I am one) will look back on the Reign of Error © with something less than the fondness Cornyn possesses. Then again, Cornyn is unlikely to find himself in a position where he’s going to have to worry where his next Big Mac is coming from. When you’re a member of the world’s most exclusive club, the odds of your going hungry anytime soon is somewhere between slim and none.
I realize that history is something best written long after the fact, when sober and honest reflection can replace partisan bickering. There are those who will look back at The Reign of Error © and proclaim the era as a glorious Pax Bushicana…or something equally silly and obtuse. Having no control over those who write history, I’ll simply keep my anger and disillusionment burning. I was here; I was a part of this history…and I know what happened…as do millions of other Americans who were paying attention.
Thankfully, as intellectually malleable and easily propagandized as the American Sheeple may be, they at least seem to be able to recognize who got us to where we are. In a recent poll, 71% of Americans placed the blame for our current economic travails at the feet of Captain Codpiece ©. The 27% who blame Barack Obama? Man, those folks really ought to remove their anterior from their posterior, knowhutimean??
There’s also hope for American scholarship, given a recent poll by the Siena Research Institute. SRI’s poll of Presidential scholars ranked God’s Very Own President © as the worst President of the modern era. Man, THAT must have been a stretch….
The wishful, magical thinking that seems to be leading so many Republicans towards revisionist history may be a growing trend, but that it’s not going to change reality. Then again, Republicans understand the power of The Big Lie. They know that if they keep repeating talking points, eventually the easily-led American Sheeple will come to accept it as Gospel…and before long, George W. Bush will be mentioned in the same breath as FDR and JFK.
Frankly, just thinking about that makes me want to vomit….
