Tina Brown: Bush Library To Be "Halloween Shop Of Horrors," Presidency "A Chapter Of Hideous Accidents"

The Daily Beast founder and editor-in-chief Tina Brown appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" (guest-hosted by Alison Stewart, wife of executive producer Bill Wolff) Tuesday night. Brown's segment was focused on the 62 days remaining in the Bush presidency, and she did not mince words in dissecting the lame duck.

"One of the things that I'm told at the moment is that Bush is entirely focused right now on his legacy, on his library," she said. "That's all he really wants to talk about is his library. Because he's trying to build a legacy. But quite honestly, one can only think that that library is a Halloween House of Horrors. From the Guantanamo room to the Abu Ghraib room to the Hurricane Katrina room, this is going to be a very interesting library when it is built."

Brown also said that Bush's presidency has had "so many disasters" that, unlike previous lame duck Presidents, he is not "looking back in a mellow fashion on his Presidency, or even feeling that he has busy things to do so much as a President who is kind of punch-drunk with a series of debacles which even he — in his great denial and refusal to accept his own failures — has to accept at this point has been a chapter of hideous accidents, if you want to be charitable about it."

Watch:

Before Tina went up to 30 Rock, she celebrated the launch of The Daily Beast at New York's Pop Burger (she ducked out at 8:41 PM, says the New York Observer's John Koblin). Read his party report here.

Comments

[whcjr46]

I believe that history will judge George Bush as one of the worse Presidents ever to hold the office. Looking back over the past eight years I can't name anything significant that Bush accomplished as President.

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

More vacation time than any President in history.

[GerryS]

his ranch should be well weeded by now-------

[old lady]

He's made Nixon look real good in comparison

[medici]

Dubya's library can have only one book, "My Pet Goat". Everything else is classified.

[Mr Grey]

I think they could have a wing for shredded documents and "lost" emails!

[old lady]

Even Barbara's book about Millie?

[ErnestineBass]

His very conception was a hideous accident.

[realpolitic]

Bush has that strange stare. He has attention-deficit disorder and it is undiagnosed. This malady is why he can not pay attention to anything for more than a few seconds and he has no interest in reading.

[DeeDeeDaGumby]

or he was raised a spoiled brat without consequences for his actions.

[jinxed]

Probably a lot of both!

[realpolitic]

I guess one who is always falsely removed from the consequences of his actions acts like there are no consequences for one's actions at all. America is stuck with the bill and now it is pay day!

[greyseal in tampa]

ADD is the least of his afflictions. How about narcissism, borderline personality disorder, alcoholism? I'd love to see the list of meds he has taken in the last 8 years....i­t would easily fill up the 2009 PDR.

[realpolitic]

Yes, you are right too. He is a poor little rich kid.

[old lady]

His reading list is as extensive as Caribou Barbies

[realpolitic]

I wonder how the Bush library will gloss over the Hurricane Katrina debacle. It will probably say how unluckly he was or how much pain he felt for the victims. Then the library will undoubtedly say he freed millions of people, although the wars continue to rage. There never has been a bigger fool elected to high office than Bush. Does he have a single person around him who tells him the truth?

[inept1]

That's easy, he will just blame the Clinton administration. Seems to be this administrations standard line

[Shieldmaiden]

Cannot wait for January 20. Even if Obama sucks it will not compare to the utter incompetence and sheer stupidity of the Bush years. At least Obama knows hot to say "nuclear".

[AngelaQuattrano]

You forgot "malevolent chicanery".

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

"Strategery", whether he said it, or Will Farrell did.

[gap08]

Well, love him or hate him, the time is coming near to say goodbye to George W. Bush. I would like to extend an invitation to anyone who has something to say to this President to post an open letter to GW at http://goodbye.us . This is a project to essentially create a time capsule of feelings and thoughts about the outgoing administration. So please, check it out and share!

[greyseal in tampa]

They would scrub everything I could possibly say about this swine.

[old lady]

I'd prefer keeping him in the spotlight of criminal prosecution rather than letting him slip quielty from the limelight to a quiet retirement and memoirs.

[bujeeboo]

Please don't forget this little nugget in the Pantheon of Goons:
"Bush appoints Lee Greenwood to National Arts Council"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2008/11/lee-greenwoods.html

Bush's raises his final middle finger to us all.

[rwt1138]

He beat out Thomas Kinkade?

[shanefish]

Are you sh*tting me? This is pathetic!

[bujeeboo]

After 8 years of this, one has to learn not to flinch. Or vomit (in this case).

:o)

[canucklivinginUSA]

Man, Alison is hot. As for Bush, I don't think he is stunned, I think he is high on percocet

[shanefish]

No doubt, hubba hubba.

[CarolinaDem]

The destructive effect has been so comprehensive that it may take the Dewey Decimal system to classify all the relevant elements of the collection. Damage to science, history, art, political science, language, childcare, education, community life, mental health and financial sanity. To name but a few

[shanefish]

Sadly, just as in this econominc downturn, we are only seeing the beginning of the downward spiral of America. It'll take Obama all 8 years just to get back to even.

[old lady]

It will take All Americans 8 years to get it back to even with Obama

[freebird67]

He'll probably lose interest when he finds out a Library has books.

[Galt907]

Not to worry, the shelves in that library will be filled with "Super Heroes" comicbooks.

[Babysnake]

It is NOT going to be a library. It will be a Hall of Propaganda.

[realpolitic]

Yes, it will be like in the old Soviet days.

[dutchess2]

We just want the name and address of anyone foolish enough to donate to the first brick of a library to this alful alful man and his terrible reign of terror on his own people and on innocent Iraqis.

[sixx]

GW Bush having a library is a crime against the written word.

[CarolinaDem]

fun game: like Karl Rove having a spiritual director
or ...

[rwt1138]

. . .Alberto Gonzalez having an answer?

[chriss0114]

It will only have picture books

[rnelsonbrown]

If one wants "to be charitable" about it indeed.