Thursday night's valedictory speech was quintessential Bush: delusional from beginning to end.
He made Afghanistan sound like a swell place to take a vacation when, in truth, only those with a death wish venture out these days without an armed convoy.
He lauded Iraq as "a friend of the United States" -- without ever mentioning the fact that if Iraq has a BFF it is Iran, not America.
He said his Medicare prescription drug plan "is bringing peace of mind to seniors." Hardly. It's been widely derided as a poorly conceived, chaotic mess.
He claimed that, on his watch America's "air, water, and lands are measurably cleaner." Who is doing the measuring, the same eco-unfriendly companies to which he handed both his environmental policies and our public lands? This is a man whose administration refused to open emails from its own EPA because they contained information about greenhouse gas emissions that are endangering public health.
In a particularly jaw-dropping moment, Bush asserted that when people "live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror" -- a remarkable claim given the fact that Hamas, which has kinda been in the news lately, has leaders who "pursue campaigns of terror" and were willingly chosen by people given the freedom to elect who they wanted.
Another striking moment was watching the great pride the president took in saying that even though we might not have liked all of his decisions, we have to admit that he "was willing to make the tough decisions." The Crawford Cowboy to the end.
Yes, he made tough decisions... but what is the value in that if the decisions you make are consistently wrong? And Bush has made the wrong decisions again and again and again.
He was wrong about Iraq and Saddam and WMD. He was wrong to take his eye off the ball on Afghanistan. He was wrong about tax cuts being the answer to our economic woes. He was wrong about Wall Street being able to regulate itself. He was wrong about Katrina. He was wrong about torture. He was wrong about extraordinary rendition. He was wrong about warrantless wiretapping. He was wrong about Gitmo. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The speech was spin at its most dangerous. It's easy to feel a pang of pity for a guy who was on top so long and is now heading out the door. But the more sympathy he evokes, the more susceptible we are to the lies he is telling. Before we know it, his revisionism becomes accepted as the truth.
So if there was any value in the speech it was this: it should remind us of the importance of refusing to allow this delusional revisionism to stand.
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Bush's Farewell Address
WASHINGTON — Unpopular but unbowed, President George W. Bush defended his tumultuous two terms in a farewell address to the nation Thursday night, claiming a...
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Bush's Farewell Address: Obama Election A "Moment Of Hope"
WASHINGTON — Unpopular but unbowed, President George W. Bush defended his tumultuous two terms in a farewell address to the nation Thursday night, claiming a...
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Bush Farewell Address (TEXT)
President George Bush gave his final primetime address to the nation on Thursday, January 15th. Below are a copy of his prepared remarks. Also check...
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Hamas Rejects Israeli Cease-Fire Demands
Hamas will not accept Israeli conditions for a cease-fire in Gaza and would continue armed resistance until the offensive ends, Khaled Meshal, the leader of...
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Bush's Final Gift: Gaza
Just when we thought it was impossible for the calamitous George Bush and Svengali Dick Cheney to do any more damage to the world or...
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Bush's Original Farewell Address Leaked to Press
I beenz Precedent of The United over 8 to 10 yearz gone bye. I haz fun to be Precedent of y'all, even immegrantz, but not gayz. Here is my list of favorites, all favoritez, for you.
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Evidence Grows That Israel is Using White Phosphorus in Gaza
Today, at least two UN officials have flatly declared that three or more white phosphorous shells were part of the attack today that set a UN building and compound ablaze in Gaza City.
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A Grand Opportunity for a Global President
Expectations for Obama are high and no where more than in the Muslim World that has seen the past decade marked by a threatened Clash of Civilizations between it and the West.
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Hamas and the Death of a Better Future
To me, Gaza is personal. As an Israeli infantry officer, I served in Gaza before, during, and after the 2005 Disengagement.
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What Bush Left Out of His Flat Farewell
In the end, after eight long and traumatic years, Bush did not have much to tell us. Who wouldn't rather watch a miracle airplane landing than a failure saying goodbye?
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Obama, It's Time to Stop the Arms Gifts to Israel and Egypt
It's time for us to question the wisdom of ripping apart a country, or a territory as the case may be, in the name of snuffing out a militant group.
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The 2009 Slantie Awards
Since 2004, my website, ConWebWatch, has given out the Slantie Awards, which highlight the year's worst reporting and most outrageous statements in the right-wing media....
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Kucinich to Introduce Gaza Ceasefire Resolution -- Who Will Co-Sponsor?
It's great that Dennis is on the floor of the House telling the truth. But it's terrible for the prospects of changing disastrous U.S. policies towards the Palestinians for Dennis to be standing alone.
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You're No Harry Truman
President Bush apparently wants to be compared to President Harry Truman, who was also very unpopular when he left office. But Mr. Bush, you are no Harry Truman.
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A Jew's Prayer for the Children of Gaza
In this day, when the trepidation and rage and mourning that is called war, seizes our hearts and patches them in scars, we call to you, the Lord whose name is Peace.
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Who Was President on 9/11?
To Republicans, everything for George W. Bush begins on 9/12. It's really the most glaring insult of Bush's rehabilitation tour.
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Gaza and the Obama Effect -- Ending the War
It might be pushing the envelope to call Obama the peacemaker here, but it's hard to deny that his impending entrance to the world stage has an effect.
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Gaza, Qaddafi, And Starbucks
Along with the images of bloodied children, scenes of destruction and carnage in Gaza, debates on Arab disunity have increased in the Arab media.
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What Is the Difference Between Bravery and Courage?
The most critical element needed for peace is true courage: courage to withstand public criticism, and courage to take responsibility for our own wrongdoings, to learn from them and to change.
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Bin Laden's Message in the Era of Obama
The release of yet another tape from Osama Bin Laden Wednesday serves as a reminder of the many leftover issues Barack Obama will inherit from the Bush administration.
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Tanks for the memories
It was rush hour in Gaza and the tanks were bumper-to-bumper. I won't bother blogging about the current conflict in Gaza. The topic is so...
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His conclusion: "It is a good job Cheney did not die under Bush's presidency or the nation would have had no leadership at all!" I also know him well enough to be certain that he does not agree with Cheney's position on most matters, Republican though he is.
When I related this story to my son he said: "Dad, you both missed the point. It is hugely important that Bush did not die in office! President Cheney would have been even worse!"
For the record I consider Bush a bumbling, incompetent fool but not evil. The evil behind the Bush years was Cheney.
And of course, Bush's "tax cuts" are just going to be added to the four trillion dollar's worth of debt that his administration has passed on to future generations of taxpayers. That's not making "tough decisions" with "moral clarity." That's avoiding making the tough choices and then lying about it! Bush leaves office as a liar and a moral coward!
and was just as mediocre in college.
He was supposed to have been mediocre at most everything he did in his life.
"The Economist" had an article about nepotism and Ivey League schools
that said 10 to 25 percent of the students are there only because of their
family wealth and connections and they didn't meet the SAT and GPA
requirements. Thats probably how Bush went to Yale.
Considering his past it is not suprising that he was a mediocre president.
Far from being mediocre, Bush was the WORST president in US history.
But let us not forget if it were not for Bush, the Oil companies and War Profitiers would not have done as well as they did.
The Mission was most definately accomplished... look at how many Bush cronies profited handsomly from 9/11, and the Illegal Occupation if Iraq.
Capitalism as work.
In true capitalism, the state regulates trade and commerce, it doesn't hand out lucrative contracts to the buddies of the people who rigged an election in order to gain power.
The problem isn't capitalism, it is that people in power bend the rules and manipulate the system to their benefit.
This says more than meets the eye. What it really says to me is that Bush was incapable of growing with the job. Now that his 8 years are behind him he seems relieved that he can hand the job off to somebody else. To say that Bush was in over his head is a gross understatement. Why did Bush even want the job in the first place. It had to be painfully clear to him that he wasn't up to the task. So what drove him to make such a fool of himself. This is something that will be studied for years.
The Afghan War is another problem. The Taliban is back and even besieging Kabul. Our strategic goal is simply to kill bin Laden. The Afghan government, like any Quisling government, is fundamentally corrupt. This was the place where a major British army was utterly massacred in "Auckland's Folly." Our withdrawal from Afghanistan (and the withdrawal from Iraq) have to be conducted with supreme military security.
The pointlessness and misconduct of the Bush wars are appalling. What ever happened to declaring victory and pulling out when you win?
Victory in Iraq? Ha ha ha!!! Who was dumb enough to take these words seriously, I wonder? It meant Victory for Halliburton, Bechtel and the rest of the big contractors and oil companies. The so-called "fabric" of the economy of America...
attack for seven years, and that his administration has kept the nation safe for seven
years. This is absolutely the wrong way to view what actually took place:
Our great nation WAS attacked during the watch of GWB. He failed to
prevent us from harm even though there were prior warnings. Period.
Stop the nonsense.
Bush is beyond delusional. And the really pathetic thing about him is that he probably sincerely believes he did good for the country. He also continues to believe that telling a lie many times over it will become truth - which is why he continues to lie even during his farewell speech.
I'm so glad he's gone and out of here.