Bush's Two Chilliest Words Yet: "So What?"

Into yesterday's daily meat grinder of news went a little bit of everything, the Madoff debacle, the shoes tossed at Bush, Caroline Kennedy's political aspirations, the already by now daily dump on Obama & Co., the Iago Blago, and what a recipe it was. But, hello? Seemingly lost in the proverbial shuffle but for Keith and Rachel, the two worthiest guardians at the gates of our collective consciouseness, what knocked the very wind out of me, were just two little words petulantly uttered by Bush to the ever-formidable Martha Raddatz in this lame duck's lamest, latest cheesy attempt at anthropomorphism: "So what?" said the man in charge of the free world, when asked about whether or not Al-Qaeda was in Iraq before we were. So what? Huh? Were chillier, crueler, more cavalier words ever spoken? Somehow, this seems to be lost in the news today but my brain refuses to flush it. Perhaps because my blood is still boiling.

It seems to me that with those two extraordinary, positively barbaric words, we finally got to see the true Bush, without artifice, without the smug, sneering frozen mask of pre-prepared, freeze-dried answers to questions, which he always seemed so infuriated at having to answer.

Indeed, he is the very epitome of a So What President. So what if the Katrina victims rot? So what if the world hates us? So what if our actions resonate everywhere with dire, catastrophic consequences? So what if people are starving and have no health care in one of the richest nations in the world? And so what if we leaped into an unnecessary war with manipulated "evidence," in which thousands have perished, utterly pointlessly? After all, we are not permitted to see the caskets anyway, right? And so what if the veterans come home to outrageously disgraceful medical care as well as, at best, precarious financial circumstances? There is no end to the list and no end to the "So whats," because this is a person who checked out years ago, if indeed he ever checked in at all. The difference now is that with only 35 interminably long days left to this hideous sham, he no longer has to even attempt to try to seem concerned, involved, present. Heckuva job, Georgie.

And I am left to wonder for all 35 of them, and surely way, way beyond, how this imposter can possibly be headed off, untroubled, unfettered, into the sunset, bound for a cushy life in Dallas, instead of a brutal trial in The Hague. I mean, is anyone accountable here? Responsible? Officially culpable?

Or will history's inevitable response to all this be just more of the same?

Will it also whisper: "So what?"

Comments

[Norge]

Bushs' chilliest words "so what"? perhaps ask in polite company would translate behind closed doors into "^ucK IT." That is a bit harsh pres bush though the times have been tough and when the going gets tough the tough say *ck it, right?

[SENATORCALLENBOWE]

NUFF SAID :)

[mjb5406]

Only 33 days to go...

[leeannethethird]

the questions that needs to be asked of Bush and has never been asked of him:

Mr. Bush, when did you come to believe you were qualified to hold office, not just the presidency but any

office -any job for that matter?

C;urious

[lovable]

JOE SCARBORO / MIKA / CAMPBELL BROWN / LOU DOBBS / SEAN HANNITY WHERE IS UR OUTRAGE . 4000 PEOPLE DIED AND BUSH SAYS SO WHAT ????????????

[nervousexpat]

UMMM.... 4000 Americans died..... tens of THOUSANDS of innocent Iraqis died. Don't their lives matter???

[Nan2008]

'SO WHAT'...IS AN IMMATURE RESPONSE WHEN CAUGHT OFF GUARD, BECAUSE HE, George wasn't expecting a statement or a question like the one he received. The interviewer was also caught off guard by George's response OR DIDN’T HAVE THE GUTS TO FOLLOW THRU. A perfect opportunity to HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE SLIPPED AWAY AGAIN.

[nvr2late]

Great blog. When I think back to the debates this last presidential term, I can remember how terrible Bush did. He really was out to lunch then. How in the world did the American people decide he was better than Kerry? Maybe the voting process in Florida helped? Maybe the media?

[Hiphopcrates]

When I emailed my Senator my Senator, Dianne Feinstein, urging her to persue impeachment proceedings I received the following response. "I believe we are at a point in time where partisan politics and divisions within our country must come to an end. Our financial institutions are suffering. Our economy is in crisis and we are also at war in the Middle East. I believe that impeachment proceedings against President Bush will only divide the country even further, frustrating our hopes for a meaningful change in direction, while having little chance of success. "
W was not alone in this. His behaviour was aided by a complicit Congress, both sides of the slimy aisle!

[Erica Heller - Huffpost Blogger]

This is incredible! Feinstein used to be such a bold and aggressive leader.
Kudos to you for at least trying.

[ILibertine]

Absolutely right. Congress is utterly complicit and evidently unable to fulfill its balance of power roll any more. So the body has "unified" the country - uniform debt beyond reason, uniformly being asleep at the switch as the financial system runs amuk, uniform lack of accountability, uniform political heads in the sand unless a storm drives them out like a worm. Congress should give up their salary and pensions, based upon their performance.

[ObjectiveRealist]

If you had access to some of your local Democratic Party's office space, would you be willing to organize a signature-gathering campaign to put the pressure on Feinstein?

[mamalisa38]

Let's not forget, Bush is the one that invited them there. July 2,2003 "There are some who feel like - that conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer to that is bring em on."

[Billie]

The justice system is truly broken in the country when a president like Bush and a VP like Cheney can go on with their lives without prosecution for crimes against humanity and intentionally misleading the American people. Watching this administration walk away unhandcuffed makes me respect America less, I'm sorry to say. I'm also so sickened by the past 8 years that I am on the verge of not caring anymore. There are no real journalists and no real dept of justice. It's all just corporate ownership and no morals. People can blog their outrage all day long, but without action and justice, our voices all add up to nothing but noise. It makes us feel better to vent, but that's about it I'm afraid.

[rhooks]

Sad, but so incredibly true. Prosecution would be so sweet, wouldn't it?

[Virginia Plain]

What we need now, is for justice to throw the book at him.

[Doug2001]

He truly is Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Newman. "What? Me Worry.

[GonzoFactor]

Just another example of Bush's totally unjustified conceit.

[rosal]

I hope the families of our fallen and wounded soldiers never watch this clip. I cannot think of a more e vil statement: So What. Where is the justice?

[devans00]

The Bush Administration has been searching all this time for his legacy and here it was in front of him the whole time.

So What?

That's George W. Bush's legacy.