God, I Miss George Bush

George W. Bush was not my favorite person in the world; let's be upfront about that. I am unable to conceal the acrimony that just gushes out whenever I'm describing him. But with that said, don't you kind of miss him? Just ever so slightly?

I do. I truly do. And as the hash marks of the days of the Obama administration start adding up, I think I may end up missing W more and more. I, like many, reveled in November when President Obama won and again in January when he was inaugurated, but to be honest with you, the jubilee was short lived as I realized the weight of the task ahead both for our president and for the rest of us Americans.

You see, there are going to be failures, just like there are going to be victories. During our victories (the order to close Guantanamo, for example), we can rejoice that justice and the rule of law have returned to our glorious nation, and it was because of Him, Barack Obama (no, I don't mean Jesus), and that He (President Obama) is because of us, the voters.

We can now assume full responsibility for the good that we do, which is fantastic, but the reason I miss W is that I have lost my scapegoat if we do bad. If it should happen that our government continues to act irresponsibly in certain arenas, well then, it is now His (Obama's) fault, and by extension, our fault, because we voted for him!

I had gotten comfortable with shirking responsibility, passing the blame on to the Neocons, spewing out my nasty invective at someone that most of us considered an "other," a mistake that we would not claim as ours. I would often say that we (and by "we" I mean you, the ones that voted for W in 2004) were duped into voting for him because of the fear-mongering campaigns that we (you) fell for.

But that's behind us, now. It's gut-check time, now. We've grown up, now. If we succeed, then it is us (you and me) that succeeds.

When we travel abroad, we can proudly say we are Americans again, and Obama is our leader. Personally, I'm planning to visit France, hold my head up high in downtown Paris, and tell the Frenchies that our fries are their fries again, that we have abandoned the tasteless Freedom fries, that we can rejoice in our solidarity once again with the world.

I feel so emboldened that I may even try to convince the Iranians to take up Danishes, again. My point is that we can personalize our victories from now on.

Which, of course, means that if we fail (as Rush Limbaugh would like for Obama to), if we continue to relinquish the "moral high ground," then that's also on us. We can no longer blame that certain member of the village, anymore.

I don't know about you, but what this means to me is that I've been given a call to action. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and become more involved in my civic duties, whatever they may be (I didn't even know I had them until I heard our new President say that I do).

So, it's like an American of the previous generation once said, "Let's rise up and live out the true meaning of our creed."

Comments

[oilcan905]

if all goes well, your longing for a return off W, Cheney, Rummy, Rove, Rice, Addington, ect will be short-lived. Yes, if all goes well these war criminals will be indicted and before the spotlight again in a war crimes trial.

[hortonhearsawho2]

Bring over a few cans of Franco-American spaghetti.­...peace offering and all.

[harriscrl3]

I can honestly say I Do NOT miss George W Bush.

Carol

[YumYum]

You, me and sooooo may others.

[CatoTheCensor]

At this point, with the problems he faces, he could run a good race and fail anyway. At which point, I assure you, I will still be blaming the Republicans for the mire.

[LeftRight]

I'd still rather that bush be gone! I can live with my own and my nation's responsibility for anything bad that it does, just like I lived with it for the last 8 years when my nation did horrible things in the name of george w.!

[tvlandman]

Now is a great time to be a conservative. Sure, we don't have much of a voice anymore; don't have a lot of power anymore. But when things do go to hell-in-a-hand basket, it finally won't be "our fault". We Republicans will be able to hold our heads up high and say, "Don't blame us, we didn't vote for Obama!"

And if he succeeds, well, that will but be great for all of America. We Republicans now have a win-win situation. Now its the Democrats game to lose.

Good times! : )

[WADIIAH]

keep dreaming and listening to rush

[YumYum]

Amen!

[topkatnc]

It is all about power and blame. This country is doomed.

[joannenj]

tvlandman, are you be serious? What basket are we in right now?

[solomonowl]

Do you hold your head up high for all the mess your beloved Bush left the country in?

And let's not forget, not only did he screw up the economy, he also royally trashed the image of American's all over the world. There are very few places outside of the US where an American can still walk freely and not be seen as a potential target.

[tvlandman]

What makes you think that Bush is "beloved" by me? You don't even know me. I despise Bush for the state of disrepair he left the country and the Republican party.

And you didn't get the point. I am ashamed of the way Bush and Company handled things. That's why my head has been hung so low for so long. But Bush is history. Why keep bringing up those same stale liberal talking points. From here on out, its all in the hands of the Democrats. If their actions make things even worse, then we Republicans will finally be able to hold our heads high. That was the point. At this point, the GOP has nothing much to lose. The Democrats have everything to lose.

But I am curious if after eight years of economic depression, will your beloved democrats just continue to blame the previous administration?

[bonjovi1]

now that W is no longer in power, we can proudly go back to our old ways of covertly (rather than overtly) overthrowing governments and supporting dictators. which is quite sad, really, since that is still 20x better than having W in charge.

[mommadona]

"We can now assume full responsibility for the good that we do, which is fantastic, but the reason I miss W is that I have lost my scapegoat if we do bad. If it should happen that our government continues to act irresponsibly in certain arenas, well then, it is now His (Obama's) fault, and by extension, our fault, because we voted for him!"

Ahhhhhhh - welcome to democracy and free will.... ; )

Don't worry. It'll make a whole adult out of you.

[Konnie]

NO! i don't miss him! i just want everyone else - read Obama - to go after him with as much
anger as i have, and want the same kind of revenge i want from him and all his co-conspiritors
who screwed up my country! i want every dollar these slugs stole and squirreled away. I don't
want them or their wives and children to have a roof, shoes or food! Like the Dixie Chick song,
I am not ready to make nice. They do not deserve it. As my friend Ed always says : THE BASTARDS!

[Samalabear]

This is what's got me going, too. I was justice. I want these people brought to justice. Yes, I know that they will be judged when they die, but I need something tangible right now, so there is at least some assurance that the United States won't see the likes of the Bush Administration again -- or worse, because the next one is always worse, because they've been emboldened by the fact that the ones preceding them were not held accountable, not prosecuted.

I'm not ready to make nice either. The whole world is a mess -- and I hate to give the Russians and Bush's friend Putin any credit -- but, geez, do you think there's a grain of truth for blaming the U.S. for this mess? I do not feel unpatriotic in saying yes, we are to blame a great deal. Our greed spread across the entire world.

But we have also given the world hope with electing Obama. That's got to be for a bit of vindication?

[SpoxLogic]

Then I guess it is in OUR best interest to see that He (Pres Obama) does not fail!