It Ought To Be A Word
It's true what he said: we misunderestimated him.
George Bush came into his presidency with a huge wave of goodwill. Not from me, but from the others. An amazing number of people who should have known better thought of him as a charming guy whose intellectual limitations would somehow be as benign as Ronald Reagan's, whose promise of a fairly passive presidency would be as survivable as Dwight Eisenhower's. So he couldn't seem to get a sentence out straight, so what? And as for his religious rigidity, that was simply his way of dealing with an alcohol problem without the sloppy conventions of AA.
He was misunderestimated in every way. It was hard to imagine that this feckless leader could do so much damage. But even as the worst emerged, he was given the benefit of the doubt because of the ongoing mysteries of his administration -- mysteries that have remained unsolved in spite of the skills of hundreds of gifted journalists who have attempted to uncover them:
- Who exactly was running the country these last eight years?
- What did the President know, if anything, and when did he know it, if ever?
- Was he capable in any way of even one sleepless night, much less the ongoing insomnia that any sentient person would suffer after so many wrong decisions and pointless deaths?
- Did he mispronounce the word "nuclear" 1) on purpose, in order to make himself seem folksy 2) because he actually thought he was pronouncing it correctly or 3) just to piss us off?
The exit appearances that Bush has made in recent weeks will be something future presidents will refer to as often as Lincoln's Second Inaugural, although for different reasons. Here's what he said:
- We did the best we could under the circumstances.
- It's not easy being President.
- It wasn't completely my fault.
- Everyone makes mistakes.
- I kept America safe, except for this one time.
- After that one time I worked really really hard almost every day and had to read a lot of stuff about foreign countries.
This is Bush's legacy -- a stunning series of alibis. This is what he will crawl off to Texas with, hoping that it will fool a publisher into giving him a substantial book advance and contributors into giving him money for a library full of pilfered papers.
On Monday, we will have to get used to a different thing entirely, a president who's in the loop, who reads history, who speaks decent English. He will rob of us of something -- of the burning anger that has sustained us the last eight years, and that will take some adjusting to. But we're up for it; after all these years in the dark, we're ready for a little overestimation. Which is, unlike misunderestimation, an actual word. But come to think of it, misunderestimation ought to be a word. I certainly know what it means.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
I believe the American people misunderestimated a former drunk with very little compassion, as witnessed by his governorship of the state with the highest number of death row killings in the U.S. What else did the American people expect? Do you really believe now that he is a man of God who follows the teachings of Jesus for forgiveness and love and compassion of his fellow man?
Ooops. Denial. Too early for this on iPhone!!
Thank God we are finished with the man. Obama is going to be a great leader of a great failure. The founder of the NY Times Henry J. Raymond the founder of the short lived Union party was described as a brilliant man who could never be a political leader because he saw two sides of every question and was incapable of hate. I see those same traits in Obama.
I'm pulling 100% for Obama. Probably 150% when I see who his challengers will be in four years: Jeb Bush or Sarah Palin. Deep down I feel tht if Obama does not make it this country with its economy based upon a culture of "borrow and spend" will fold.
What a waste of time it would be to read a book written by someone who spent his life in a clueless state of denile.
Any book he would write would most certainly be written by a ghost writer. Similiar to a ghost presidency that we have undergone for 8 looooong years. And the books title would have to be 'grim fairy tale'. Oh snap that title may already be taken.
Actually, it is still available. The one you are thinking of is Grimm Fairy Tale.
Is Bush STILL making speeches? It's obvious (to me, anyways) that's he trying to steal Obama's thunder. He knows he can't justify what he did or didn't do, and only those people who get all their news from right-wing commentators will believe him. He also knows he will never be tried for his crimes.
If the Obama administration refuses to hold this criminal adminstration accountable then the fabric that holds the nation together, the rule of law and not men, will begin to unravel even further. It began when Clinton refused to hold the criminals of Iran-Contra accountable. They thought they had "gotten away" with it and the precedent was set for the crimes witnessed by the Bush administration.
You are so right!
See Kari Henley's Profile
Great piece, Nora. I remember the deep visceral sensation of doom in my gut when Bush was elected- both times. There was never a moment of pride in eight straight years.
It is true our collective sensation of fear, anger and embarassment as American citizens will be an adjustment.
"Exit Stage Left, Mr. President, this game show has been cancelled.
Nora, you could have also mentioned Mr. Bush's use of the term "disappointments" when asked about mistakes. I recall reports of the Bush team declaring that they weren't interested in reality. Isn't disappointment the natural outcome of unrealistic expectations?
It IS a word, according to the Urban Dictionary. Has some great definitions, too.
Oh, there is a word for all of this , all right. That word is evil.
And , although as a "leader" Bush is accountable and should
be punished and imprisoned, countless others , and in essence
our democratic country, went along with this. So no more
scapegoating, and let us use all our energies to turn this around.
That so many people were ready to replace Bush/Cheney with McCain/ Pallin is alarming. Is it malice or miseducation? Clearly, there is a rock solid percentage of Americans who are uncomfortable with educated, worldly leaders, Some are also journalists: You know, the ones who dressed up in frilly skirts and little bonnets and performed skits to elicit laughs from a man who should be on trial for crimes against humanity.
Well I remember watching a segment of the Bill Maher show, when he stated (with conviction) to his guest, that a POTUS you can have a beer with was stupid. While making it perfectly clear, that we should be voting eggheads, nerds, the best and brightest among us into such an important world position.
Now that made sense to me and most of his audience. Suddenly he (Maher) changed his mind, when of the finalist primary contenders was an African-American egghead, nerd, and, best and brightest among us, or at least the rest of the field.
We can't even come to an conclusion among us of the same philosophy.
Remember the "Tower of Babel" from the Torah? (Old-Testament)
I will always believe that Bush's presidency was less Bush, and more of individuals behind the scene who actually steered policy, events, and public opinion. Starting with Cheney and Rove. I remember hearing, I think Rove bragging, that when the administration had done or was about to do something "bad" or unpopular with Dems and Americans in general, Rove would send Cheney on all the Sunday pundit shows and by Monday, they would come up smelling like roses. Cheney could look a journalist in the eye, lie his arse off, and never get a direct challenge. They probably laughed at us for eight years. Enough. I will do whatever I can within my power to turn our country around again. I started with huge support of Obama-Biden because I believe in these two men. I will continue with support of the new administration, but challenge what I feel needs challenging. Just three more days.
Nora,
You guys won, and the winners write the history. That being said, does your statement "On Monday, we will have to get used to a different thing entirely, a president who's in the loop, who reads history, who speaks decent English" mean that ugh 30 times in a conversation is "decent English"? How about Caroline's 50 or so "You Know's" in an "interview"? There's a lot of things you can beat W up about, the speaking isn't worth scorn because your Guys & Gals pretty much Suck too when talking extemporan
Omigosh! I must have missed it. We elected Caroline Kennedy President?????? Where was I when that happened?
Typical Repub. Unable to see the forest from the trees. Unable to accept accountability for a monumentally disastrous administration. History will also include the 49% of monumentally ignorant Americans who voted for these clowns.
Caroline Kennedy was elected President? When did this happen? I thought she was still a private citizen...
Oh wait... it's you who is living in an altered reality...
who speaks decent English" mean that ugh 30 times in a conversation is "decent English"?
Uh is obviously a pause while one collects their thoughts before blurting out anything dumb.
http://www
After watching these videos of your boy, I'll bet you wish he would have stopped to think before speaking. I'll also bet you wouldn't have cared if he used "ugh, you know" or doogie-houser for pause.
I'll bet even more, that you will not bother to click the link, for fear of embarrassment.
Obama in the short transition has already spoken to the press on many more occasions than Bush in eight years. If you can assert that he is not articulate, you obviously haven't listened to any of them.
What needs to happen is a full unfettered investigation of the entire Bush cabal, charges made if warranted (ahem), and trials, lots and lots of trials. What would result is clarification of our executive branch's power.
This will not happen because almost everyone in congress is dirty and if the Bush bunch go down, the rest of them will endure prosecutions of various sorts.
The logic is that the government would cease to function amid all the legal turmoil.
A) Essential functions would not cease
B) Law making could stand a breather until we get the pus out of the system, because until we do laws will continued to be crafted to service big-money special interests.
A Sarah Palin happens because thralls of far-right religious hoodoo are great sock puppets for E-Street hands to maneuver.
American ultra-patriotism is the reason, plain and simple, why this cabal of criminals will not face the punishment they so richly deserve.
The most pathetic thing was that, in all that time, he could not think of anything else he could have done about Katrina except land Air Force 1 in Baton Rouge.
And I still want to know -- who was running the country? Was it always Cheyney? or did others take their turns? or what??
My memory isn't what it used to be.
How many other presidents use their final speech to defend their 8 years in office?
Touche!
Most use it to point out all their accomplishments not make excuses for their failures. Then again, most have a lot more accomplishments and a lot less failures.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
