Legacy My Ass

As former President Bush "wings back to Crawford Texas" and is succeeded by a far better man, it is difficult for me to stop being angry with Bush for these last eight horrid years.

It has been easy for me to trash Bush for a variety of reasons, and this will not be the last time I do just that.

I have a propensity to include irrelevancies in what I write in order to somehow make a point, and I will now do just that. This time it is about taking credit for something you have done, and of course avoiding blame for anything as well.

I am one of the few executives who worked at CBS in the late sixties who will freely admit that he had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation, production, or broadcast of All in the Family.

I have met several thousand others who claimed that they were involved, but I am sure that I have not met all of them.

What follows is an example of how people in the entertainment business, like people in government, take credit for things that they had little or nothing to do with.

Almost twenty years ago, while at an airport lounge waiting for my flight, an agent/producer and his wife were sitting near me and the agent began telling me of his many accomplishments in the entertainment industry. He had worked at Columbia Pictures a few years after I had left. He continued to expound with his wife and I listening. At a point she interrupted to ask me why I was ever so slightly shaking my head, and I reluctantly replied that one of his "accomplishments" in the industry, took place while I was at Columbia Pictures, and was something that I had actually done.

I always loved the expression that is something like this "success has many parents, and failure is an orphan." While I was not pleased by my failures, I developed a superior skill set of artfully always finding someone else to blame for them. I expect that working in either the Entertainment Industry or The White House, you become expert at not taking responsibility for whatever might not have turned out the way you wanted it to.

It is incredible to me that our former President and Vice President have in recent weeks been taking credit for their wonderful eight years of trying to do whatever if was that they were trying to do with America, while leaving the blame for anything that went wrong to others. Going to war in Iraq as they did is worth more then just the "whoops" that will come out of Bush from time to time. America needed and still needs a major mea culpa from him about this.

The dictionary defines the word legacy as... "Anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of ancient Rome."

I have a Bush/Cheney "legacy problem."

Do those American and Iraqi boys and girls, men and women, killed or wounded have the "legacy" of a full life? The way that Bush/Cheney respond to this horrid war is repulsive to me. The hundreds of thousands killed or maimed will still be dead or wounded while both men responsible for the carnage continue to rationalize their behavior. They are proud of what they have done, while most, like me, would be ashamed. We have endured almost 50,000 casualties from all causes in Iraq.

And WHY were there any casualties at all? Why? Why? Why?

LEGACY?

If you missed the Keith Olbermann eight minutes about the Bush eight years on MSNBC, try this link.

I have not given up my desire for NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox to present a documentary about the Bush transgressions during his eight triumphant year Presidency. What Olbermann has done and continues to do is laudable, but please General Electric, allow him to "run rampant" on your Broadcast Network and make a much bigger impact.

Many have suggested that it is time to "look forward" and to a certain extent they are correct. However, I do believe that I need some sort of "truth and reconciliation" activity to examine and bring to light the monstrous transgressions of the last eight years that pertain at least to the Iraqi war. The violators of our laws and Constitution should at least be exposed even if they are not punished for what they have done.

I only hope that a very rich American would hire some respected investigatory reporters to produce a documentary about the Bush/Cheney years and give it away to whomever will transmit it.

That documentary could serve as the Bush/Cheney legacy.

Comments

[hankelvis]

11:42 AM on 02/17/2009

The hate Bush mantra was a political contrivance. The strategy worked despite the high cost of fostering divisiveness, malevolence, and contempt. Hate eroded our political civility and led to corporate rule. Polarization is media-driven. Media is corporate driven. The strategy divided a perfect Union and imposed UN governance and Sharia law. If gas goes to one hundred dollars a gallon tomorrow all the Bush's and Obama's in the world could do nothing. Both parties are rich, powerful, and part of the corporate machine. Presidents are disposable and governments are merely constraints.
"All lies and jest still the man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest" -Simon

[Hillrick]

07:42 AM on 02/07/2009

Took a long time to set up the Rea gun myth. Whitewashing this would take decades and put Sherwin Williams shares into the stratosphere.

[Hillrick]

07:41 AM on 02/07/2009

Took a long time to set up the Reagun myth. Whitewashing this would take decades and put Sherwin Williams shares into the stratosphere.

[neutral1]

03:16 AM on 02/07/2009

We must leave Iraq immediately before we actually "win" and Bush an Cheney get some credit.

[Dap]

02:08 AM on 02/07/2009

Dear Brother Norman,

An eloquent rant without question and right on the money. Agape, dap

[Oonagh]

12:23 AM on 02/07/2009

Bush / Cheney legacy.... we have the highest number of soldiers committing suicide right now... How sad. They created a war, two chicken hawks.

[Kiwuck]

03:36 AM on 02/07/2009

Bush never attended the funeral of one single soldier that he sent to Iraq - and this from a man who ducked his own service when he was their age

[HeevenSteven]

09:13 PM on 02/06/2009

I only wish our MSM had the guts to do the documentary....

[RG5626]

07:55 PM on 02/06/2009

I think the reason that congress has always chickened out on doing any real investigation of the Bush admin illegalities is that once you expose a crime and the criminal, you can't just say that you're done. They would have to prosecute at that point.

[TexasDem0]

04:24 PM on 02/06/2009

That documentary would have to be a mini-series at minimum.

[mommadona]

04:22 PM on 02/06/2009

Here's what some Americans think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-iIkmt-eco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3dAnSMzUlo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYI7JXGqd0o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqqCYSfV2k

YouTube - the tool to use.

[American04]

06:00 PM on 02/06/2009

Jeb Bush told the GOP to prepare a shadow government.

"...recommended that Republicans create a “shadow government” to work on its own agenda. Claiming this is still a “center-right country,” Bush urged Republicans not to move towards a “Democratic-lite” agenda."

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/01/jeb-on-gop/

[American04]

06:19 PM on 02/06/2009

This explains why Bush ignored the terrorist reports and briefings when he first came into office, and the Israeli government warnings of the pending 911 attack. He simply sat in his chair reading to the children, and all the time knowing… Great video.... Thanks..