Republicans like to proudly claim that they love America. John McCain likes to insist proudly he always puts America First. But in their American Pride, they strangely have left out an important part of America - the President of the United States.
No doubt this is just an oversight on their part. So, doing my proud patriotic duty, I point out the following -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
You'd think Republicans wouldn't let such a glaring mistake fall through the cracks. You'd think that having a Republican president for eight years would be something that Republicans would trumpet to the heavens.
You'd think.
But I believe that Americans should support the office, regardless of the skill set of its occupant, so let me correct that omission -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
It's so strange. During the Republican primaries, all Republican candidates forgot to mention President George Bush. The leader of their own party. What a gaffe. They did keep bringing up Ronald Reagan, so clearly they knew some history. Oddly, they overlooked two Republican presidents to get back to Mr. Reagan - and both were named "George Bush." Go figure. But how can a party totally ignore the current president? Maybe they forgot his name. No problem, I'm here to help.
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
[Funny side note: It was Ronald Reagan who developed what the first George Bush called "Voodoo Economics," policies that cut regulation and oversight by Washington. Oops. It's a fair guess that if the Republican primaries were held this week, Ronald Reagan might be ignored just like all George Bushes.]
Republicans also did all they could to avoid mentioning George Bush at their national convention. Sure, they let him send in a video - he's the head of their party, after all - but even inept hopefuls for "American Idol" get to appear in person. Yet in four, balloon-filled days of celebration, they couldn't find time to mention the American President. They found time to exalt Sarah Palin, who 20 months earlier had a job she was first-elected to with 616 votes - but they ignored the leader of the free world? Well, if Republicans are avoiding the head of their party at their own convention, I'll help out.
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
When their nominee John McCain gave his acceptance speech, he never once even mentioned the president. It's not like Sen. McCain didn't have time; he spoke for 55 minutes. What, he couldn't have just popped in a quick, "And I'd like to send a shout out to the president, George Bush!"? That's four seconds. But he couldn't find a place to give props? Okay, I can -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
Throughout the campaign, John McCain doesn't mention George Bush. Even in the midst of an economic crisis being compared to the Great Depression. In his debate with Barack Obama, not once did John McCain ever bring up the name of the president on his own. The leader of his own party. Who he supported and voted with over 90% of the time. John McCain does not, will not mention who the President of the United States is. Fine, I will -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
The Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, also doesn't mention Mr. Bush. Talk about getting dissed. That's like the manager of the A/V club not referring to Bill Gates. In fact, in her debate she did give a shout out, but it was to a third grade class, not the president. Moreover, not only didn't mention him, but she went out of her way repeatedly to try and get Joe Biden to not talk about the past. In fairness, if I were in her or any Republican's place, I wouldn't want to talk about the past either. So, let's talk about the present -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
Republicans want to pretend that George Bush isn't president and hasn't lead the nation into hell for the past eight years. (Welcome to my world.) They're trying to run on a Republican platform without acknowledging their party leader who has driven their agenda for nearly a decade. Watching Congressman Eric Cantor (R-FL) on "Hardball" the other day was a study in tap dancing that would have made Fred Astaire proud. For 13 minutes, he wouldn't simply acknowledge whether he supported the economic programs of the leader of his party. He would only say, "This isn't the time to point fingers."
Sure, it is! If the worst economic crisis of our lifetime isn't the time to point fingers, when would be? You have to point fingers at a problem, so you know what to fix. Republicans won't point. I'll assist them. There -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
For eight years, the Republican Party has pushed the power of the White House, while diminishing constitutional checks-and-balances of the other two branches. But now, Republicans seem to want to reverse all this - completely ignore that the White House exists, while accepting the other two branches of government only. Well, sorry, the White House does exist. And someone works there -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
Republicans can try to ignore that they've given their party's leader, George Bush, a blank check for eight years while genuflecting at his feet. But now, Republicans have seen George Bush plummet to a 24% approval. They've seen Republican George Bush lead the nation into an unending war that it was lied into, a crumbled economy, a blindness to global warming, supporting torture, wiretapping Americans, creating a housing crisis, and on and on...
...and now Republicans want to avoiding mentioning Republican George Bush as if he didn't exist. As if these problems didn't exist. As if they didn't enable and support him to allow these problems to exist. As if they aren't even Republicans.
Sorry, it doesn't work that way.
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
And you're Republicans. And George W. Bush is the head of the Republican Party. And Republicans and John McCain can either support him or explain why they were wrong to have supported him for eight years. Ignoring him is not an option. We've seen what happens when you ignore George Bush and let him have his way. Try as they might, Republicans can't ignore Republican George Bush. You can run, you can even run for office, but you can't hide. Why? Because -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
And we haven't even mentioned Dick Cheney. Then again, neither have the Republicans.
By the way -
Dick Cheney is Vice President of the United States.
And he's a Republican. Just like John McCain. And just like Sarah Palin. And like all Republicans running for office. And just exactly like George W. Bush. The only difference is -
George W. Bush is President of the United States.
