Patsy Reclines

Now that his days of swaggering around Foggy Bottom are becoming sepia tinted and wistful, W's softening a bit, letting his imperial guard down and the truth burble from his lips like the last tangy drops of a Pisco Sour.

As he delivers unaccustomed regrets and stammers out wavering apologies in his final, tightly orchestrated interviews as POTUS there's a moistness in his tiny, glassy blinkers and a quietness in his tone as that ol' hoss drover senses his days are over.

But, bumbling numbnut that he was, is and always will be, he is spilling the once scrupulously baked beans and his current behavior suggests the oddest of possibilities: George W. Bush was just a patsy.

When Jeb Bush calls for a shadow government to counter the predominantly Democratic one itching to fill the methane-saturated seats previously squashed by their gaseous Repustule counterparts; when big business keeps asking for more money the way kids leaving a birthday party whine for goodie bags (who's next? If the government does not help out the pharmaceutical industry, will sales, employment and chemically enhanced erections plummet?); when his Vice President in Chief Cheney does not even bother with the pretense of projecting anything which would suggest an elected official or ever showing up for anything ceremonial beyond an NRA chili cook-off, instead preferring to oversee the bundling and transportation of ill-gotten swag; when previously untouchable pals like the Iraqi parliament, Blackwater and the NSA are taking the heat and left to deal with stragglers, like trigger men walking backwards to their getaway car from a robbery; really the only similarity between the days when a patsy would be offed in a garage beneath a police station in full view to the current conspiracy theory catalysts is their sheer, calm defiance of justice. The current incarnations of those who brought you JFK, RFK, MLK, Diem, et al, have realized that punitive responses to any black-op antics are unlikely at best and were they ever to occur, well nyah, nyah, nyah.

The most successful (so far) coup crew in history, BushCo has profited an astounding 800 gazillion-krillion dollars by scaring, threatening, strong-arming, tallywhacking, fudgepacking and otherwise brutalizing democracy in general and the Constitution in particular. And instead of carrying out an elaborate exercise to cover the labyrinth of foot, finger and snarlprints, they are basically winking at the world and shuffling lazily off to Dubai with nary a wrist slap.

Does anyone really think a case will be made for the criminal prosecution of BushCo once they've left the building? Or that those evil bankers and car companies who have contributed so mightily to this nation's (and the world's) woes will really be steaming creases in the prison laundry? Prez-elect Obama, lovely though he is, is where he is because he knows that Change® is just the reinvention of America®, not only in the eyes of democracy-starved voters but because it's good for global business as usual. Same brand, same ingredients. Yeah, fewer cyclamates and no fluoride, no bunnies killed in the manufacture of. But really just a new label. The world is a business, Mr. Beale.

And as patsies go, W's the same as all who came before him, except he's repackaged and relaxed. He's not a loner, though his approval rating would surely get him bumped from a dinner reservation at Sizzler; his role in recent events has become accepted as normal and almost likable, like a reprobate celebrity who plows through a school crossing, a traditional part of the felonious history he embodied, which itself has become equally disposable as pop pap and therefore not really punishable in any meaningful way.

As he has redefined the presidency, so has W redefined the patsy as an essential, even strangely beloved creature as an inane, rough-around-the-edges clown. What a nice change from the scruffy sociopaths who have skulked around history's darkest chapters, taking the fall for shadow governments and profiteering capitalisto-fascists. This here patsy's got a beer in his hand, he's got his boots up an' he's reclinin'.

Comments

[Social Construct]

I'm thinking of sending W a pop-up version of Machiavelli's "The Prince" for his perusing while he reclines into the sunset.

[graffen48]

"Prez-elect Obama, lovely though he is, is where he is because he knows that Change® is just the reinvention of America®"

Interesting point you bring up. The question you have to ask with him is, what is he really up to? A big part of me wants to believe it won't be business as usual.

[BrenDavis]

This is the most accurate and clear synopsis of recent history I've heard anyone utter in public, Sir.

[heermance]

I had the same thought as I was reading. The ring of ineffable, inglorious truth in "their sheer, calm defiance of justice" and " the way kids leaving a birthday party whine for goodie bags" gave me a lump in the gut Pepto can't reach.

I'm like a pigeon at an untended hot dog cart when your new posts appear. (I'm looking for a line about relish. Inspiration mercifully fails me.) Keep 'em coming.

[julianne]

W is why felons are not allowed to vote.

[kurtm]

I could be mistaken but doesn't bush have some pre-2000 insider trading charges from his last business failure that were put on hold when he took office? here's hoping at least those are resurrected and prosecuted.

[kaukerc]

"Bushco has profited an astounding 800 gazillion-krillion dollars by scaring, threatening, storm-arming, tallywhacking, fudgepacking and otherwise brutalizing democracy in general and the Constitution in particular." An absolutely beautiful sentence. Too bad it won't fit on a bumper sticker.

[tomas0808]

They (and the Wall st thieves) NEED to be prosecuted if only to set a good example. If they aren't, then the US government has No Right to throw poor people in jail for selling drugs, or robbing banks, or anything they do to survive. If the rule of law is not enforced America will continue to go down

[rabiddog6708]

Shrub the POTUS and his blind supporters (the 23% left) have a lot to answer for, but probably never will in any court of law. I would love to see Bu$h and Cheney sitting in a tiny cell....perhaps in one of their secret prisons overseas.

[dbdolan]

The "Network" (Mr. Beale) allusion was spot on re: the essence of this post. World-class post, IMHO.

[JEP57]

Arguments can be made that George Bush is an imperfect man and has made blunders (like all of us). But when he's never given the benefit of the doubt or credit for anything he's ever done or said, after awhile reasonable people see that something doesn't add up or that it's unfair. Even Bono from U2 is all for his work with AIDS and Africa.

[rabiddog6708]

What doesn't add up is your post. I guess you're one of the "reasonable people". I guess that his record low approval ratings are the result of unreasonable animous, a kind of mental defect that blinds its victims to any good Shrub may have said or did. Bu$h gave same money to combat AIDS in Africa and that is supposed to show that he is being judged unfairly by the public at large? Invading countries who have not attacked or threatened you.....tossing people into prisons with no charge or legal recourse.....spying on Americans without warrants....appointing incompetents to position of authority just because they went to some bible college.....firing Repub prosecutors who won't purssue bogus cases against Dems....not firing his cohorts who outed a CIA operative....spending us into the biggest deficits in history while giving tax cuts that favor the wealthy....ignoring the collapsing economy until the breaking point......all these things (and more0 are just "blunders" to you, showing he is "imperfect." Understatement thy name is JEP57.

[JEP57]

Your post just proved my point. Google Charles Krauthammer and Bush Derangement Syndrome.

[KP120BPM]

It's unfortunate that you feel the need to apologize for a man that SOLD YOU OUT. He didn't slip on a banana peel, for god's sake. "oops, we're in Iraq, oops we wiped our as ses on the constitution, oops I appointed an entire government full of incompetence, oops financial meltdown, oops rendition, oops FEMA is being run by a horse association guy, oops I was president during the largest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, oops - still haven't caught the guys that did it, oops I spied on you, oops we're torturing people now."

Seriously - I give him credit on the aid to Africa. It's an admirable policy. If he was only in office for 4 years and that was his only positive note - it still wouldn't be enough. Let alone 8 years with a laundry list of situations in which he's been 'imperfect' as you put it. This man should go down as the largest American criminal of all time. Maddow is right - people are out there actively trying to revise history for this POS. Charges should be brought against any and all misuses of power!

[RepugsOut08]

I forget the exact polling numbers now on Bush's popularity, but I think it's down to something like 22% of "reasonable" Americans who think Bush is being looked at unfairly. Somewhere between 70 and 80% think his presidency has been either totally incompetent, criminal or both.
The AIDS work is really the only thing positive he has to show. It isn't unfair for people to see bumbling, incompetence and outright criminal acts, and call it as they see it. Bush brought his pathetic legacy on himself.

[jaf]

Thanks Steven. This is along the line of my lasting reaction to the reign of BushCo, which is that the mission, the only mission for the past eight years has been to deliver the maximum amount of the American taxpayer's (that is the bottom 98%, i.e., the suckers) money to Republican donors and their spin doctors, lawyers, and, of course, the speaking parts of this Grand Guignol the Republican political operatives. They have successfully salted away enough funding to remain obscenely wealthy, and to fund the Conservative Think Tanks (can an oxymoron be three words?) for the foreseeable future. The mission to make the bribery system more cost efficient by downsizing to a one-party political landscape failed, but that is acceptable. (Democrats generally cost less anyway). Now Patsy will weave off into one of those spectacular sunsets that proximity to a refinery produces, safe to very quietly collect the plunder that the Pirate Captain, Cheney, has cached for him. And the Masters of the World will look back on this period with fond reminiscence for generations.

[loril]

Agreed. In the one way that "counts"...G W Bush has actually been a wildly successful POTus. Those upper 5%-ers could not be happier. Even if the world collapses around their feet...they have prepared an isolated bubble for themselves (Dubai is a prime example). These true elites (not the college kids who live in cities and like to drink freshly ground coffees) have been very well served.

The rest of us? Not so much. But who are we to think we matter to the likes of BushCo?

[Konnie]

intense for the citizens. not so much for the governing class - who are neck deep in the do-do too.
and our president elect doesn't want the distraction at this time either.

i am afraid that we will have to be satisfied with venting here on the tubes, with only
each other to commiserate, and remind ourselves we are justified in our anger over
what these bastards have done to our beloved country in the last 8 years.

our only hope is karma in our lifetime.

[gemstone1000]

Well, now I'm really depressed. Who would have thought things would turn out this way? Anyone with half a brain, perhaps? All Dubya is doing now is posing for photo ops for his library. Isn't this all his presidency was ever about? Money for him and his friends and a legacy for him. He doesn't care about this country or the people, and he never has cared.

[23000Days]

"Patsy" is much to forgiving. I like "little window guy" better. He's the squirt that the gang boosts up through the transom window, who then unlocks the door so the burgulary can proceed.

[ignorantwillyharper]

I like to think of Bush as a "Post Turtle". You're driving down a country road and you see a turtle setting on top of a post.
He's not going anywhere and he can't do anything while he's up there. You know he didn't get up there by himself, he was so slow he was easy to put there by someone. The thing about him, if he's left up there to long, sooner, or later he's going to have to go to the bathroom and that will make a mess on what ever is down below.

[Curiouser]

Seems to me the American voter is responsible for this here patsy. Like it or not, we stood still for this clown. And now we see what happens when we don't stand up and fight for what's good for us.

I am so embarrassed for us as a democracy. We let George, Ben, Tom & John down big time.

[Tree-Lady]

I do wish people would stop saying that -WE- the American voters did this!!!

Some American voters voted for Bush in 2000. More than half did not.
Some voters were stupid enough to vote for him again in 2004. Lots of voters did not.

I didn't vote for him either time.

In my opinion, the presidential elections were stolen both times. A good many of us have suffered for eight years with an administration we did not choose -- and that we warned others about while being called unpatriotic for doing so.

Please, everyone, stop making claims that insinuate that all of the American people got what they deserved because they screwed up at the polls.

So, Curiouser, tell us the truth: did you vote for Bush in 2000? Did you vote for him in 2004? Did you choose to vote for Republican senators and congressmen to strength the hold of this administration's hand on our throats? Or did you maybe vote for a third party candidate, during two critical presidential elections? Which part of the "WE" did you belong to?

[squander123]

Well, obviously the Americans who didn't ever vote for Bush are less culpable than those who did. And I also agree that the 2000 and 2004 elections wouldn't stand up to any rigourous scrutiny.

BUT. When you the people knew that a) the President had most likely stolen the elections, and even aside from that was b) a terrible, terrible national leader who was doing incalculable harm and destruction at home and abroad...where were you all?

One of the characteristics of a functioning democracy is that the people are vigilant, do not concede absolute power to despots under the guise of 'patriotism' or 'respect for the office', and, when necessary, ACT through civil unrest, law-suits etc.

The vote comes with a degree of personal and collective responsibility which doesn't begin and end in the voting booth. Most other developed democracies would have ensured that a President like Bush was unable to govern the way he did, and forced him to either change or resign. By contrast, for the last 8 years the American people appear to have been in some kind of citizenship coma. The opposition to the Iraq invasion appears, even now, to be based largely on the fact that the US isn't winning, rather than the fact that it was morally wrong: which was the reason why the rest of the world objected to it.