Jan 16 2009
Thoughts on President Bush’s Farewell Address
Fellow readers, for eight years, it has been my honor to criticize our president. The first decade of this new century has been a period of mistakes, follies, and misunderestimations. Tonight, with a thankful heart, I am asking for a final opportunity to share some thoughts on the farewell address delivered last night by a man who I consider to be one of the lousiest, ghastliest, dumbest, most awful, dreadful, clueless, nincompoopish chief executives this nation has ever had the misfortune of electing to its highest office.
(By the way, I have used this occasion to put up my own “Mission Accomplished” banner on my computer desktop)
“Standing on the steps of the Capitol will be a man whose story reflects the enduring promise of our land. This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole nation. And I join all Americans in offering best wishes to President-elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.”
Okay, that was gracious of Mr. Bush. We all know our president-elect is the Second Coming of the fabled Messiah. Next!
”I remember standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center three days later, surrounded by rescuers who had been working around the clock. I remember talking to brave souls who charged through smoke-filled corridors at the Pentagon and to husbands and wives whose loved ones became heroes aboard Flight 93.”
Oh well, at least he’s not using 9/11 as a campaign prop anymore.
”Our nation is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists’ movements, freeze their finances, and break up their plots.”
Unfortunately, the president fails to mention that some of these tools are illegal and/or unconstitutional.
“And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the fight to the terrorists and those who support them.”
Three cheers for Micronesia! Hip, Hip, Hooray!
All kidding aside, Bush doesn’t seem to realize that one of our allies seems intent on creating more terrorists by killing scores of women and children or denying them medical treatment. Apparently, this ally doesn’t feel we have enough terrorists to deal with already.
“Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored al Qaeda and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school. Iraq has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States.”
While the overall situation seems to have improved in Iraq, the Great Republic of Afghanistan appears to be falling apart. That is, if it was ever whole to begin with.
”There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions.”
Tell that to the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who rubber-stamped your “splendid little war,” Mr. President.
“But there can be little debate about the results.”
Agreed, the results have been catastrophic.
“America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil.”
Close that southern border and you might be able to make it ten or 20 years.
”Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology…”
It’s a little too late to be criticizing AIPAC, Mr. President.
”And in the long run, advancing this belief is the only practical way to protect our citizens.”
That’s an odd statement, because form 1789 to 1898, no president attempted to “advance liberty” and yet we were perfectly safe. Astonishing!
“When people live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror.”
Wait a minute. Didn’t Adolf Hitler rise to power through a free democratic election? Why yes, I believe he did!
”Our enemies are patient and determined to strike again. America did nothing to seek or deserve this conflict.”
Anyone who actually believes this has clearly never read a book on U.S. foreign policy. Chalmers Johnson is right: Blowback is a bitch.
”But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism.”
Funny. Bush didn’t seem to hate the idea of protectionism when he was badgering Congress to give our nation’s home-grown auto industry a huge financial bailout.
”I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise.”
Ah yes, the old black-white routine. That’s worked wonders for us, hasn’t it?
“President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, ‘I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.’”
Jefferson also said that America must maintain “Peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”
”It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your president.”
Oh well, at least someone managed to extract a modicum of pleasure from this grueling experience.
“Wait a minute. Didn’t Adolf Hitler rise to power through a free democratic election? Why yes, I believe he did!”
The answer is more complex than that.
Yes, his party won an election, but after that, his “rise to power” was marked by brutality, coercion and force of arms. Hitler never intended to give up that power once he was there, and once he made the first illegal move by coercion, his power became tainted and dictatorial.
the period in which he rose to power was marked by economic disruption, political anarchy and violence on the streets the government could not control.
There really is no comparison.
Your rant was childish and ungracious at a time when we need to pull together. Bush is history by now, and further rants against him are unhelpful. You have had eight years to oppose his Administration, and his party lost the recent election.
Not cool.
I thought your rant was cool animal…
Thanks Guitar. R. you take things way too seriously sometimes. What I wrote wasn’t any worse than a lot of the things I’ve been saying about Sarah Palin, but apparently, you don’t have a problem with that.
Sarah Palin isn’t a retiring President with one of the lowest popularity ratings in decades, Bush is. Sarah has her political life ahead of her, and tried to pass herself off as more experienced than she really is.
Two different animals… you don’t need to beat a dying horse.
“Yes, his party won an election, but after that, his “rise to power” was marked by brutality, coercion and force of arms. Hitler never intended to give up that power once he was there,”
You just made my point here. If anyone is simplifying things, it’s Bush himself. Of course, no sane person would willingly choose a dictator, but no one really knows how someone will act when given power, and as you say, it only takes a combination of external factors to derail a fledgling democracy.
That is why democratic elections do not often work in countries that have little to no experience in republican govt. In fact, free elections have often been used by fanatics to acquire power for themselves, which they then use to stop free elections in the future and establish tyrannical rule.
Mind you, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but as Fareed Zakaria has pointed out, in order to become a successful democracy, a country needs to have a strong political and economic infrastructure, and that can take decades to develop. This has been the case with former dictatorships like South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. It is not the case with countries like Iraq and certainly not Afghanistan, or many other Third World countries that have no republican tradition or stability and are rife with ethnic and religious divisions. Bush seems to think you can just go anywhere and people will embrace democracy if you give it to them, but that is simply not true. It’s much more complicated than that.
The disingenuous call for “unity” when coupled with adjectives such as “childish” and “ungracious” really makes my head explode. I have to side with the other “elder” in this discussion to say: At some point, some one is going to have to prosecute a sitting (or former) president to insure this finally “never happens again”. If that makes me ungracious–so be it. I see no point in gratuity when crimes have been committed in my name, under my flag.