No matter how many press conferences he holds, or how many times he decides to 'address the nation' over the next eight days it won't erase the fact that George W. Bush will go down in history as our worst president EVER.A wistful and introspective President Bush devoted a valedictory news conference yesterday to a robust defense of his "good, strong record," going further than he has gone before in conceding errors -- but making it clear that he has few major regrets about his handling of Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the other major events of his eight years in office.He has no shame ...
The tone of the news conference -- the "ultimate exit interview," as Bush jokingly called it -- was in keeping with a stream of recent speeches and interviews that appeared to be aimed atspinning his recordsetting the record straight after years of relentless pounding from critics in the media, the Democratic Party and elsewhere. But Bush, seemingly freed to speak his mind as his tenure draws to a close, offered a bit more nuance and soul-searching than he usually does in such settings, pounding the lectern for emphasis at certain points and bantering with some of the reporters with whom he has sparred.
Asked about mistakes he had made while in office -- a question that once famously stumped him -- Bush rattled off several examples, saying that he regretted his decision to focus on Social Security reform after the 2004 elections, a drive that proved unsuccessful, instead of first addressing immigration issues.Good grief ...
Bush also said hanging a "Mission Accomplished" sign on an aircraft carrier after the toppling of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 was a "mistake." He described the scandal surrounding the treatment of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as a "huge disappointment," as he did the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in that country, which the administration had claimed, based on faulty intelligence.
But there were limits to Bush's contrition. "I have thought long and hard about Katrina," Bush told reporters gathered in the White House briefing room for his 47th full-scale news conference. "You know, could I have done something differently, like land Air Force One either in New Orleans or Baton Rouge?"
Bush's answer suggested that he would not have done much different in responding to a crisis that even some of his former aides said damaged his standing with the American people. (The White House itself criticized the response in a report in February 2006.) Asked later about what more should be done to help New Orleans, the president circled back to rebut the idea that the initial federal response to the natural disaster was slow.
Throughout the 47-minute session, the president's fundamental point was that he had done the best he could under trying circumstances -- two wars, a natural disaster and the biggest economic calamity since the Great Depression [all of which he caused] -- and that history will be the final judge. "I don't think you can possibly get the full breadth of an administration until time has passed," Bush said at one point.And when history gets a look at THIS administration we can all expect to receive a "we're so sorry you had to live through this" card in the mail!
Frank Rich has really nailed it, regarding George W. Bush, in his op-ed "A President Forgotten but Not Gone."We like our failed presidents to be Shakespearean, or at least large enough to inspire Oscar-worthy performances from magnificent tragedians like Frank Langella. So here, too, George W. Bush has let us down. Even the banality of evil is too grandiose a concept for 43. He is not a memorable villain so much as a sometimes affable second banana whom Josh Brolin and Will Ferrell can nail without breaking a sweat. He’s the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan, not Gatsby. He is smaller than life.Some of my favorite lines include the title "forgotten by not gone" and others, like:
The last NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on Bush’s presidency found that 79 percent of Americans will not miss him after he leaves the White House. He is being forgotten already, even if he’s not yet gone. You start to pity him until you remember how vast the wreckage is. It stretches from the Middle East to Wall Street to Main Street and even into the heavens, which have been a safe haven for toxins under his passive stewardship. The discrepancy between the grandeur of the failure and the stature of the man is a puzzlement. We are still trying to compute it.
The one indisputable talent of his White House was its ability to create and sell propaganda both to the public and the press. Now that bag of tricks is empty as well. Bush’s first and last photo-ops in Iraq could serve as bookends to his entire tenure. On Thanksgiving weekend 2003, even as the Iraqi insurgency was spiraling, his secret trip to the war zone was a P.R. slam-dunk. The photo of the beaming commander in chief bearing a supersized decorative turkey for the troops was designed to make every front page and newscast in the country, and it did. Five years later, in what was intended as a farewell victory lap to show off Iraq’s improved post-surge security, Bush was reduced to ducking shoes.
Rich truly outlines all that is wrong with George W. Bush -- as if we didn't already know! And the way he wraps up the piece is perfect. Rich recounts an exchange between Bush and a reporter, who asked what he had learned during his time as president. Bush's response:“I’ve learned that God is good. All the time.”The asshole will be gone soon ... thank God!
Once again he is shifting the blame. This presidency was not about Him. Bush failed because in the end it was all about him.
An illustration of the class warfare taking place now can be described as simply as this: People are being treated differently based on whether they shower before going to work or after.The White House raised for the first time on Thursday the prospect of forcing General Motors and Chrysler into a managed bankruptcy as a solution to save the companies from financial collapse. [...]Yeah, as soon as they get the UAW to disband, watch the money flow!
“There’s an orderly way to do bankruptcies that provides for more of a soft landing,” Ms. Perino said. “I think that’s what we would be talking about. That would be one of the options.” [...]
These officials said the preferred solution would be to force a restructuring of the industry outside of bankruptcy court, extracting concessions that would make the companies more cost-competitive with foreign automakers.
In return, the Treasury would tap the financial rescue fund, called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to make loans to the companies.
After a week of talks between the automakers and the Treasury Department over the terms of a possible bailout, Ms. Perino on Thursday said, “we’re very close.”
What the White House appears to be envisaging is a package deal of concessions — and an injection of money from the TARP, the $700 billion financial bailout fund — to keep credit flowing for G.M. and Chrysler.What concessions did the banking industry make?
“The autos obviously are very fragile,” he said. He added that he was concerned about what President-elect Barack Obama would face on Jan. 20. “I believe that good policy is not to dump him a major catastrophe in his first day of office,” he said.I'm reminded of the SNL Weekend Update segments where Seth and Amy would just keep repeating the word "Really???" . . . Is Bush serious? REALLY??
In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion.What I love most about this clip is how they keep showing the incident over, and over, and over ... ha!
Former first lady Barbara Bush is recovering from surgery for a perforated ulcer. Some people will do ANYTHING to keep from having to sit down for dinner with George W. Bush!Former first lady Barbara Bush was resting and in good spirits in a Houston hospital Wednesday morning following surgery for a perforated ulcer, a family spokesman said.She had the surgery, so why is everyone commenting about the health of George senior?
Bush, who was visiting with family members, probably will remain in Methodist Hospital until next week, family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. [...]
Bush went to the hospital as a precaution Tuesday night after experiencing some abdominal pains. Former President George H.W. Bush was with her.
"She's feeling great, and he is feeling very good," said Jim Appleby, a spokesman for the Office of George Bush. "The surgery went just fine and she is recovering nicely."
Current first lady Laura Bush, Barbara Bush's daughter-in-law, said Wednesday: "She's doing great. George and I talked to both President Bush and Barbara Bush last night while they were in the hospital and they were both doing very well then."
