The Real Bush Legacy

How will history judge President George W. Bush? What impact has his administration had on the world? Why should we care? Regardless of your political affiliation, you should demand truth and embrace ethics. Unless you have blind allegiance (or un-thinking faith), one must acknowledge the Bush legacy as not just a travesty, but a tragedy as well.

It has been suggested that George Bush is a spoiled imbecile (albeit smart enough to follow puppet-like, the advice strings of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney). The man can't think (or speak, for that matter) on his feet, and as a "decider," has shown the poorest judgment of the most inept nincompoop. Yes, people will argue the US hasn't been attacked since 9/11, and the surge in troops in Iraq was the right thing to do, but both of these points can be debated.

Terrorism is a worldwide problem, and although the U.S. hasn't been attacked in 8 years, there have been malicious international attacks (Bali, London and Madrid and Mumbai). Terrorists have shown great patience when planning significant schemes - it was 8 years from the first 1993 World Trade Center bombing to September 11 - so it is not unexpected that there have been no American attacks during the Bush term. This is all fine and well, but what is neglected in the media is the analysis of the cause of terrorism, which is poverty, ideology, and desperation.

The media should be ashamed of itself for the way it presents information, and in some way has added to the problems of our planet by buying in to the obfuscation of the issues through the 'bandwagon thinking' in which issues are reduced to 3 minute sound bites repeated throughout the day, instead of an intelligent discussion with fact-checking, so readily available with the internet (although much of the internet also suffers from a lack of factual data). There seems to be broad acceptance that the media-buying public has the mind of an 8 year-old dolt (and given Bush's 2004 re-election, that perception is easily justified). To the thinking public, the Bush legacy is that of a dim-witted bully who tried to dictate an alien ideology onto a culture of misogyny and intellectual repression. Yeah, that's going to work.

In time, historians will make the point that Bush misused his authority by invading Iraq. Instead of following Osama Bin Laden into Afghanistan, Bush used what would later be described as "faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction" as an excuse to create a western-leaning Middle Eastern country and to control that country's oil. And it's all about the oil - from American imperialism and a lust for power, to global warming and the pure greed of those that control the energy markets, further polluting the planet with dirty and unsustainable resources.

For those who have already made up their mind, these points either resonate to confirm our worst fears, or by now the reader has long-since turned away. This is the schism that George Bush "the Divider" has created. Not since the Civil War has American been so fractured. And as one seeing the repetition of history, from U.S. political issues like whether or not to nationalize banks, to the rise and fall of great nations, the lack of societal wisdom prevails. Indeed, human nature itself seems to be the cause of our ills (even evolution is suspect, for where is the evolved consciousness?) As we teeter on the brink of our very existence, men of seeming good will - men (or women) with families that love them are making decisions of selfish, material gratification, at the expense of our future. How does one not care?

In the end, the life span of humanity may be just a wink in time so that the planet can live. Perhaps our fate is the deep impact of a comet or asteroid, or a global pandemic or nuclear war, or destruction by GORT (Genetically Organized Robotic Technology from "The Day the Earth Stood Still"). So difficult to believe would be that we ourselves are the cause of our own demise. It would be hard to pin it all on BUSH (Beyond Understanding Shit Head). Is it possible that our destiny now lies in the hands of the choices that Barack Obama makes? If he makes the right choices, can we turn it all around?

There will (I hope) be plenty of time for the next generation to research, ponder and promote the Bush retrospective. If our society will have learned anything, that is, if academia and the media are not under strict government control, then the people might yet uncover the truth. But I am doubtful. At a time where the biggest swindlers in history have flourished - from Enron to Bernie Madoff, AIG of Citigroup (and this after the junk bond king Michael Milken "made off" with millions due to legal loopholes, where he was allowed to keep some wealth after less than 2 years in prison), our government continues to cheat us by allowing - even empowering! - those who create great wealth, regardless of the legality or ethics. What is clear is that the worst of America's tendencies - from graft to greed and hypocrisy to hegemony, has occurred under George W. Bush. No matter how he tries to whitewash it, this dangerously dimwitted demagogue is by far the worst president in over 200 years. Hopefully, Obama can make up for it.