Please note: in the interests of brevity, I have basically quoted myself from my own blog here. It's LONG. And admittedly, there's not much in it that a DKos reader doesn't already now. Not only that, the conclusion will not be a huge suprise to anyone either. (If someone has done a similar diary, I apoloqize; I haven't had time to keep up with Dkos like I've wanted to these past two months. Again: work)
Still, writing this has helped me vent. I tried to have it finished by November 5th, but the sheer bulk of criminality that required wading through delayed me time and time again. Also admittedly, like everyone else I've devoted many extra hours to my job trying to avoid becoming another statistic of the economy!
More than anything else, I hope this can serve as just a small, concise listing of the crimes of the Bush/Cheney administration. If you ever find yourself in a flame war with a Republican kook, free free to reference.
Thanks for reading.
The Bush/Cheney presidency officially ended on January 20th, 2008. And yet, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, aka The Bush Legacy will live on long after, perhaps even after the next two presidential terms. The changes in this country from that point through today have been staggering to say the least. For many, it is difficult to even reference back to that time. Back in January, 2001, no one had the slightest idea what a YouTube, Bratz doll, MySpace, Wii, or an iPod was . None of them existed. Lost, Desperate Housewives, The Wire, and Mad Men, were only ideas in a producer's mind. John Paul II was still Pope. Barack Obama was still in the Illinois State Senate, Keifer Sutherland was still just the guy who got dumped by Julia Roberts, and Tom Brady was a fourth-string quarterback for the faceless New England Patriots.
How long ago was 2001? N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys were the biggest musical acts on the planet, and sold nearly 10 million records. Each. That’s how long ago.
And on January 2001, the words Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda were the furthest thing from household words. The country was still trying to come to grips with the unbelievable occurrence of oral sex taking place in the Oval Office. In retrospect, Monica Lewinsky may have changed the course of history, as the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton would led to the incredible train wreck that was Election Day 2000, when Al Gore won the election, but lost the presidency.
George W. Bush and Richard Cheney were awarded the presidency, the Supreme Court acting as tie-breaker. At the time, there was much anger in among Democrats. By way of the Governor of Florida (Bush’s brother) The Florida Secretary of State (an appointee of the governors’) and the Supreme Court (five republican appointees) the feeling was that the election had been stolen. For some, there would be no assuagement. Others however, resigned themselves to the fact that George W. Bush was now president and we would just have to suck it up for the next four years, until he was inevitably bounced out of office. Besides, it was said, how much damage could this simpleton from Texas actually do?
Eight years later, we now know.
THE CATEGORIES AND GRADES:
CHARACTER: DOUBLE F MINUS
VISION: F
COMPETENCE: F MINUS
ECONOMIC POLICIES: D MINUS *
PRESERVING LIBERTY: DOUBLE F MINUS
NATIONAL DEFENSE: F
OVERALL GRADE: F*
*As stated, the D is only because we have no idea yet how far bottom we've hit, and (to be fair) not all of our current economic problems can be placed directly at the feet of Bush/Cheney. Still, both the grading on their economic policies and therefore, the overall grade is subject to change in the future.
.. there may be no better place to end this than with Cheney, and this exchange he had in March 2008 with ABC'S Martha Raddatz.
CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.
RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.
CHENEY: So?
RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.
"So?"
"So"? You say?
Yes. "So"
That’s it. The objections of a majority of Americans mean less than nothing to Dick Cheney. All the damage they have foisted on Iraq, all the families both here and abroad that have been torn apart, all the bad policy, all the dead soldiers, all those that have survived but missing limbs, brain fragments or with melted faces.
All this merits is a "So?"
With that one word though, we were given a perhaps the most succinct post-mortem of the Bush/Cheney administration.
In his book, Felzenberg did not grade Bush/Cheney as, at the time of the book’s writing, they were still in power. However, he did write an epilogue where, perhaps in advance of the 2008 Election, gave some advice on what to look for in a president. In finding what one should look for he, stated voters should:
• Sound out a sense of purpose
• Examine how they met adversity in life
• Look for broad life experiences
• Probe for a natural curiosity
• Seek a well developed sense of integrity
• Crave humility
And as for what to avoid in a candidate?
• Watch out for cynicism and complacency
• Stay away from whiners
• Stay away from Know-It-Alls
• Stay away from candidates with a narrow focus.
• Be leery of unrelenting ideologues
• Stay away from bearers of grudges
• Eschew tendencies toward bald assertions of power
You could hardly find a better way to describe Bush or Cheney, then with these statements. And if some of these qualities (or anti-qualities as it were) were not in evidence in 2000, than they certainly were in 2004. Yet thanks to the powers of persuasion of Karl Rove, and the marketing of Bush/Cheney by the right-wing media, and an American public loathe to dispose of a "Wartime President" they managed to eke out a win that hinged only on one state.
Bush/Cheney are easily the worst administration of the last 70 years. If they are graded on a scale, they can be said to compare favorably with the presidencies of Andrew Jackson, Millard Fillmore and perhaps even Woodrow Wilson. (After all, the treatment of slaves, Indians, Jews and women were of no issue during the last eight years)
But regardless, they stand revealed as an administration that did not serve the people at all. They served Corporate America and themselves. And, as many a political pundit has noted, January of 2008 could not have arrived too soon.
And yet, Bush apologists, of which there are many, still have not had their appetite satiated. This summer, they appeared ready to nominate Republican candidate John McCain, solely on the strength of his vice-president pick, Sarah Palin. Palin, in less than two years as Alaskan governor has already racked up a number of outstanding ethical and legal foibles (many with a distinct resemblance to the hijinks perpetuated by Bush/Cheney) . The hard liners of the Republican Party have made it clear that they want her to be the nominee in 2012.
This is why a swift appraisal of Bush/Cheney is so important. The extremists of this country will stop at nothing for candidates that defy every rational measure of being good for Americans – All Americans – instead of merely a small section of it. Even now, there are two competing sets of Conservative camps on Bush. One is the position "He was too liberal" a statement which elevates revisionist history to Mount Everestian levels. The other is that "History will absolve him". Which is of course, the line being flogged to death by Bush himself. (Not that he really cares of course, but they had to come up with something)
Has some good come out of Bush/Cheney? Yes, absolutely. The past two presidential elections saw a larger turnout than at any other time in history. Jointly, more citizens became better-informed on facts about government and the way it is supposed to work. In 2008, this severely disabled the huge turnout advantage Republicans usually enjoy.
Bush/Cheney was also the first presidential administration to take place under a fully formed internet. There are, quite literally, hundreds of websites dedicated to politics now, many of which are fully independent brought into action by a army of citizen-journalists. There is little any president will ever be able to do that can escape the scrutiny of this corps. The creation of DailyKos in specific is a Bush contribution the founding fathers would have proud of.
Beyond a doubt, more learned scholars than I will write books by the score concerning The Bush Legacy. But let’s go back to my earlier claim; neither man is terribly worried about what’s to come on that score.
Is there any greater indictment then, than that cloak of apathy in which they have dressed themselves?
No.