Join me on a sightseeing tour of a few of the most iconic moments over the last few years...
The following photos are all copyrighted by their respective owners. They are reproduced here under fair use.
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The Decider hesitates for several minutes on the morning of Sept. 11. Kinda cute for somebody who would go on to extol his fanatical decisiveness.
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Colin Powell makes the administration’s case for war at the UN. The vial in his hand contains just enough ridiculum 238 to seal the deal. (Actually, the U.S. gave up trying to get UN approval for war, and just went with 1441.)
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After a dramatic arrival via fighter jet, Bush declares that America has won the war, whereupon the Iraqis lived happily ever after and the terror alert was lowered to green.
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Remember this one?
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And that one?
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I got burned by Lieberman. I was a big fan of his collegiality for a long time. I still think he is a nice and gracious person, with a wonderful family. But he is an unreliable Senator and an outright traitor to the progressive movement. Most of the rest of you saw that before I did. I was wrong.
To make penance, here’s a riddle: Why did Bush kiss Lieberman?
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Answer: Because who the fuck would kiss that?
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Clap louder.
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I could make a joke about the Coit Tower, but why single out that specific example? The Bush administration will be remembered as having benefited greatly in its agenda by the elements of the news media that had fallen under rightwing control. Bill O’Reilly was one of Bush’s best enablers, and he’s there every day. I’m sure the irony of his countless filthy remarks go lost only on him.
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Liberals and progressives can argue about whether it was the neocons or the fundamentalists who have done the worst harm to our country. For me, it’s an easy question to answer.
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Mister Bush himself provided many of the most iconic images of his presidency. This one is right up there. Remember how they turned the power on just long enough for him to shine on national television?
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You can’t judge a child by its parents. On the other hand, you can and should judge a parent by its children. Rinse and repeat for Barbara, "Beautiful Mind" Bush.
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Oops.
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Oops.
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Oops.
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Oh, is that unpleasantness in Iraq still going on? I thought it was Mission Accomplished? No? Last throes, at least? Ah, good, good.
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Senator Schumer is referring, of course, to the number of judicial nominees confirmed by the Republican Senate, as opposed to the four that Democrats filibustered. Even though the out-of-power Dems picked their fights with great restraint, it wasn’t enough for the War President.
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Do I need to say anything?
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After quelling the insurgency, Iraq is at least as safe as Anytown, America. In this recent photo, our man in the Senate strolls through a sunny Baghdad market. Ah, the sweet taste of victory.
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That’s Justice Alito standing in front of Commander Guy. Bush’s presidency will endure long after the man himself is gone. Many of his domestic policies will become entrenched and intractable. Many of his grabs for executive branch power will become precedent. Our international relations may never fully heal. And, of course, his nominees to the federal courts and to the Supreme Court will decide the law for decades to come.
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The future began on January 1, 2000. Boris Yeltsin had resigned the previous evening. The developed world had survived the ravages of Y2K. America’s beloved yet reviled President Clinton had survived his political ordeals and was preparing for his final year in office, after which he would leave and take the 20th century with him. We had a fresh start ahead of us.
What we got can only be called a sick joke. Instead of peace, we found ourselves in a make-believe worldwide War on Terror with no end date and no enemy flag to capture. Instead of prosperity, we got poorer, sicker, and harder-worked. Instead of disarmament, we got a military machine that every country in the world combined could not afford. Instead of surpluses, we got deficits that will ruin our grandchildren.
We got healthcare disasters and bankruptcy bills, forests chopped down and endless foreign debt. We had our Internet commandeered by mega corporations. We tuned away from our friendships abroad. We set women’s rights back thirty years. We rediscovered our latent xenophobic streak.
Be sure to add your own iconic photographs in the comments.
This has been an absolutely terrible start to the 21st century. And, proving nonreligious people everywhere right, the tsunami hit Indonesia.
I would say that we can only go up from here, except that that isn’t true. These last six years have not been kind or idle.