George W. Bush's Non-Mea-Culpa Tour 2009
| Mon Jan. 12, 2009 8:41 AM PST
George W. Bush the wise and somber presidential veteran.
Spare me. But as Bush prepares to leave office, he's trying to strike that sort of tone. I suppose it's easier to pontificate about the office of the presidency than to say, "Boy, did I screw up, I'm outta here." So at a press conference on Monday morning--probably his final as president--Bush discussed the burdens of presidential leadership and noted there will come a moment next Tuesday when Barack Obama, after taking the oath of office and watching the parade, settles into the Oval Office and says to himself, "Oh, my." (Maybe he will add, "Is this my beautiful house?")
But being president is really not that bad, Bush said. According to Fox News, he remarked: "Disappointments will be clearly a minority irritant." (Was that a Freudian slip? Or just another Bushism? According to the official transcript of the press conference, Bush actually said, "minor irritant.")
But the most surprising (I suppose) element of his non-mea-culpa is his insistence that he is unpopular because he did the right thing. For instance, he said that it would have been wrong for him to back the Kyoto global warming treaty just to be popular. Of course. But that doesn't mean trashing it was the correct thing to do. Bush seems to believe that popular disgust with some of his actions is a signal that he made the hard and right choice. See Iraq.
On Fox News Sunday, Bush had this telling exchange with Brit Hume:
Continues Below
Continued From Above
HUME: People who come to see you here and meet with you, from the outside, are continually taken by surprise by your evident good humor and good mood and the fact that with low poll ratings and various troubles besetting the country and all you've been through, that you're not down -- that you're fine. And everybody remarks on it. How do you explain that?
G.W. BUSH: Well, I'm better than fine. I am proud of the accomplishments of this administration. I am thankful for the people that have worked so hard to serve our country. I know I gave it my all for eight years. And I did not sell my soul for the sake of popularity. And so when I get back home and look in the mirror I will be proud of what I see.
At the press conference, while discussing what he might have done to be more "popular," Bush defended his handling of Hurricane Katrina: "Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off...after the storm passed....It's a pretty quick response."
What cable news was he watching at the time? Even Fox News reporters and anchors were then decrying the administration's handling of the catastrophe. Bush lost an American city, and he appears to believe that he responded adequately. And should he have done a better job just to be popular?
At the press conference, he also said:
"I strongly disagree with the assessment that our moral standing has been damaged. It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom; that America is a country that provides such great hope."
But poll after poll shows people abroad have a more negative view of the United States than before Bush invaded Iraq. Is he delusional? (That's a rhetorical question.)
On Fox, asked about his Republican Party and its recent losses, Bush remarked, "Look, obviously we got whipped in 2008. And there will be a new wave of leadership arriving on the scene." But it was his leadership that led to the whipping--and to many of the problems the nation faces today. Bush clearly has not processed all this.
At his Monday face-off with reporters, Bush said that when gets back to Texas he will be able to look into the mirror every day without regret. How nice. Is it disturbing (or harrowing or frightening) that this nation, during such consequential times, had as a leader a man with so little depth? After all, only people without much soul have no regrets.
This was first posted at www.davidcorn.com.
Comments
We knew he was an "empty suit" 8 years ago, and somehow elected him anyway! What does that say about US as a nation?
We couldn't see through our collective complacency how very destructive such gross incompetance would prove to be. [sigh!] Have we learned anything?
This is a story? (rhetorical, of course) Smart, fearless, urinalism at best. Let's see, what were our choices, Gore, Kerry? Please to denigrate one without comparison as to whom he was up against. I will never understand how summarily denigrating one somehow lifts another to higher status.
Bush also previously said, when asked about future plans, that he intends to make a lot of money on the lecture circuit. And apparently joy permeated his attitudes about being president. He's so detached that, although I am not a psychiatrist, suggests to me that he is sociopathic. He reminds me of the person who commits a home invasion, kills the entire family, then fixes himself a meal while stepping over dead bodies and eats it with relish. He's the Alfred E. Neuman of politics: "What, me worry?"
Commentary on George W. Bush
Submitted by T G. (not verified) on Thu Oct. 8, 2009 9:25 PM PDT.
Precisely my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs concerning this shallow human being! And let's just hope as well as pray that someone like this is never elected again. There's just too much at stake.
Submitted by Steven Earl Salmony (not verified) on Tue Jan. 13, 2009 10:14 AM PST.
A haiku.........
Truth was his doormat.
The'liberated'threw dirtysoles
at his head.
Thanks David for the thread. Bush's last press conference was a success. After it I was again wondering about the degree to which he has intentionally committed crimes, in some cases crimes against humanity. I suspect that it's his everyman persona. It successfully f**** with fundemental principles of American reason. It's the anti-Bubba if we can define Bubba as a democratic, optimistic, self-deprecating, hard-working, church-going good-old-boy.
"...although I am not a psychiatrist, suggests to me that he is sociopathic. He reminds me of the person who commits a home invasion, kills the entire family, then fixes himself a meal while stepping over dead bodies and eats it with relish."
If one is NOT a doctor, one should NOT impersonate one on the blog.
And crimes against humanity; are we not losing the language here? Please people, get your heads out of your a..... (Of course, with the contraints of decency, use your imagination. The visitors to this blog seem to have active ones at that.)
"And so when I get back home and look in the mirror I will be proud of what I see."
It doesn't take Sigmund Freud to read this. "Proud" is a transparent negation of a negation. He knows as well as his mother does, whose voice he is probably answering, that there's nothing in his life worth spitting on.
Jimmy, you seem bothered by the criticism of Bush. Why is that? Mr. St. John clearly stated that he was not a psychiatrist; he's not impersonating one. He simply stated his humble opinion. Of course, "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
Jimmy:
You are such an incredible hypocritical dumbf***. You have no qualms about attacking Gore and Kerry, neither of whom had a chance to show how they would have performed as president, but you consider it inappropriate for anyone to "summarily denigrate" a man who will certainly go down in history as the most inept, destructive and arrogant president we have ever had.
Is Jimmy some kind of stooge tasked by the Republican party to police the commentary made on Mother Jones?
He is obviously completely in awe of Dubya and unable to deal with the reality of his total failure as a leader. Try and lift your game Jimmy and get a stronger grip on the core responsibility of modern leadership.
For several years, I've believed Bush to be psychotic. Can he possibly be lying? It seems more likely that he is disconnected from reality.
These "consequential times" would have been far less consequential if Bush were not president. Both Gore or Kerry would have avoided war with Iraq, managed Katrina far better, quite possibly allowed the regulation of financial institutions so that we may have avoided this very serious recession, not accumulated some $5 trillion worth of additional debt, etc. The Bush presidency has brought this country to its knees and there are still dimwits out there who are saying "Mission Accomplished"---true only if the mission was to destroy the country.
Bush is--- most certainly a world yes, but not necessarily the world. Then he turns around and explains English as such, 'we need 'these smart' bombs to bomb those dumb terrorists', yet know we are liberating the people. Aside 'everyone knows there is no such a thing as a smart bomb, as it kills Americans and destroys their housing, and water, air, and land with pollution, and we Americans know that is not smart. chuckle chuckle mission accoplished. Then he changes subject and goes to 'depleted uranium' which is new intelligence speak, and inside job, but we must hire scientists at twice the price to explain away the American Peoples knowledge that it is really alive uranium and kills the perpetrators (who he lies to) as well as the victims who he exclaims to the world, 'we don't do body counts then' Signing off as the press meeting ends that-- 'so long, its been good to know you'-- chuckling to himself on how he fooled the worlds terrorists that it was he that signed off the nuclear non-polliferation treaty, so he could avoid world condemnation when he nuked Iraq airport and Pakistan's hotel after hiring marine general Cartwright to nuclear bomb the worlds Holyland , much preferring the new translation of Holyland to be the land that he makes holes in as it fills with women and childrens, and elders' blood that drips on the ancient manuscripts from 7,000 years ago around the rim , pondering to himself how foolish such scribling to be as no American can read it anyhow. He is the first time I'ver heard the American mass humble themselves and think they must be sick to have elected such a moron to lead them for eight years. But what the hell, America still thinks six overkill of all life in potential as active foreign policy, is its security. Beam me down scotty, theres not much intelligent life around here.
Yes, crimes against humanity. The United States, pursuing a war of aggression under President Bush, is according to conservative estimates responsible for the deaths of at least 100,000 non-combatant Iraqis. Another 4 million have been displaced. Comparable numbers for the US would be 1 million dead and 40 million on the run. Would Jimmy and Don C. Adkins prefer to call these consequences of the assertion of American will collateral damage? Do they resist calling them crimes against humanity because Hitler and Stalin killed more, or because Bush seems like such a nice guy? Or is it that the US should be allowed to do whatever it wants because at the core of the American self is a sense that we're basically nice people, like the Bubba I described above? Of those Americans who actually travel independently to foreign lands, many do so with the sense that, heck I'm basically a nice guy who believes in freedom, votes regularly and is hard-working so there shouldn't be any trouble getting along with people. I don't even have to prepare myself for meeting foreigners in foreign lands because heck I'm universal and the world is getting flat and almost everybody drinks Coke and eats at McDonalds. Think of Bush giving Angela Merkel a shoulder squeeze. What could be wrong with that?!? I recall that Stalin used the notion of convergence too.
fred t: with Bin Laden still out there planning his next attack, (remember, he's the monster that was actually responsible for the Sept. 11th attacks) how can you possibly believe Bush has kept us safe? He neglected our attackers to invade a country that was not an immediate threat. I have not felt safe with Bush in charge. The last eight years were a nightmare. So glad it's over.
Submitted by JT Barrie (not verified) on Wed Jan. 14, 2009 6:26 PM PST.
I'm no big fan of Bush. But history keeps getting whitewashed to the nth degree. And let's face it: the more belligerent and militaristic the president the better the review. Yeah, I know that the History Channel will skewer him - but they skewered all of our wars for various reasons.
Let's look at our "great" presidents. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and detained hundreds of leaders without hearings - for the greater good. Roosevelt had a whole slew of detention camps. Jackson ignored a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the native tribes. Kennedy started Viet Nam.
He said it best "I am a war president"! He said it with pride. We got attacked by Al Qaeda [allegedly - with an underwhelming legal case against Bin Laden] and he picked fights with the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. I seriously doubt that he wanted to prosecute Bin Laden. He didn't prosecute most of the Al Qaeda operatives caught in US courts in a credible manner.
His attitude towards leadership is outlined in the writings of Chairman Mao. He "did what he thought was necessary" for the greater good of his country. He certainly was more of a patriot than Chang Kai Shek. And if China evolves into a corporate fascist republic, Mao will still be treated kindly by Chinese historians. Why would we expect US historians to treat a soul mate of Mao with less respect?
It's HILARIOUS to see the conservatives surfing these types of articles and written about "typical libs" and the "elite media" and the same boring, worn out rubbish that worked in the 90s for Rush Limbaugh.
The world has woken up from it's slumber.
Conservatism is dead. The only thing remaining is the linger stench of its adherents, blithely ignoring reality and it streaks by.
I'd feel pity for the dumb m*therf*ckers, but I don't. THEY are as responsible for this mess as Bush is, every simpering one of them.
I love these conservatives who claim Bush kept us "safe." Of course, "safe" has to be qualified....apparently it only means since 9/11. That one doesn't count for some reason, even though he was president at the time and ignored all relavent warnings.
Just because we didn't get attacked (again, since 9/11) doesn't mean Bush kept us safe. It is pretty well-known to anyone willing to look past their assumptions and what they want to believe that he has pretty much ignored every single recommendation made by the 9/11 Commission.
Claiming that Bush kept us safe is like claiming a lifelong smoker, who happened to dodge lung cancer and emphysema while living to a ripe old age, took care of their body.
Come on, give it up already...Bush was an awful president. Those who still don't see it or won't admit it either just can't bring themselves to admit "I was wrong" or believe the US is perfect and above all criticism.
I'm sure that president Bush fully believes himself a patriot and a success. As a man that stuck to his beliefs and didn't bend to the masses.
But you have to question what those beliefs are based upon and what they resulted in.
When you do you find this administration from a humane and moral point an abomination.
This administration has the highest death toll in both Americans and non-Americans in decades.
In not responding to popular movements he has undermined democracy.
In every level and aspect of government that isn't focused on the wealthy, military/industrial complex and fascism this adminstration has set back decades.
Under his watch thousands of Americans died. Enviromental rules were turned back decades. Torture has become commonplace. Engaging in pre-emptive war based upon lies is now acceptable American policy. Holding US citizens without rights. Spying on US citizens. Removing civil rights. Undermining labor. Complete un-transperant operation of the government. Destruction of lawfully required records. I could go on for an hour for all the crimes this adminstration has done. None of them to be even remotely proud of.
Yet, this man is. He has helped set billions more of our fellow human beings against our nation and we're supposed to be proud. Millions of people died in needless wars and we're supposed to wax nostalgic?
Yes, I believe he thinks he is doing the right thing. He's deluded of course.
And if you think that he's right, try looking at history. Bush has done as other presidents have done before him. We're doing as other empires have done before us. When has this worked? It only leads to more wars. More human made catastrophies. More starvation. More disease.
Maybe we shouldn't spend more than every other nations military budgets combined for our military and spend it on something more worthwhile. Maybe we shouldn't tell the UN off and work with them instead. Maybe we should invest in the common man instead of the wealthy who only seem to steal from the common man. Maybe we take care of our planet instead of leading it to global disaster. Maybe we should respect the human condition and other peoples and nations instead of supporting dictators and dictating ourselves.
Maybe.
Then maybe, we would have a good president.
Not only did Bush accomplish nothing, but he was our anti-Midas. Everything he touched turned to poo.
Bush proved that everything the wingnuts believe is wrong, a house of cards.
No more Republicans, ever. Why do they hate our country so much?
Greenpeace Pittsburgh placed a sign on the top of one of the smoke stacks of the permanently closed steelmill foundaries that read, George W. Bush's energy policies kills tens of thousands of Americans each and every year it is in place. For that they were arrested and taken to jail. Regardless of the truth that they have, and the reaseach and statistics to prove their statement. How in the world can Americans be protected when the very energy they burn off each year is killing tens of thousands of their people, not to mention the plants and animals. Ecologically speaking that is only the present case of the system, but the future is not measured fully yet, and Bush has been hiring scientists at twice the pofessional rates of pay to tune and tone down the climate change and pollution facts of the society that he lives in. The future is being destroyed at a very rapid rate presently, and the death rate per year will only go up as time (regulated by Bush) goes on. Don't forget it was Bush who after being appointed to Pres. in 2000, took two months to cancel all the previous administrations ecological organic green power agreements and was quoted as saying that Green Power was 'irrelevant' to the American Economy. Another big lie from an oil magnate family. No George w. is guilty of standing truth on its head to protect his and the Oil industries maximum profits, and its military narrow minded economic interests at the expense of the renewables that would save and protect American lives. No other president has done such wreckage of the planets livability, and he is leaving the stage smiling all the way to the bailout banks, leaving debts that whole numbers of generations will be working to pay back. The world really is upside down.
Submitted by The Sid (not verified) on Fri Jan. 16, 2009 11:16 AM PST.
Bush Administration are related to the Klingons:
Check out for yourself at blackcoptermedia.com.
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Who would have ever thought that the word "freedom" would ever have a tainted ring to it, yet Bush does that every time he opens his lying, filthy mouth. Here's my final spell: Let this Evil be gone from our presence and sight. May he pass in fear into that most dark of nights. May his nightly dreams hold grief and pain as the hounds of Hell prepare his way.
"No one could have imagined people flying planes into buildings."
Bush's father flew combat missions against just such people in the Pacific theater.
Bush's crimes: "waging war of aggression" The Allies hung many people for that same crime a little over 60 years ago.
My father guarded such people.
Bush is gone, I feel safer already.
Too many a times in the past, openly self-declared devout
Christian leaders, like George W. claimed for himself, the only man ever claiming Jesus as his hero, they end up feeling so holy of themselves, and convinced that they did nothing wrong, but everything right! For those and for myself, who believe in the Biblical record about Jesus himself, those "holy" Pharisees come to mind as George W. spoke his last words to this nation, he left in complete ruin, no not only financially but morally in every area of human life. But quoting that same Jesus, it is my prayer for him, for God to have mercy upon him, because he might not have fully understood what he did? Yes, as the real President was none other than Dick Cheney with his aids that of Rumsfeld, Rove and Lady Rice.
Carole seems to have a tenor about her, a tongue if you will. Now, let's match that with a brain. As with Matthew, ...if they only had a brain.
Seriously, read AND look what is actually going on. Statements such as "Conservatism is dead" and other such nonsense. Amazing!
Submitted by Jimmy (not verified) on Sun Jan. 18, 2009 9:34 PM PST.
I seemed to have got so caught up on lawyerfan, I didn't finish my previous thought.
"...Statements such as "Conservatism is dead" and other such nonsense are in their own rights, just stupid. Especially, when all "we" (not me) are hanging are hat on is "Yes, we can." As in, yes we can continue to spend money as GW did; yes we can appoint a Clinton redux, yes we can ... The saying is cliche already. Let me ask you, (anybody) when your wallet is empty, do you still continue to spend money? Amazing!
lawyerfan, Yes, I summarily attack both Gore and Kerry. Have you not noticed that Gore is a self proclaimed demigod? The global warming between his ears could go off any minute. And, Kerry? Please, name one piece of major legislation the man has championed that benefits you and me? Did I hear...NONE? Remember we found the pot to be calling the kettle black once the election was over. His GPA was lower than GW's, Yet because of his pedigree, he wsa determined to be so smart. He's smart alright, he was smart enough to hitch his wagon to the Ketchup queen. Presidential material?
Rarely do I defend GW's presidency. I defend the language, and the business of the U.S. without wishing imposing hate or wishing harm to any. So many of the enlightened "tolerant" are anything but on this blog. I am pretty straight forward here, there is no need to read between the lines.
thank you for this nice
Submitted by zxzxzx on Sun Oct. 25, 2009 8:14 AM PDT.
