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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Today's Note From a Madman
January 15, 2009
George W. Bush's Final Address
During President Bush's final address to the people of the United States of
America, one of the first things which the outgoing White House staff decided to
focus upon was the obvious placement of five people sitting directly t the left
of First Lady Laura Bush in the front row.
They were all African-American.
Like segregation of a new sort, President Bush, and those who still advise him,
decided to play their version of the race card as he addresses those who he has
helped (his "base of haves and have mores") and those who he has hurt (the
balance of the remaining 300 million of us). it looked odd that in this room
full of White faces, five persons of color (excluding Condoleezza Rice who sat
with other Cabinet members) were placed in a line to show just the fact that
they were there.
At the end of the "new color line" drawn by The President and his people was a
young Black woman, sitting with arms crossed. appearing a little peeved. The
obvious wasn't lost on her.
Bush went back to his most favorite well during his final appearance as he
informed us all of the great job he's done in keeping us safe here at home. His
body language pushed the message, "Aren't you lucky you had me?"
Those who he thanked (other than anyone of color in the audience) included Vice
President Dick Cheney, seated near the front row himself. Cheney, for his part,
just sat there barely taking note of the sentiment. One could almost hear the
grunt under the grimace.
Bush has, somehow, separated himself from the nation during his final address.
With his familiar smirk plastered on his face like Jack Nicholson's The Joker
character's upturned mouth, it couldn't possibly be wiped away. He said things
that couldn't go unnoticed, as if to tease us with his arrogance.
And it worked.
"Tonight, with a thankful heart, I have asked for a final opportunity to share
some thoughts on the journey we have traveled together and the future of our
nation,"
-Bush, from his opening
While Bush looks back at that "journey" with nostalgia and "a thankful heart",
the rest of us (most of us) don't look at the past eight years as "the good old
days". Just how out of touch is this guy? Lots!
The address as it was released prior to the address was prepared in sections.
They were, in order:
On The Transfer Of Power
On Gratitude
On The Response To Sept. 11.
On The Advance Of Liberty
On The Administration's Accomplishments
On Principled Decision-Making
On Future Challenges Facing America
On The Promise Of America
The longest of the sections, to no one's surprise, was the section titled On The
Response To Sept. 11. It is what Bush hangs his hat on. In the future, when he
looks back on his time in office, his standing on top of the World Trace Center
rubble, arm around a retired FDNY firefighter there as a volunteer, will be his
favorite internalized picture, as it should be. That being said, for the rest of
us it was just the first of many promises broken and bold-faced lies in our
collective faces.
I found it fitting that the shortest section was the section titled On
Principled Decision-Making. It had to be - after all, it's hard to talk about
something you have no familiarity with. Here is the short paragraph, in its
entirety.
"Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks.
There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always
acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my
conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough
decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the
tough decisions,"
-Bush
Had I been there, the one question I would have asked would be "What things
would you do differently?" What "error", when President Bush searches his soul
does he find with his decision-making? What decision would President Bush take
back if he had it to do all over again? All one has to do is think back to hw
2004 debate when President Bush couldn't think of one mistake he had made in his
first four years in office.
Maybe it's true: with time comes wisdom. I just wished he had some of that
wisdom-stuff a long time before now.
Also fitting is the other very long section of the prepared remarks: On Future
Challenges Facing America. Thanks to President Bush and those who he was so
"grateful" to (as he stated previously), we'll have many of them.
-Noah Greenberg
We Suckers
Aaaauuuggghhhh! Bush is still playing everyone for suckers.
On the economy he said --
"I said, well, if you were sitting there and heard that the depression could be
greater than the Great Depression, I hope you would act too, which I did. And
we've taken extraordinary measures to deal with the frozen credit markets, which
have affected the economy. Credit spreads are beginning to shrink; lending is
just beginning to pick up. The actions we have taken, I believe, have helped
thaw the credit markets, which is the first step toward recovery."
Well, Bush is irrelevant now, but what he's wrought and what he's saying are
highly relevant. Since they are, Bush still needs to be called on what he's
saying and doing. There's full rebuttal and revelation re what he did and what
he said he did "with the frozen credit markets" here -- http://tinyurl.com/7zbpte
.
Aaaauuuggghhhh!
-Joe Burgess
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-Noah Greenberg