It Would take a Clue Nuke

[akirlu]

I'm not sure anything less than a multiple-warhead hydrogen bomb of clue could break through the self-absorption of our departing "President". Bush's farewell press conference yesterday was full of howlers -- obliviousness of Brobdingnagian proportions -- but to me the distillation of pure Bushian disconnect came when he dismissed the burden of office as overrated, "Why'd the financial collapse have to happen on my watch? ... It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity?"

Feeling the burden of office amounts to self pity? Yeah, George, the burden of office -- that's all about you. You betcha. Because the only person whose sufferings the President might reasonably be expected to worry about in a financial crisis (or during Katrina, or in the aftermath of 9/11, or in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq) would be his own. The only tragedy in the wake of 9/11 was Congress and the press and the American people pointing fingers (however belatedly and obliquely), making George W. Bush accountable for his part in the epic security fuck-up. That really made George uncomfortable, you can tell. He's still bitter about people trying to make him accountable before Congress.

But the people who are losing homes and jobs and retirement savings in the financial crisis; the people in New Orleans who drowned in their attics because they could not evacuate, the people stranded for weeks in filth and squallor in the Superdome, people still living in toxic trailers or waiting for FEMA to pay out on their claims; the soldiers, sailors and marines losing limbs and organs and lives in Afghanistan and Iraq (never mind the hundreds of thousands of total Iraqi and Afghani casualties); the emergency and construction workers now suffering incurable lung diseases because they were falsely told it was safe to go back into the rubble after 9/11, and all the rest I haven't tallied here -- none of their personal catastrophes in any way comprise a part of what George W. Bush thinks of as his responsibility, the burden of his office. One wonders if they are even real to him, those people he has sworn to serve, those military personnel he is responsible for as Commander in Chief.

At this point I am glad that I am not a Christian. Especially not one of the proud, publicly pious kind that Jesus disapproved of. Because if there has ever been a puffing, prating "Christian" President, a man of self-congratulatory street-corner piety, George W. Bush is he. And yet in these final days, we see what that kind of Christianity amounts to: no charity, no sympathy, no pity, and no remorse. Jesus wept, George Bush is no kind of Christian at all. Not if that word means anything.

Comments

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

I saw clips from this conference and it still continues to amaze me that the gravity of the office and the scope and long-lasting ill effects of his actions still have not made a dent. He remains as self-absorbed, self-righteous, and shallow today as he was when he stole the first election.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

George Bush is a character in a bad novel -- he simply does not experience personal growth at all. Hell, there were signs he was even backsliding on the alcoholism.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

CNN's Campbell Brown reacted to his attempt to whitewash their Katrina response. Also, according to the WaPo, although the White House had sent out notices before the press conference that news organizations were limited to one representative each and it would be SRO for non-seat holders, apparently the last two rows in the seven-row briefing room were empty right before it started and they called in White House interns to fill the seats!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It will be nice to be able to go back to using the radio function of my clock radio alarm. I've had mine tuned to the 'alarm' function for a while, because tuning to NPR as I otherwise would meant risking waking up to the voice of George W. Bush, and especially in the dead of Seattle winter, I just could not face it.

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

I kept seeing that clip, and it seemed more unreal every time, like it should have been a comedian parodying him, instead of himself. It's like question back in 2006 about his best moment in office. What's his answer? He "caught a seven-and-a-half pound large mouth bass on [his] lake". Yeah, that's what being president is all about.

(Yes, I know he knew it was a fluffy answer. But it was an opportunity to cite something of true significance. And he just ducks it. This entire interview is so fatuous, I can hardly believe they posted the transcript.)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

The emperor has been naked for a long time. Nudity isn't all that shocking, after the first few moments. I'm guessing a lot of the press and Bush government simply don't notice the fatuousness any more.

[greenshadows.livejournal.com]

I honestly thought he was drunk.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

The bits I heard/saw were in the context of watching Keith Olbermann last night. I am strangely immune to the horror of watching W. in the context of watching Countdown. Maybe it's the comfort of knowing that someone on a major network gets it.

[avram]

it was probably the _last_ time I heard him as president

Don't misunderestimate the man. He's still got a week left in office. That's enough time for one last grand catastrophe.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Bite. Your. Tongue.

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

Your list of Bush's shame speaks for me.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

My list is too short, but at the absolute minimum, those are the people whose lives should weigh on the mind of this departing President. Frankly, I think everyone who died in 9/11 should too.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

I'm perfectly happy for him to remain clueless. It's the American people who need a clue. They even elected him, once, when his mendacity and catastrophically poor judgement were already obvious. That it took another four years of disaster is tragic. I am very glad that people seem to be a little bit more sane, but I don't know if it will last. I hope we can hold it together long enough put together the appropriate fan fund and send W to Den Haag. That's the kind of place where I feel he could establish an enduring legacy that might be worth something.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It would waste my time and annoy the pig to expend much time hoping Bush ever achieves satori, yes. And it is far more important that we use this moment for good. But a Christian friend of mine who does not believe in Hell as such, believes that everyone experiences Purgatory, in the form of fully and directly experiencing all of the wrongs they have done to others from the perspective of the victims, before they go on to Heaven. I don't believe in it, but it would be nice if that were true. One of the clear appeals of Christianity is the idea that there is justice for everyone, if not in this life, then the next.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

There are some Christians that I respect, starting with my mom, who feel that justice is a responsibility, not an entitlement. Jesus was profoundly committed to justice in the here and now. His followers, less so. This is aside from the old observation that we all might be better off wishing for a merciful God than a just one.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Justice as responsibility is great, in situations where you have any power to exercise it. There are many situations where time, distance, or sheer inequality of power mean that we have no ability to attempt to achieve justice. The best we can do is restitution.

None of which is to say that I don't think we should prosecute the hell out of any Bush administration members who were actively or passively complicit in torture and other war crimes, or other crimes and misdemeanors while in office.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Many situations, indeed. If the reason is inequality of power, that itself is an injustice. Sometimes the best we can do is hope the next generation doesn't repeat our mistakes.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

Shh! we must be vewwy vewwy quiet when hunting wabbits.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Indeed. For the time being, I'm holding to the thought that possibly the reason Obama is hedging on prosecutions is that he doesn't want to stampede Bush into granting any pre-emptive pardons. It's harder to justify a pardon if there aren't any legal actions on the books, yet.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

I heard an international lawyer on the radio saying it would be "very silly" to issue preemptive pardons, because they would attract more investigations. Seemed like very sensible advice to me.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Cap Weinberger, Elliot Abrams, and I forget who else.

All were pre-emptively pardoned for their roles in Iran-Contra.

I thought it was an impeachable offense. Congress thought it was no problem.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

nice article in the Dec Harper's on all the possibilities. there's maybe more than one guy (?) with a book out on the subject, i saw another interviewed on bill moyers, that troublemaker. apparently any country can try for war crimes if they can just get their hands on em, for instance passing through some foreign airport. extraordinary rendition my foot. personally i would settle for lifetime exile to their great friend saudi arabia

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Too true.

Remember when he claimed that Jesus was his most influential political philosopher? Did anyone actually believe him, even then?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Alas, I am certain there were. I don't see how they manage to keep the bubble intact, but I know people who bought into the bizarre Cult of Bush the Heroic and Infallible and still will not recant. I guess it helps if you only watch Faux News and read Little Green Footballs, but I cannot stomach either.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I was more spluttering incoherently at what I heard from him, myself.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

Won't listen, won't YouTube. The only thing I ever want to hear from him is a guilty plea at the Hague.

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

This.

I'm amazed anybody even paid attention at all. It's amazing how irrelevant he's become since Obama won.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

I am with you there. I was channel surfing on the cable news channels last night and stopped on FOX because of who was talking, and Bush was being off-handedly dismissed by these people. He's irrelevant to his own base. What a legacy!