As the presidency of George W. Bush winds down we will begin to see more and more articles that take "a look back". Many are not looking kindly on Bush 43. Consider
this article from the Boston Globe written by H.D.S. Greenway:
The hubris and arrogance of Bush's first term still poisons the wells of good will this country once enjoyed. The undermining of the Constitution, the secret torture chambers have besmirched this administration more than any tawdry intern scandal ever could. Today we are bogged down in two wars and an unprecedented deficit, with a financial crisis of a magnitude not seen since the days of Herbert Hoover. The president has so little respect it's as if he has already left the stage.
Why does it take the perspective of history to see clearly how incompetent George W. Bush was/is?The Texans tried to warn us.
Here's the late, great Molly Ivins:
So what manner of monster is behind these outrages? I have known George W. Bush slightly since we were both in high school, and I studied him closely as governor. He is neither mean nor stupid. What we have here is a man shaped by three intertwining strands of Texas culture, combined with huge blinkers of class. The three Texas themes are religiosity, anti-intellectualism, and machismo. They all play well politically with certain constituencies.
Ivins wraps it with this:
Bush's lies now fill volumes. He lied us into two hideously unfair tax cuts; he lied us into an unnecessary war with disastrous consequences; he lied us into the Patriot Act, eviscerating our freedoms. But when it comes to dealing with those less privileged, Bush's real problem is not deception, but self-deception.
I couldn't agree more and it makes me feel like I did about the Vietnam War. What a colossal waste of time, energy, money, and humanity. There's nothing so wrong than to waste the lives of good people. There are a lot of good people dead now because George W. Bush was not smart enough to be president.