Volstead Lounge
Bush's Utter Failure
RECEIVED Fri., Sept. 9, 2005
Dear Editor,
It is now impossible for even Bush's intransigent supporters to deny his utter failure as a president.
Following 9/11, Bush's handlers were able to turn his one successfully unscripted moment astride a heap of rubble, one moment in a lifetime of failure, into a mythos of a great leader.
Now the facts cannot be denied. While people jumped from burning towers in New York, Bush read to schoolchildren. While people swam for their lives in New Orleans, Bush golfed and played guitar, leaving Crawford only for personal appearances.
Bush showed his disregard for citizens by cutting the budget for levee repair and claiming ignorance of their well-known fragility. He allowed a former horse judge to be appointed as head of FEMA. When Nanci Pelosi asked for Michael Brown's resignation, Bush responded, “What didn't go right?” After all, he congratulated Brown on “doing a heck of a job” as the crisis worsened.
To a person obsessed with political expediency, there was no crisis until it became a political crisis. Three tons of food were grounded and 50 firefighters were used as a backdrop while Bush posed at the 17th Street levee. We will never know how many people died because of his photo ops.
Before his speechwriters could be mobilized, he publicly reminisced about the wild times he had in New Orleans and lovingly promised to rebuild Trent Lott's house. When combined with the incredibly callous remarks of his mother, we see a ne'er-do-well golden boy raised to have the outlook of nobility.
Any legacy Bush could have hoped for is dead. There is no chance that confused historians will mistake Bush fan fiction for reality and remember him as anything better than a Nero that strummed while New York burned and New Orleans sank.
It is now impossible for even Bush's intransigent supporters to deny his utter failure as a president.
Following 9/11, Bush's handlers were able to turn his one successfully unscripted moment astride a heap of rubble, one moment in a lifetime of failure, into a mythos of a great leader.
Now the facts cannot be denied. While people jumped from burning towers in New York, Bush read to schoolchildren. While people swam for their lives in New Orleans, Bush golfed and played guitar, leaving Crawford only for personal appearances.
Bush showed his disregard for citizens by cutting the budget for levee repair and claiming ignorance of their well-known fragility. He allowed a former horse judge to be appointed as head of FEMA. When Nanci Pelosi asked for Michael Brown's resignation, Bush responded, “What didn't go right?” After all, he congratulated Brown on “doing a heck of a job” as the crisis worsened.
To a person obsessed with political expediency, there was no crisis until it became a political crisis. Three tons of food were grounded and 50 firefighters were used as a backdrop while Bush posed at the 17th Street levee. We will never know how many people died because of his photo ops.
Before his speechwriters could be mobilized, he publicly reminisced about the wild times he had in New Orleans and lovingly promised to rebuild Trent Lott's house. When combined with the incredibly callous remarks of his mother, we see a ne'er-do-well golden boy raised to have the outlook of nobility.
Any legacy Bush could have hoped for is dead. There is no chance that confused historians will mistake Bush fan fiction for reality and remember him as anything better than a Nero that strummed while New York burned and New Orleans sank.
Alan Gibson
