The Bush/Cheney Farewell Tour

Over the holidays, still-President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were busy doing their victory lap their best to explain away the last eight years in multiple television interviews. Both chose the “history will judge us well” approach as expected, and while Bush was vaguely regretful about nothing specific, Dick Cheney stuck to his tried-and-true script of smugly denying any wrongdoing whatsoever. He sounded exactly the same as he has in years past, yet in these interviews, that Penguin-like, crooked, half-crack of a smile was a little wider and a little more blatant than ever before. The most telling example was when he defended telling Senator Leahy of Vermont to “fuck yourself” on the Senate Floor. Instead of demurring on the subject, he seems to savor what was meant to be a criticism as a testament of his up-standing moral character. And he is equally unrepentant when admitting the far more serious offense of “sign[ing] off” on torture.

In the end though, the real show has been Bush himself–not necessarily his indiviual interviews that sugar coat and sail around his own catastrophic failures, but the media’s own Bush Nostalgia Tour that has focused more on the President’s diction rather than his deeds. It has become clear that far after the Iraq War runs its course and the stock market shoots up again, Bush’s mangling of the English language will be the real legacy he leaves behind.

Frank Rich of the New York Times, playing off this theme, opened his Sunday editorial “A President Forgotten but Not Gone,” with this blistering opening paragraph:

WE like our failed presidents to be Shakespearean, or at least large enough to inspire Oscar-worthy performances from magnificent tragedians like Frank Langella. So here, too, George W. Bush has let us down. Even the banality of evil is too grandiose a concept for 43. He is not a memorable villain so much as a sometimes affable second banana whom Josh Brolin and Will Ferrell can nail without breaking a sweat. He’s the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan, not Gatsby. He is smaller than life.

Others simply quote the man’s own words without comment. The AP ran an article of his greatest (mis)hits. Here’s a few highlights out of the almost countless collection of Bushisms:

_ “Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?” — January 2000, during a campaign event in South Carolina.

_ “Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” — Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

_ “Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech.” April 16, 2008, at a ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House.

_ “This thaw — took a while to thaw, it’s going to take a while to unthaw.” Oct. 20, 2008, in Alexandria, La., as he discussed the economy and frozen credit markets.

David Letterman dipped even further back into the archives to see how Bush’s promises from his initial 2000 run for President stacked up to his actions. Needless to say, even his words that came out grammatically correct have become a sad joke:

Finally, in true Bush family style, W’s father, the first unsuccessful President Bush, gave us this final reminder of just how much things are about to change:

[Talking about Obama] “But I’m impressed with him. I’m very impressed with his style on the campaign and his coolness and his articulate nature. I think he can give a sentence and it will sound like it’s been thought out by Shakespeare or something,” he said.

Well said.

Trevor Timm is a Blast Magazine staff writer

In Politics Jan 5th, 2009 | 1 Comment |

Comments

One Response to “The Bush/Cheney Farewell Tour”

  1. Mauren on January 6th, 2009 3:32 am

    And we find that both beauty and humor are found in simplicity…the remark to the Pope is one of the funniest comments ever said.

Got something to say?