In a poll of US historians, 61% of them rated Bush Part Deux as the worst President. Ever. A further 35% rate him in the 31st-41st category. And two people out of that category rate him as the second worst ever (just behind James Buchanan who basically must have lost America in a poker game if they’re still raggin’ on him 150 years later). For those of us who read, write and have never attended a monster truck rally, this news isn’t really news- just a confirmation of what we’ve believed since the word NUCULAR first entered the lexicon. But this poll is actually quite revealing and here’s why. Most historians and history professors tend to lean left- this is no surprise (though it does bear mention that a group of people who are exceedingly academic and have chosen the in-depth study of history and consequences favor the left…just saying). So it’s also no surprise that they would rate Curious George the Second poorly. What’s revealing about the poll is the timing.
Historians may be a group of lefty-pinko-commies BUT they are also a group of people obsessed with perspective. For them, the most frustrating thing about current events is that we have no perspective on them- no way to really step back and put them into context. Context, perspective, consequences, ramifications, global importance, eras, trends, etc. are all things that only come into focus months, years, decades, centuries after events transpire. The Cold War is only now beginning to make sense and it’s still got more holes than a judicial memo on torture. The ramifications of slavery are still hotly debated among certain groups (read: Skynrd fans) For these bookish history folk, jumping to conclusions, rushing to judgment and making broad proclamations about what’s going on right now is something reserved for pundits, politicians and pastors. So, to put this poll into some perspective, a group of people who are typically loathe to make appraisals about how history will view NOW have done just that.
His shiteous rating was attributed to a few little things: complete ineptitude at almost anything, shady management of everything and the war/occupation/financial whirlpool in Iraq. In addition, he scored extra ‘Brownie’ points because of the sheer amount of work it took to turn everything he touched to shit. He started with a surplus and will end with a record deficit. He started with a healthy economy and ended with a recession/depression. He started with peace, ended at war. And most heartbreakingly, 9 months into his administration in the wake of a certain terrible event George W. Bush took the goodwill of the world, the outpouring of support from all corners and the promise of a new era of interconnectedness and sucker punched us all as he divided, tried/failed to conquer and turned hope into chaos. So, Dubya is so bad, his administration has failed in so many ways and his actions/inactions have been so damaging that those polled are willing to jump the historical shark and go out on a very short, very sturdy limb to say, officially, Mission Impossible. I love it.
Sorry Georgie, looks like history’s already spoken. Thanks for playing. Now get the fuck out you son of a bitch C student coke sniffing frat boy. Don’t let the truth hit you on the way out.
Side note: The picture above is actually a photo from a ceremony today in which W presented the Medal of Honor to the parents of a kid who threw himself onto an enemy grenade to save his fellow soldiers in Iraq last year. George W. was overcome with emotion as he gave the medal to the grieving parents- who's son would still be here if only George W. weren't.
1 comments:
W. and Buchanan have far more in common than their failed presidencies. First of all, they're both racist sonsabitches. Buchanan supported slavery and despised the abolitionists. He perpetuated lies that slaves were treated "kindly" and "fairly" and that it was unconstitutional to force slave owners to forfeit their human property.
W. favors the rich slave owners of today(i.e. oil czars and bankers) that have the middle(?) class by the balls and hates pesky liberal progressives, eager to derail the current administration's train of violence--the one liberating the world of terror. And if he can't even pay regard to the voices of white people who happen to pull in less than a few hundred mil a year, there's no fucking way he's gonna take time off from his vacation to deal with some unhappy black folk who just want out (a helicopter, a boat--anything!) 'cause the water's rising.
Here's another eerie commonality: Just prior to his presidency, Buchanan's buddies in the Democratic party (all charged up on Manifest Destiny) got the country embroiled in the Mexican/American War that helped drive the U.S. into recession. British investors were starting to get the feeling their investments in America weren't so stable so they started pulling out like my boyfriend the moment I've whispered (seductively) that I forgot to take my pill. So what did Buchanan do? He reduced the tariff, which bolstered profits for the already strong slave machine in the South, high on cotton, leaving the industrialized economy of the North to fend for itself.
Similarly, W. initiated this so called "war on terror" with no real plan to get the country OUT of it, and, as a result, has porked away a prosperous budget surplus. He's pandered to his wealthy base, giving significant tax breaks to the aristocracy, and slashed funds for major public safety programs (read: FEMA) to allocate more money for his moral crusade.
By his presidency's end, James Buchanan had allowed to the nation to slowly corrode: seven states had seceded. Though he recognized those states were not legally entitled the privilege of doing so, he knew not what to do about it, and so did nothing about it. The economy was dwindling. The union states and confederate states were at the brink of war. The deprivation of social reforms, economic strife, civil unrest: Buchanan could not wait to get out of office and offered only small, conciliatory remedies to the problems he and his party had created.
W., nearing the end of his reign of terror, finds himself in an equally unsatisfactory position: a socioeconomic caste system in which only two groupings (a very, very small one and a very, very large one) are emerging with great expediency, an extraordinary budget deficit, the likes of which have not been seen EVER in American history, and growing turmoil throughout the country over the cost of gas, housing prices, family and friends lost to a war we don't understand, and growing concern that it's not longer safe to fly to a country that will take care of us because American airplanes have shit wiring.
Both presidents have claimed that history will judge them favorably. Buchanan stated "history will vindicate my memory." That's true, but not in the way Buchanan would have desired. Most historians today rate him one of THE worst presidents in the history of the United States.
In response to a recent poll in February, W. stuttered, "As far as history goes and all of these quotes about people trying to guess what the history of the Bush administration is going to be, you know, I take great comfort in knowing that they don’t know what they are talking about, because history takes a long time for us to reach.”
History, if you know anything about it, is a fantastic indication of what the future holds. Perhaps if someone spent a little more time studying the history of the United States, he would have been able to give a bit more consideration to the erring ways of his predecessors before making decisions that have so damaged our country's economy, society, and reputation.
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