Bush - The Quintessential Loser

Our illustrious president, George W. Bush, is attempting to have a summit meeting this week in Kennebunkport with Russia's Putin. Given Bush's 30% approval rating, Putin must be thinking mostly of having a little vacation on the shore because Bush has no status in his own country. This is the latest in Little George's string of incompetencies, which would be laughable except for the fact that he happens to be President of the United States of America. His failures discredit us all.

By the time GWB leaves the White House he will have two major accomplishments as his legacy: an unnecessary and incredibly costly war, and a Supreme Court tilted to the right for the forseeable future. The first he accomplished through deception, the second he accomplished through a retirement not under his control. His batting average on the stated major priorities of his administration, with a congress of his own party for six years, is verging on .000. He's the quintessential loser, but he's dragged all the rest of us down with him.

It's obvious now that he was nominated in 2000 because the kingmakers in the Republican party knew he would be a patsy for them. They nominated him as strong leader while knowing all along he was a wuss. And they got their reward: lower tax rates on the wealthy, and no change (conservatives stand for no change). The recent failure of the immigration bill was the latest big victory for the "no change" crowd who love Mexicans for their cheap labor and think the status quo is just fine. Anyone with a brain, however, knows that the rest of the right wing propaganda about "law-breaking immigrants" was simply pap for the masses to digest. Bush's pet project to legitimize the immigrants was quashed by his two-faced pals who tossed him into the political garbage can for a lot more than 20 pieces of silver.

Since we're already at the end of this administration for all intents and purposes, it's a good time to summarize President Bush's legacy beyond the war and the Supreme Court.

1. The worst cabinet in a long time, dominated by people who left in ignominy or who have been non-entities (can you name any of them?). Innumerable sub-cabinet posts filled with the likes of Monica Goodling and other incompetents.

2. A Vice President who appeared to be unaware that he had a boss, and who set new standards for surliness, secrecy, and un-Constitutional leanings.

3. An unblemished record of presidential appearances in front of hand-picked friendly or military audiences, guaranteeing that he could recite his talking points without the inevitable embarassments that would ensue from having unscripted appearances before average citizens.

4. Responsible for negative progress on the big threats to our country - entitlements, energy independence, global warming, and overspending/overborrowing. We will suffer severe consequences in all these areas where his leadership was essential yet non-existent.

5. Responsible for severely wounding the American scientific community by backing religious Luddites on stem cell research, climate change, and creationist nonsense.

6. Self-destructed his most passionate pre-election claim: "I'm a uniter, not a divider." Given his rhetorical deficit, he may have just gotten the two words transposed in a momentary lapse of concentration. Ditto with "I'm not a nation-builder". Is it possible that GWB is what we used to call "retarded", or should we blame substance abuse?

I suppose this list is long enough to support the title "quintessential loser", although it is clearly incomplete at this point. Unfortunately, with 1.5 more years left in his administration, there is plenty of time for him to further earn the title. No doubt he will provide us with plenty more of his sad-sack moments before he's gone.

Do I hate the president? No. It's not nice to hate. Do I pity him? Yes. He's like the cute, uncoordinated puppy we brought home, only to find that the dog snarls when anyone looks at him but then cowers and craps on the floor when they don't flee. The guys at the Republican dog pound knew about this dog when they handed him across the counter to us, and it's them that deserve a long stay in purgatory. They've been more than satisfied with the quintessential loser who has made them all winners at our expense, and it's them that the next administration needs to go after with a vengeance. I'll be ready to join in that manhunt, and let the truth fall where it may!