Those who now blindly herald the Obama Era, welcome as it may be, as if the Bush Era is over are even more short-sighted than the President they are so eager to usher out. Bush conveniently says bye-bye to the U.S. and world today; unfortunately we cannot in clear conscience return the favor. As much as people like to dwell on the droll linguistic defecations known as Bushisms, very little is funny about their enunciator's time in office, the impact he had on domestic and world affairs, and the states he has left them in as he, and we, at long last-- but only formally-- bid farewell.
Needless to say, it is highly unlikely that any commemorative coin or bill will issued in his honor, perhaps because by so doing the currency would within eight years lose all its value other than as a fine instrument of good ole boy poker nights or college drinking games. Few leaders of any country in history have managed to dig their people into a deeper hole than Bush has in such a relatively brief time or , to be more precise, several deeper holes at once. What's worse is that few leaders of any country in history have been in a position to dig the leaders and peoples of so many other countries along with them. There are holes that must be got out of, and others that must be dug out of; Bush's are the latter.
You can quantify the losses in lives and resources of two ongoing wars and mishandled (to be impolite) ecological catastrophes, the losses in livelihoods and economic prospects of our Second Great Depression, the losses in liberty and international standing in the name of Homeland Security and, if you're an expert statistician, the losses in intelligence by having to listen to their rationalizations being spewed by Bush and his posse then parroted by pathetic media pundits. But you cannot quantify the losses in optimism and hope which not coincidentally were the hallmarks of Obama's landmark campaign, and which remain only impetuses for change at this point.
We can only hope that the iconic silence of Dick Cheney, a slapstick sideman act to the opposite in Bush, will not for a long while to come deafen our and policymakers' ears to what Joe Biden and Obama have to say on domestic and foreign issues. I would venture to say, optimistically, that Obama and his new/old team has a two-year window of opportunity to begin shoveling the U.S. and the world out of the Bush Era holes before the tides start to turn against them. Nobody, individually or collectively, has yet been able to hold back tides, but few have been able to read and ride the tides better than Obama, Biden and their supporters. May they, we, ride them out of all the Bush Era holes in which we still live in. And sooner rather than later.
So as a reminder of where we are and will remain until the impetuses of hope and optimism become vehicles of actual change, here are four mind-numbing departing quotes from the namesake of the departing (but in no way departed) presidential era. The Bush Era is still a current event creating the future, but with some luck, hard work and better leadership maybe not for too long:
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." —Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000 (Listen to audio clip)
"You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." —to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005 (Listen to audio clip)
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 (Watch video clip; listen to audio clip)
"They misunderestimated me." —Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
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