Sheryl Gay Stulberg of the NYT reports in her Bush, Facing Troubles, Focuses on War and Taxes of the SOTU. I must celebrate that this is his last one and to read of "only" 357 days left in his administration gives me some pleasure. There's still lots he and his can ruin but the end of the Reign of Error is near. Consequences will remain but hope springs eternal. The following however caught my eye: “We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens,” Mr. Bush said. “These issues call for vigorous debate, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve answered that call. Yet history will record that amid our differences, we acted with purpose.”Huh? I really don't recall much vigorous debate Dubyah. Indeed, you (and the Clinton and Daddy Bu$h and ... administrations for that matter) had plenty of hard decisions to make as the Cold War wound down. Congress was in the hands of your GOP and the Big Mules for the most part, even during the years of The Clenis. Our media was becoming increasingly consolidated and profit driven. Less reporting and more infotainment became the rule. The Republican message machine worked like a charm. Centrist weenies all too often spoke for or attempted to lead the Democratic Party. Our average "citizen" continued to be distracted and overwhelmingly ignorant. "Bread and games" in the form of cheap consumer goods bought on borrowed money and then used to entertain were the dominant modes. So many of us became bourgeois in the period of seeming prosperity. Yet poverty made a strong comeback during your seven years. Heck of a job. As for your adventurism in Iraq ... there's plenty of blame to go around but it begins and ends with your neo-conservative cabal.
I could go on and on here. But the bottom line is that we all are going to be judged harshly by history. If some of us will pick our collective selves off the mat and then courageously push forward perhaps that will reduce the shame. P/W
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