The Lost Presidency

I hope and expect that, at some point in the future, I will find myself in a position on more than one occasion where I will have to explain how it came to pass that George W. Milhous Bush managed to take up space in the White House for eight years, pretending to act as commander-in-chief somewhat in accordance with his predecessors and our Constitution which he swore twice to “preserve, protect and defend,” while he, in fact, pursued a dictatorial path all his own (as laid out for him by Deadeye Dick Cheney).

(I should note that I hope for that because it will mean that God has granted me many more years on this earth, not because I actually want to discuss this individual.)

And as I reflect on the present time that I cannot wait to refer in the past tense with every fiber of my being, I will be forced to recite the almost endless litany of screwups by this human accident, extending through his entire life from the days when he dumped his shares of Harken Oil stock in a particularly egregious example of insider trading, knowing that the company was tanking (here), up until now when his every policy, position, written statement and verbal utterance as president has proven to be fundamentally flawed and, ultimately, catastrophically wrong.

And I may end up noting how, in the final, dwindling days of his tenure at this moment, he tried to impart a measure of humility to make us forget the sneer, the smirk, the swagger, the “Thumbs Up” in the flight suit he wore during that cringingly inappropriate “Mission Accomplished” moment on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln before the “real” Iraq War II began in earnest.

And if and when I recall such a singular moment of phoniness by this presidential pretender (as noted above, in which he discusses his alcohol abuse – I refuse to refer to it in the past tense, by the way; I can think of no other excuse for this recent moment), I can assure you that I will retch.

Because if I note in the future that George W. Milhous Bush tried to be “human” by confessing his own addiction, I will also note in the future that, at this moment, he, as he has throughout his ill begotten time in office, has yet again ignored the addictions and sufferings of others (here).

Part of me hopes that redemption awaits this man in the afterlife, because I cannot possibly imagine how he will ever achieve it on this earth.