George W. Bush will disappear from the national scene in just a few more weeks. Actually, we have seen so little of him in recent days that it sometimes feels like he has already bid us adieu. A simple Google search of the archives (key words: Bush, Bush-Cheney) will show, Accidental Blogger owes its birth and sustenance to the misdeeds and blunders of the Bush administration. Outraged citizen bloggers had realized long ago what Bush stood for and the devastating political legacy he is going leave behind. We recorded our thoughts and dire predictions for all to see. What was considered the view of the "extreme left" only a couple of years ago, is now the opinion of the mainstream media and the general public. Bush-Cheney's approval ratings bottomed out some time ago and have stayed there. Dubya is going out in a smog of disgrace, having failed abysmally in war and peace. Even the publishing industry which carelessly offers book deals to anyone who has garnered the obligatory fifteen minutes (sometimes less) of fame or infamy is shying away from a G.W.B. memoir. It is not a surprise therefore that Bush would like to exercise some editorial control over his legacy any which way he can. For a start, departing Bush aides have received a memo instructing them to speak well of their boss. The memo highlights the positive achievements of the Bush presidency.
WASHINGTON — In case any Bush administration officials have trouble summing up the outgoing president's record, the White House is providing a few helpful suggestions.
A two-page memo that has been sent to Cabinet members and other high-ranking officials offers a guide for discussing President George W. Bush's eight-year tenure during their public speeches.
Titled Speech Topper on the Bush Record, the talking points state that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office."
The document presents the Bush record as an unalloyed success. It mentions none of the episodes that detractors say marred his presidency: the collapse of the housing market and major financial services companies, the flawed intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina or the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
In a section on the economy, speakers are invited to say that Bush cut taxes after 2001, setting the stage for years of job growth. As for the current economic crisis, the memo says that Bush "responded with bold measures to prevent an economic meltdown."
A copy of the memo was obtained by the Los Angeles Times' Washington, D.C., bureau. A spokesman for Bush said Monday that the White House routinely sends out suggestions to officials and allies on ways to talk about the administration's record.
"What we have in mind with these documents is we feel the president's many accomplishments haven't been given the attention they deserve and in some cases have been purposely ignored," said Carlton Carroll, a White House spokesman. "This was put together to help the president's supporters counter a lot of these claims and lay out the significant accomplishments he has made over the last eight years."
No one is required to recite the talking points laid out by the White House, Carroll said.
In case the aides are too embarrassed or forgetful about reciting the talking points, Bush is taking measures to put on record his own version of the Bush legacy. Since no one else is paying much heed to his navel gazing, Bush recently spoke with a friendly interlocutor - his own sister Doro Bush Koch.
Q How do you want to be remembered, and what are you most proud of?
THE PRESIDENT: I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process. I came to Washington with a set of values, and I'm leaving with the same set of values. And I darn sure wasn't going to sacrifice those values; that I was a President that had to make tough choices and was willing to make them. I surrounded myself with good people. I carefully considered the advice of smart, capable people and made tough decisions.
I'd like to be a President (known) as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace; that focused on individuals rather than process; that rallied people to serve their neighbor; that led an effort to help relieve HIV/AIDS and malaria on places like the continent of Africa; that helped elderly people get prescription drugs and Medicare as a part of the basic package; that came to Washington, D.C., with a set of political statements and worked as hard as I possibly could to do what I told the American people I would do.
It is interesting what Bush had to say about his religious faith. Too bad he didn't remember his own advice when he was out pleasing the wing nuts in his constituency.
Q What role does faith play in your day-to-day life?
THE PRESIDENT: I've been in the Bible every day since I've been the President, and I have been affected by people's prayers a lot. I have found that faith is comforting, faith is strengthening, faith has been important....
I would advise politicians, however, to be careful about faith in the public arena. ...In other words, politicians should not be judgmental people based upon their faith. They should recognize -- as least I have recognized I am a lowly sinner seeking redemption, and therefore have been very careful about saying (accept) my faith or you're bad. In other words, if you don't accept what I believe, you're a bad person.
And the greatness of America -- it really is -- is that you can worship or not worship and be equally American. And it doesn't matter how you choose to worship; you're equally American. And it's very important for any President to jealously protect, guard, and strengthen that freedom.
Well, so far those are the White House's own attempt at cleaning up (erasing is more like it) history. But Bush also may get help from some unexpected quarters. Last month the following op-ed piece by investigative reporter Jeffrey Scott Shapiro appeared in the WSJ.
Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president.
This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."
Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.
It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.
Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.
Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
Whoa! What kind of investigative reporter is Mr. Shapiro? Did he never hear of Rove, Cheney, the elusive WMDs, a disastrous war of choice in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, the drowning of New Orleans, censoring and politicization of science, corruption of the Justice Department, the mortgage melt down, bankruptcies on Wall Street, Main Street and the Treasury Department? And how about lies, alibis, torture, illegal wire taps and Gitmo? If and when Bush does get a book deal, he should hire Shapiro as his ghost writer.
Yes, I couldn't believe that Shapiro editorial either. But I think it's the exception that proves the rule -- even the true believers on the right are looking for someone other than Bush to lead them forward.
Posted by: Andrew Rosenblum | December 11, 2008 at 10:32 PM
I'm still amazed at how these 'reporters' are so willing to carry water for all of Bush's failures. The same 'reporters' have no problem at all attacking every move of Obama, whether it be the choice of SOS or school for kids.
Posted by: Sujatha | December 12, 2008 at 05:08 AM
Perhaps a better title for this post would have been, "Putting a halo on a lowly sinner."
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | December 12, 2008 at 08:51 PM