A Bumper Sticker if You Will

A real laugher on NPR this morning (and afternoon...and - God forbid -"a series"): a 7 minute plus analysis on - as Don Gonyea puts it "a continuing debate over [Bush's] legacy." Continuing debate? One little thing NPR fails to mention is that there's no debate: Bush sucks and 98 percent of historians agree. So what's the debate - or as NPR titles this mind numbing stupidity "Undecided We Stand: Debating Bush's Legacy"?

I guess NPR thinks that the Magical History Tour that has turned Death Squad Reagan into Mr. Morning in America will turn the greed, cynicism, aggressive warmaking, torture and economic cronyism of the Bush administration into "a consequential presidency...one who thought boldly and aimed explicitly to make a lasting impact" (that according to George Edwards who is the recipient of "the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service from the U.S. Army - wow!).

You might wonder where on earth the idea for such waste of radio time comes from? Why, from the jaws of the Decider himself. As Don Gonyea explains, "President Bush says it's up to history to judge him and he likes to recall that Harry Truman was unpopular when he left the White House...but has become an icon of strength in adversity." Well I guess if you count killing more than a million civilians (Japan - Korea - Afghanistan - Iraq) and putting Harry's golem of the National Security State on steroids then maybe Dubya and Truman do have something in common.

The "debate" was - no surprise - thin on substance and heavy on fantasy and foolishness. The "expert" guests were Robert Draper, Bush's airbrush biographer, the aforementioned George Edwards who actually says "if Iraq should turn into a stable democracy and a model for the Middle East, that will be a huge plus in his legacy" - and Robert Dallek who is the only seriously (and briefly quoted) critical voice in the piece. Edwards wraps the piece up with a brainless bit of insight about presidents being remembered for having "some kind of catch phrase — a bumper sticker, if you will. Theodore Roosevelt, the square deal. Franklin Roosevelt, the new deal....Reagan remembered for saying 'It's morning in America.' What is there with George W. Bush? What's the bumper sticker? I don't know."

Poor Professor Edwards just doesn't know; I imagine readers of this blog can come up with a few appropriate bumper sticker phrases for this worthless twit of president that the world has suffered under for the last 8 years.