Picture of the Day - 2
(President George W. Bush looks at himself with his hands on his hips as he attends the unveiling of The Union League of Philadelphia's Portrait of the President at their headquarters in Philadelphia, December 6, 2008. (REUTERS/Larry Downing))
(At the event, Bush, once again, tried to compare his unpopularity to Lincoln.)
posted by mikevotes at
7:24 AM
3 Comments:
Hey! This mirror is broken!
By
Lew Scannon, at 9:24 AM
Isn't it odd that we never heard all of these Lincoln analogies in 2000 or 2004? Bush was never billed as a strong leader who made difficult, unpopular decisions (but necessary ones) before everything collapsed.
Instead, we got magical thinking. The Administration created reality, and failure to believe in the Administration was nothing less than a failure to believe in America. Iraq would be a cakewalk that paid for itself. Bush would "jawbone" oil prices down. Peace would come to the Middle East because now the Decider decreed it. The economy would turn around because the Administration said it would. And so forth.
One of the stupidest and most defining remarks of the Bush era (IMHO) was in response to a question about the surge. Bush was asked why he thought that the surge would succeed now when it had failed before, and Bush responded "Because now it has to".
It's the magical logic of the gambler: I will win this time because now I must. My previous losses were meaningless, but this time is special.
This was the Bush that was sold to America, not a guy that that makes tough, unpopular decisions. Bush was portrayed as the the man who gambled and won, the one who dissolved obstacles by force of will, who was guided by God and destined to succeed.
It was only after the nation lost their faith in Bush that he became a modern-day Lincoln who would be vindicated by future generations for the difficult decisions he made.
The GOP has an ugly job in front of them if they insist on rehabilitating Bush's image. They would be better off hitting the national "reset" button and allowing Bush to swirl down the memory hole, forgotten.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 11:41 AM
You win, Lew. That made me laugh.
...
Todd, In my opinion, it's because at that time, 2003, they really believed he'd be bigger than Lincoln. Or at least another Reagan.
And, the Lincoln/Truman analogies are alot like the "Dewey defeats Truman" references. By the time they come out, it's already decided.
And, that's a good question on rehabbing versus flushing. It's long been my contention that legacy is defined primarily by supporters who continue to argue how great you are, long after everyone else has tired of arguing about it.
But, I would guess there's not going to be a huge push to rename everything after this President.
By
mikevotes, at 2:01 PM
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