Revisionist Short Term History

In case you hadn\’t notice, our 43rd President has been on a grand farewell tour over the past several days. Giving several speeches, holding his final press conference (which brought the total up to 9 for his eight years, right?), and tonight he will give his farewell speech to the nation.

Most of our recent presidents have given a televised farewell speech (In the last 30 years only Bush\’s father didn\’t). Tonight\’s promises to be yet another speech in defense of the Presidents record and to combat the information (and misinformation) from his critics.

The effort to spin Bush 43rd\’s legacy has gone to the extent of the White House website (www.whitehouse.gov — don\’t type \”.com\”) publishing a 52 page document titled: \”Highlights of Accomplishments and Results — The administration of President George W. Bush\”

Perhaps other presidents have published such documents as well. But what I found most interesting was the section starting on page 38 titled: \”100 Things Americans May Not Know About the Bush Administration Record\”.

The 100 items fall under 14 separate topics. So let\’s take an armchair pundits view of Bush and his record, shall we?

• Kept America Safe (listed as a main header, but still has 1 bullet – someone at the White House doesn\’t understand how to make lists or do an outline…sheesh!)

In all fairness, you can\’t quite blame 9/11 on Bush. And in the years since, there has not been another major attack, so I suppose this counts. Although does this qualify as something \”Americans May Not Know About the Bush Administration Record\”?


• Waged the Global War on Terror (3 bullets)

Again, I think most everyone is aware of this. Yes, Iraq and Afghanistan have different leaders, although saying 50 million people are \”free\” is a bit of a stretch. Al Qaeda is weaker in some respects, but the actions of this administration also helped them recruit and raise money. I\’m sure plenty of plots have been disrupted, but who exactly is this \”coalition of more than 90 nations to fight terrorism\”? Most nations are against terrorism…how many nations are for the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan?


• Transformed Our Approach to Combating Terrorism After the 9/11 Attacks (3 bullets)

Ideally this would have happened *before* 9/11, but if you open that door you open the door to say that the Clinton administration should have killed Bin Laden when they had the chance. However, when you hang your hat on the passing of the Patriot Act and you approved illegal wiretapping, you don\’t get my vote here. I\’m a believer that the ends do not justify the means.


• Protected the United States Homeland (6 bullets)

Did we not cover this above with the bullet under \”Keep America Safe\”? This one actually talks about our borders and ports, and creating the TSA. Anything involving the TSA is hard sell for me.


• Advanced Missile Defense and Counterproliferation Efforts, and Prevented our Enemies from Threatening America and our Allies with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) (6 bullets)

I\’m not kidding, that is the heading. I don\’t know if they can take credit for securing a commitment from North Korea when they then kicked out the inspectors a few months ago. Also, are they really taking credit for Libya giving up WMD? Really? I\’m gonna go ahead and say that the credit belongs to Reagan, Bush 41, and Clinton far more than Bush 43. Lastly, does anyone find it funny that they take credit for \”Dismantled the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network\”; only to have their buddy Musharraf pardon the guy? Yeah, I didn\’t find that funny either… mostly just sad.



• Promoted Liberty Abroad
• Removed Totalitarian Regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq and Helped Transform Both Nations into Emerging Democracies and Allies in the War on Terror (3 bullets)

Again, didn\’t we cover this already? I like the double counting being used to hit a total of 100. I\’m thinking this list is 54 unique items… tops!


• Created Institutions to Propel the Spread of Democracy Worldwide, Helped Oppressed People Secure their Freedom, and Strengthened Support for Dissidents and Democracy Activists (4 bullets)

Some of these titles are longer than the bullets that support them. There are actually a couple of decent points here, too bad that the section is broken up by a picture of Bush and Cheney who appear to be hopping on one foot. Seriously though, the first bullet is: \”Created international organizations to promote the spread of freedom abroad and more than doubled funding to promote democracy worldwide.\” I think the US really needs to re-think this approach. Some areas of the world (*cough* Middle East *cough*) just aren\’t ready for a western style democracy. Democracy didn\’t happen in the West overnight either; it actually took hundreds of years for society to be at a point where democracy could happen. Personally I think the Middle East is decades away from being at that point.


• Confronted Threats and Helped Defuse Regional Conflicts (3 bullets)

2nd Bullet: \”Laid the foundation for a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and a democratic Palestinian state by launching direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) at the Annapolis Conference and working with the PA to build accountable institutions.\” Well, we see how well that\’s worked as of late.



• HELPED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD THROUGH A NEW APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT (6 bullets)

Yet another major heading with sub bullets, but no sub points. Actually for the next several areas they\’ve abandoned any sub points, only to use them again for the last few. Who is their editor? Seriously though, if you can applaud Bush for anything, the efforts on AIDS relief in Africa are worth applauding. Of course when you look back at Nixon the only nice thing people say is \”well, he opened up China\”.

• STRENGTHENED AMERICA’S INTERESTS AND ALLIANCES ABROAD (5 bullets)

Wow, this is the one where I think most any reasonable person would call \’bullshit\’. They cherry picked (or possibly just made up) 5 items, but they would all be outweighed by the negative impacts of this administration’s foreign policy.

• LOWERED TAXES, INSTITUTED PRO-GROWTH POLICIES, AND ADDRESSED ECONOMIC CHALLENGES (3 bullets)

Two of those three bullets are reiterations of \”lowered taxes\” and the third is: \”Led the response to the 2008 financial crisis.\” That\’s a real nice positive spin on \”was in charge when all hell broke loose on Wall Street\”.

• REDUCED WASTEFUL SPENDING AND IMPROVED GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY (4 bullets)

Wow, I\’m just amazed at the gall on this one. They have the cajones to talk about the $40 billion saved over 5 years when the Iraq war costs $341.4 million per day. That $40 billion got ate up in just under 120 days.


• IMPROVED EDUCATION FOR EVERY AMERICAN CHILD (5 bullets)

No Child Left Behind by most accounts is a failure and needs to be fixed or needs to go away. I don\’t know where they got their stats to say that math and reading scores improved. About the only thing I can applaud here is the increase in the Pell Grant program. While I didn\’t get much from the Pell Grants (maybe a couple thousand?) every little bit helped.


• REFORMED MEDICARE AND ADDED A PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT (3 bullets)

This is basically Medicare Part D, which as someone in the Health Insurance industry, I\’m familiar with. Meh… something else for the industry to sell, and it\’s horrible complicated. Try explaining what a donut hole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donut_Hole_(Medicare)) is to an 85 year old.

• STRENGTHENED AMERICA’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM (4 bullets)

I\’m starting to think a consultant wrote this. Only a good consultant would have a bullet like this: \”Infused transparency about price and quality into the health care system and launched an initiative to make electronic health records available to most Americans within 10 years\”. Infused transparency… wow, I\’m gonna use that in my next PowerPoint deck.

• IMPROVED LIVES BY ENGAGING FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND PROMOTING VOLUNTEERISM (2 bullets)

Wow, just go read those bullets. They speak for themselves.

• PROVIDED UNPRECEDENTED RESOURCES FOR VETERANS (4 bullets)

Of course they increased the VA budget by 98% since 2001, the number of veterans have increased by 98% since 2001. Duh. Am I the only one who giggles when he reads \”the Dole-Shalala commission\”? On a serious note, if Bush actually did decrease the number of homeless veterans by nearly 40%, then some kudos are deserved, but I\’m not really sure how the administration can take credit for that. Did they have a presidential decree or directive to the VA to do that?


• SUPPORTED AMERICAN WORKERS BY INCREASING TRADE, JOB TRAINING, AND COMPETITIVENESS
• Expanded and Enforced Trade Agreements to Open New Markets for American Products (2 bullets)

2nd Bullet: \”Negotiated and signed a trade agreement that helped increase U.S. exports to Central America by nearly $8 billion from 2005 to 2008.\” Sounds great, doesn\’t it? According to this website, which by the way was the only site I could find listing this information, our trade deficit is only $28 billion, so… um… wait… it\’s $28 billion since January 1st 2009??? Wow… so it took Bush 3 years to get back the money that we lost in 3 days this year.


• Helped American Workers and Businesses Remain Competitive (4 bullets)

Three things here: American Competitiveness Initiative, broadband access available in 99 percent of America’s zip codes, and National Space Policy. Uh-huh… that sounds great. Is anyone buying any of this shit?

• SET A BRIGHT COURSE FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE
• Took Unparalleled Action to Advance Cooperative Conservation and Protect the Environment (4 bullets)

\”Unparalleled\”… well, that\’s one way to put it


• Advanced America’s Energy Security and Took Steps to Develop Cleaner, More Efficient Sources of Energy (5 bullets)

Yes, steps were taken like removing the ban on offshore drilling and encouraging the development of more nuclear reactors in the US. I\’m not making a joke here, those are actually two of the bullets.


• Reduced Crime, Lowered Teen Drug Use, Protected Vulnerable Children, and Helped Make America a More Equitable Country (5 bullets)

Last bullet: \”Protected the right to vote for generations to come by reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act and advanced civil rights\”. They didn\’t actually put that down did they? I suppose the opposite action would have been bad… but still, this is the crap you are padding your resume with?


• Reduced Homelessness and Aided Struggling Homeowners (2 bullets)

Sounds good… if it\’s remotely true.

• Improved Transportation and Import Safety and Protected American Consumers (3 bullets)

I\’ll give him this, the Do Not Call list has helped lower the amount of telemarketer calls I get during dinner. Kudos to you Mr. Bush… Ku-dos.

• STOOD ON PRINCIPLE, REFUSED TO PUT OFF TOUGH DECISIONS, AND SHOWED THE WAY AHEAD
• Really… that\’s one of your main points? Really?
  
  • Advanced a Culture of Life (3 bullets)

  I\’ve got about 50% of that nation that\’s gonna go ahead and have to disagree with you on that one.
  

  • Appointed Judges Committed to Ruling by the Letter of the Law (1 bullet)

  You knew you\’d see the phrase \”not legislate from the bench\” in here, didn\’t you? It should be noted that \’conservative\’ judges are just as capable of legislating from the bench.
  

  • Demonstrated Leadership on Reforming Entitlement Programs, the Immigration System, and Government Sponsored Enterprises (3 bullets)

  \”Proposed\” \”Laid out\” \”Warned\”… these are not the action verbs that a resume writer would approve of.

  • Directed Unprecedented Preparations for a Smooth Presidential Transition (1 bullet)

  \”Led the most comprehensive and forward-leaning effort in modern history to facilitate a smooth and effective transition\”. Just like me, the writers of this document have obviously run out of steam at this point.

So there you have it, the 100 things Bush did right. According to him.