If You Miss George W. Bush Then You Need To Have Your Head Examined

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Saw this picture on Facebook...

...accompanied with the words of the poster: "I miss George W. Bush."

The image was taken at the Warrior 100K, where "twenty servicemen and women wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan will join President George W. Bush for a 100 kilometer mountain bike ride in Palo Duro Canyon State Park."  This is part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Military Service Initiative.

There's not a one of us who would detract from the courage these soldiers showed during this event -- and on the battlefield.  They have earned the recognition and respect of all of us, and if this event helps them, then who could possibly be against it.

But if you "miss George W. Bush," you need to have your head examined.  I mean it.  You need to go seek professional help.  Get to a goddam emergency room.  Check for bleeding.  Because there's not a reasonable thinking person in the world who wouldn't say that the former president A.) was an unmitigated disaster, and B.) as the Commander in Chief who ordered these wars, one botched and one questionably legal at best, is directly and personally responsible for the lost limbs of those wounded warriors.

I'm going to restrain myself and forgo calling out the poster by name.  I will note that he is young.  And by "young," I mean younger than me, which isn't saying much anymore.  The point is this: who under the age of 40 would miss George W. Bush?  Unless you're a one percenter war monger, what possible love could you have for George W. Bush?

Let's forget the illegal Iraq War and the horribly botched Afghanistan War.  Let's even forget indefinite detention, torture, extraordinary rendition and domestic wiretapping.  

Sure, I'll say it: let's forget it because it too closely resembles the policies of the current -- Democratic -- administration.

Forget all that stuff.

Who thrived in the W. years except for the extremely affluent?  

Now, I know the poster is "young" in my broad definition, but I don't know him to be wealthy.  Could be wrong, but I doubt it.  

So, forgetting the unmitigated disaster of foreign policy, and assuming no one reading this blog, or referred to in this blog (save for W. himself) is rich enough have benefited from tax cuts for millionaires, what was so great about George W. Bush?

I saw a bumper sticker the other day.  It was an image of W. waving with that goofball grin on his face, and the words "Miss me yet?" written off to the side.  I figured it had to be a hoax, but I guess not.  

That's how screwed up our politics have become.  People miss George W. Bush.

Worse, they seem to see no macabre irony in his helping those who have returned home honorably but wounded from the wars he started. 

Comments

[Basil Marceaux (Dante Gee)]

Here's what I miss about GWB: He made this country a speeding locomotive in the express lane to hell. That 8-year crisis gave me focus and determination that was fueled by an existential hopelessness. Winston Churchill was a washed up punchline in Britain before WWII, the bombings gave him a focus that he was able to use to his advantage. I may still be rearranging the deck chairs on my Titanic, but now with less grim determ--
Ah, whatever. Thinking about W has made me too sad to continue typing... I'm going to lock the bathroom door and cry. Just like during his administration...

[TellyStern]

You're the one with issues. Bush hatred and Obama worship are the same pathology.

All military actions during Bush Admin were authorized by Congress. War with Al Qaeda and Iraq became inevitable during Clinton Admin. Pres. Bush never blamed Clintin though, because Pres. Bush isn't Obama.

[TellyStern]

Can any of you Bush haters explain how we could have dealt with Al Qaeda and the Iraq crisis without military action? Do you have any idea what the world would be like today if we hadn't. Serous questions. What you got?

Mean while Fearless Leader is extra-judicially executing people without any sort of oversight. So far I don't have a problem with the Drone War, but I do have a problem with hypocrisy.

You all owe Pres. Bush a debt of gratitude.