Colonel Panic wrote:

I remember they blamed this one on the "batteries."

"brazillian", "the decider", "please don't shoot me" - these are the kinds of moments we all remember, and his ability to make it seem so natural is surely his greatest quality.
But some of the most special times are those that can so easily slip by, unremarked upon, but remarkable nonetheless. In case you missed his Jan. 31 speech before the Ownership Institute in Las Vegas, you can find the transcript here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ... 131-2.html

If this Monday morning is not quite as gruelling as you expected, I suggest reading all six, single-spaced pages. If you're just too busy to be patriotic, you should at least find a quiet moment to meditate over this gem, from the top of page five;

And by the way, I'm going to do something about earmarks. I signed an executive order the other day, basically saying if you slip these -- slip this spending into bills that don't get debated or voted on, we're not going to spend your money. And this executive order will -- (applause.) Let me rephrase that: The money will be spent, but just not on those projects necessarily. (Laughter.) Not on those projects necessarily. And this executive order goes beyond my presidency.

Terrifying, isn't it? Not in the obvious, "hey it's rendition time" mode we've all come to expect, but terrifying more in the antibiotic resistant staph infection kind of a way.

I love to tell folks that one of the most unique relationships I had as your President was with the Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi. . .
the United States had no stronger ally in defeating terror, no stronger ally than understanding the power of freedom to be transformative. I say "no stronger ally" -- Tony Blair was strong; there was a lot. But so was Prime Minister Koizumi. What's ironic about that is that my dad fought the Japanese. Many of your relatives fought the Japanese. They were the sworn enemy of the United States of America. There was unbelievable hatred in our culture toward the Japanese. After all, they attacked us -- the second largest attack on American soil; the first being that on September the 11th, 2001.

Notice how easily he grabs out for complex issues, handfuls of them, and reduces them to something so simple? That's a gift. And what's ironic about that is that it is now our gift, our gift from him, necessarily.

Are you saying that his rhetoric of oversimplification and failure to communicate effectively has somehow "rubbed off" on the American people as a whole? I don't believe that, Bush's approval ratings have clearly shown that the American public are not happy with his performance and no longer trust or believe in his message.

That quality you speak of was definitely true of Ronald Reagan, though. Unlike Bush, Reagan could spout incredibly stupid lies with such conviction and charm that people actually believed them. That's the difference between a great public speaker with loads of charisma and a smarmy idiot only pretending to be in control. Reagan influenced the whole of American culture to not only accept, but to take for granted a condition of outrageous fiscal irresponsibility, callous disregard for the less fortunate, the ability of America to be always right, and the attitude that simply believing these things will imbue the average American with riches and status beyond their dreams. Reagan pulled the ultimate con-game on the American people, and the Republican Party has been exploiting the political proceeds of that coup ever since.

Bush's greatest legacy is this incredible mess which we're going to have to clean up.

Colonel Panic wrote:Bush's only legacy is this incredible mess, which we're going to have to clean up.

What mess? Everything is going along just fine. Not to mention I'm getting a $600 check in the mail soon. Thanks W

U.S. National Debt
$ 9,322,940,133,377*


*as of 9:03am this morning.

Dble P.

Well, his real, lasting legacy is the formidable catalog of Bushisms. I hope they don't forget to include those linguistic foibles in the George W. Bush presidential library, because they're possessed of great comedic power. I believe they will long outlive the man and many of the adverse affects of his administration.

In addition to his laughable quotes, Bush has contributed several new words to the English lexicon. These words are already in wide circulation, all of them used ironically to convey the impression of a moron pretending to sophistication. I'm talking about words like "Internets", "misunderestimated" and "subliminable".

BTW, that 'Brazilians' thing is a fictitous joke. It never really happened. As incompetent as Bush may be, it's neither fair nor necessary to put stupid words into his mouth. The man himself provides us with plenty of real material:

http://www.dubyaspeak.com/

A US president showing off his inner frat boy. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvxKZRf8k2k]Bush dancing in Africa.
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Bush makes Boris Yeltsin look like fucking Fred Astaire.

Colonel Panic wrote:Well, his real, lasting legacy is the formidable catalog of Bushisms. I hope they don't forget to include those linguistic foibles in the George W. Bush presidential library,

I hope they also include many uses of the word "oxymoron" in the George W Bush Presidential Library.

OK, i'm guessing this is a parody:

http://www.georgewbush.org/

Welcome to the future home of the officious George W. Bush Presidential Library. This patriotic website will serve as an authoritative digital archive, dedicated to preserving and celebrating the godly legacy of the most honest, peaceful, and intelligent leader in the 6,000 year history of the planet Earth.