Bush's Parting Shots

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright January 12 2009
All Rights Reserved.                    

        Facing the press for the last time during his presidency, President George W. Bush defended his record leaving the nation in two costly wars and the economy in shambles.  He fashioned his responses to justify all actions, no matter egregious the mistakes, in the context of defending the homeland against terrorism since Sept. 11.  “I think it’s a good, strong record,” said Bush, faced with criticism about his economic and foreign policies.  “You know, presidents can try to avoid hard decisions and therefore avoid controversy.  That’s just not my nature,” framing his presidency as unpopular because he had to make tough decisions.  Bush didn’t acknowledge his 90% approval ratings after 9/11, commanding bipartisan popularity and support.  He refused to acknowledge or accept the gross miscalculation of going to war in Iraq with cherry-picked intelligence from the Pentagon.

            During the rambling hour-long “exit interview,” Bush sought to divert attention away from his economic and foreign policy failures that left the Republican Party in tatters and the U.S. economy gasping for air.  His stubbornness on Iraq—his refusal to re-deploy U.S. troops to the growing nightmare in Afghanistan—sabotaged his presidency.  He refused to recalculate U.S. strategy long after it was proven that Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction and was not a threat to U.S. national security.  His popularity plummeted to among the lowest levels ever witnessed in the modern presidency, calling his legacy “a good, strong record.”  He and Vice President Dick Cheney have spent the last several months trying to rewrite history clearly showing a failed presidency.  His “exit interview” showed the same smoke blowing as his entire presidency.

            Bush is frequently asked about controversial interrogation techniques now regarded as unacceptable by a bipartisan consensus.  He insisted that “waterboarding” helped glean life-saving information from captured al-Qaida terrorists, especially Sept. 11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed.  No one can convince him or Cheney that controversial interrogation techniques were not fruitful.  Bush bristled at the suggestion that America’s standing in the world was diminished under his watch.  “I disagree with this assessment, that, you know, that people view America in a dim light,” said Bush, despite overwhelming disapproval overseas for Bush’s foreign policy.  Most foreign governments supported U.S. efforts after Sept. 11 to go after the Taliban in Afghanistan, the government that gave aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden.  It was Iraq that caused Bush’s nosedive.

            Bush essentially glossed over the fundamental flaw in his Iraq policy:  That Saddam Hussein presented no threat to U.S. national security.  He admitted, “not finding weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment,” acting clueless about his administration’s role in cherry picking intelligence to justify the invasion.  He mentioned nothing of the White House refusal to heed the CIA that reports of mobile germ laboratories by German Intelligence could not be confirmed by any reliable intelligence agency.  Only a closely-knit group of neocons at the Pentagon’s Office of Special headed by Douglas Feith Jr. with close ties to Vice President Dick Cheney supplied the intelligence, justifying going to war.  All those details seem irrelevant to the press as Bush heads into retirement.  Democrats in Congress promise to investigate further the White House case for war.

            After wrecking the GOP during his presidency, Bush offered gratuitous advise to the Party he once led.  He urged the Party to be “compassionate and broad-minded,” blaming the drubbing in November on the Party’s failed immigration policy.  He said conservative immigration policy, advanced by certain zealous members of Congress and supported by right wing talk radio, created the wrong impression that “Republicans don’t like immigrants.”  That was about as much intellectual honesty as Bush could summons.  He took no responsibility for allowing the oil industry to gouge business and consumers, eventually taking down the economy.  He made no reference to the financial burden on the U.S. economy of subsidizing the Iraq War, spending around $12 billion a month.  Bush did a good job of keeping the press diverted to extraneous issues having little to do with his administration’s failures.

            Toward the end of the press conference, Bush gave more insight into his view of the presidency.  “I believe the phrase ‘burdens of the office’ is overstated,” admitting, in effect, he really never took the office seriously.  He and his former chief strategist Karl Rove did a masterful job of exploiting evangelicals to provide what he thought was a permanent majority.  What he miscalculated was even Christian conservatives have to pay their mortgages and retain gainful employment.  Nothing hurt Bush’s approval ratings—and the fortunes of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)— more than the failing economy, conveniently blamed now a circumstances beyond his control.  Forget about the years of runaway fuel prices that damaged every U.S. business other than the oil industry.  Bush’s “exit interview” mirrored his eight years in office, taking no responsibility.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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