You have to read this: The Bush Era is Gone

[CatWoman]

And so the Bush Era ended definitively on Sept. 2, the day Bush first toured the Gulf Coast States after Hurricane Katrina. There was no magic moment with a bullhorn. The utter failure of federal relief efforts had by then penetrated the country's consciousness. Yesterday's resignation of FEMA Director Michael Brown put an exclamation point on the failure.

But the first intimations of the end of the Bush Era came months ago. The president's post-election fixation on privatizing part of Social Security showed how out of touch he was. The more Bush discussed this boutique idea cooked up in conservative think tanks and Wall Street imaginations, the less the public liked it. The situation in Iraq deteriorated. The glorious economy Bush kept touting turned out not to be glorious for many Americans. The Census Bureau's annual economic report, released in the midst of the Gulf disaster, found that an additional 4.1 million Americans had slipped into poverty between 2001 and 2004.

The breaking of the Bush spell opens the way for leaders of both parties to declare their independence from the recent past. It gives forces outside the White House the opportunity to shape a more appropriate national agenda -- for competence and innovation in rebuilding the Katrina region and for new approaches to the problems created over the past 4 1/2 years.


The federal budget, already a mess before Katrina, is now a laughable document. Those who call for yet more tax cuts risk sounding like robots droning automated talking points programmed inside them long ago. Katrina has forced the issue of deep poverty back onto the national agenda after a long absence. Finding a way forward in -- and eventually out of -- Iraq will require creativity from those not implicated in the administration's mistakes. And if ever the phrase "reinventing government" had relevance, it is now that we have observed the performance of a government that allows political hacks to push aside the professionals.

And what of Bush, who has more than three years left in his term? Paradoxically, his best hope lies in recognizing that the Bush Era, as he and we have known it, really is gone. He can decide to help us in the transition to what comes next. Or he can cling stubbornly to his past and thereby doom himself to frustrating irrelevance.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091201433.html

[wakeme2008]

1. Let get REAL

"Or he can cling stubbornly to his past and thereby doom himself to frustrating irrelevance."

that is what Bush is about... Doing things ONLY his way... Question is will Frist and others allow him to do that now.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

5. It's not about "allowing," it's about distance...

I don't think anyone in the GOP is going to attempt to influence Bush.

I think they will put more and more distance between his "agenda" and their own self-interests.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. MSNBC TRIED to GIVE him a "bullhorn moment"...

They IMMEDIATELY juxtaposed the "bullhorn" photo with the one you see below. They IMMEDIATELY tried to draw that parallel.

I added the black background and red text, but the photo is exactly as it appeared on MSNBC on the day of the Emperor's first "visit."

[livetohike]

6. First thing I thought when I saw the pic on the right is

it's a metaphor for his administration. It is in shambles. It is scattered. There is nothing holding it up.

People on vacation, buying expensive shoes, fly-fishing. No sense of urgency to get back to DC and take care of the biggest natural disaster to hit the US in a century.

[symbolman]

24. He's probably telling that person on the front steps..

"Wow, this really IS a LOT like 911 only it was like a million of your little house pieces all mixed in with lots of rocks and steel and bloody body parts..

Tell you what, I'll give you all the cash in my wallet for your property right now.. Okay? Let me get my wallet out..

Ooops! I only carry credit cards so I guess I get your land for FREE, eh? A deal is a deal.. you shoulda went to business school like I did..

How much for the little girl?"

[CatWoman]

26. Hey!! How's Symbol Baby?

:hi:

[SoCalDem]

28. Notice how the person who shouted.."WE CAN'T HEAR YOU, MR PRESIDENT"

has never been identified?? The "bullhorn Moment" was SCRIPTED.. When he grabbed the bullhorn and the firefighter, the firefighter recoiled at first..probably stunned..

Rove had almost a whole week to craft together an iconic moment..

FAKE..just like he is.

[maine_raptor]

3. He will cling on

Bush is incapable of making ANY change to his philosophy. As a man of small intellect, GWB cannot conceive of something to replace the sound bite mindset he has used in running the country over the past 4+ years.

And even if he could, where could he find something to replace the narrowness of his views?

No Bush will "stay the course" and coast for the rest of his days. His past tells us this, look at his governance of Texas after he decided to run for Prez. Look at his business tactics when his oil companies when bust.

He will not change and will instead rely more and more on his cronies.

[mntleo2]

4. From The WaPo No Less!

Wow....well...it's too bad it is too late. I am glad they are admitting it's over with this deadbeat, but; the horse is already out of the barn and running freely in the wind (literally from what we know of "Brownie"). They should have stopped fawning over this loser before the election. Then perhaps we would have around 10,000 people alive right now....

"Did I mention today how much I hate these people?"

Another "Cat" in Seattle

[Gloria]

8. Bullshit. The Bush era will continue via Roberts and the next

idealogue appointed to the Court.

[Neecy]

7. terrific article

Thanks for posting this.

Personally, I don't understand the "magic bullhorn moment" thing. The day he did that I was repelled beyond words that he'd stand on a pile of smoking rubble with human remains underneath and shout through a bullhorn. To me, it was shockingly disrespectful and insensitive. It was hardly 'presidential'. It made me sick, yet the press drooled over it and it's become some kind of accepted wisdom that this was a "magic moment". I just don't get it.

[CatWoman]

10. that bullhorn moment

was more media bullshit.

The media created that moment.

I suppose they felt we needed it.

However, I think the need was more for them.

They got us into this mess, and has pulled * out of the fire one too many times.

[Neecy]

15. you're probably right

I've never met anyone who considered that a "magic moment" (although, admittedly, I've never asked a conservative about it). I suppose the media needed to make him look like a "leader" after his cowardly bunker-hopping on 9/11.

Sad that such a pitiful display has entered into our national lore.

[Rowdyboy]

9. And EJ Dionne is a long time Bush apologist....Its amazing!

[charlie]

12. You sure about that?

I've seen him as one of the very few dependable lefties (and more importantly, a dependable Republican/conservative basher) with a national column.

[Rowdyboy]

18. I really thought I'd seen him defending Bush frequently

Maybe I'm confusing him with someone else. If thats so, I'm sorry because it devalues the impact of the article. So one more leftie says its over for Bush-big deal.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the article and reveled in every word. It just felt better when I felt the words were coming form a Republican.

[charlie]

20. I agree, you're right about that n/t

[CatWoman]

13. Hi, Rowdy

:hi:

:loveya:

[Rowdyboy]

19. Hi, Cat

Loved the article! You always find the best!

I need to get off my ass, do something useful and go clean the kitchen. Maybe even cut the 6 inch grass in the back yard!

See ya later.... :hug:

[maine_raptor]

14. EJ is no more a Bush apologist than

anybody here at DU. Get real!!!!

[Rowdyboy]

17. Sorry, I would have sworn I'd heard him defending Bush frequently

But I'll take your word for it. Which is really disappointing, because if he's on our side already, then this article isn't nearly so significant.

[Rowdyboy]

25. Dumbass remark I made calling EJ Dionne a "Bush apologist"

Its bothered me all day and I finally realized my mistake. For some insane reason I was confusing Dionne with Paul Gigot (you remember, the guy who used to debate Mark Shields on PBS Newshour). I have no idea why.

Boy when I screw up, I screw up thoroughly. I just hope the thread stays dead so no one else will see how ignorant I can be!

[charlie]

27. Lol

Guess what? I was going to ask you if you had confused him with Paul Gigot. For whatever reason, I've made that mistake before too. Relax, you're not alone, there's at least a pair of us :)

[Blue_Roses]

11. WOW!

excellent!

[UTUSN]

16. If My CW Sez JUMP, I Do It, So I Read It, But

" He can decide to help us in the transition to what comes next. Or he can cling stubbornly to his past and thereby doom himself to frustrating irrelevance."

When has he EVER done anything that would HELP us or anybody.

[BR_Parkway]

21. It's not the Bush Era - it's the entire party's system of government

that Americans are seeing as a failure.

[Flubadubya]

22. I'd like to see him "doomed to frustrating irrelevance"...

languishing in some jail cell somewhere, where he truly belongs! :grr:

[in_cog_ni_to]

23. Just last week I read here on DU that the greedy repukes were planning

on sneaking in the SS bill on some other legislation to get it passed (I don't know if that ever happened or if they TRIED to do that, but that's what I read here). The problem IS, those people don't give a crap that the idiot's Era is over. They own the evoting machines and know damn well and good that they can do anything they want because they don't plan on ever losing another election.....UNLESS we get rid of the voting machines.