Pulling Out All the ...Corks

According to the counter on my desktop, the countdown now stands at just 22 days, 22 hours and a fistful of minutes until George w. Bush is at last relieved of command of the United States.

With Christmas over the Bushies are turning their attention and efforts to rehabilitating the Frat Boy's tattered image and, in true Rovian fashion, the White House is campaigning in a media blitz.

Among those singing the praises of Shrub is America's First (Stepford Wife) Lady, her Lauraness. Preaching from the safety net forum of Fox News Sunday, Mrs. Shrub claimed:

- that the conquest of Iraq wasn't a mistake. No, not at all, not hardly.

- that her husband didn't drop the ball on Afghanistan. "I don't think that's true at all. We've stayed very, very invested in Afghanistan. Not as invested militarily, maybe, and maybe that's what the critics say, that it should have been more military. But I think we stayed very invested."

- that criticism of the federal government's pathetic response to Hurricane Katrina isn't fair and overshadows the heroic efforts of Coast Guard and other "first responders."

Condi Rice, appearing on the somewhat more credible CBS Sunday Morning repeated the dodge that future generations will actually thank George for all he's done for (to) them.

"I think the fact that this President has laid the groundwork for a Palestinian state, being the first president, as a matter of policy, to say that there should be one, and now, I think, laying the foundation that's going to lead to that Palestinian state - I can go on and on."

Condi did point out Georgie's one actual success - programmes to combat AIDS and malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Now, if you want another point of view about what generations of Americans to come might thing of "w", read Joe Stiglitz' analysis of the ten trillion dollar hole Bush has dug beneath the US in this month's Harpers magazine.

Buried Alive

Poor George w. Bush. Even really bad presidents don't get kicked into the gutter until they're out of office. Not so for Shrub. According to Paul Harris writing in The Observer, American pundits are already pronouncing judgment on the frat boy's dismal legacy:

"...George W Bush - whose successor won't take office until January 2009 - is ...suffering the indignity of having his historical legacy unfavourably examined while still having almost a year left of his second term. A slew of books and a planned major film are all starting to judge Bush's place in history even as he keeps the seat warm in the Oval Office."

"And so far, the verdict does not look good.

"The title of Jacob Weisberg's recent book says it all. The editor of online magazine Slate called his tome The Bush Tragedy. It is an exhaustive look at the Bush years that paints a portrait of disaster. A publicity blurb for the book, ignoring the fact that Bush has 11 months left in power, talks of the president's 'historic downfall'.

"To cap it all, film director Oliver Stone has announced plans to rush out a biopic on Bush in time for the November election. Though Bush may take some solace in being played by acclaimed actor Josh Brolin."

"...Experts say the rush to judge Bush's legacy in print and celluloid is a sign of the modern media times and also of Bush's powerlessness. Having lost control of Congress, he is effectively unable to drive any policy forward. Thus his legacy is already in place. 'Bush fatigue has set in. Part of that is him. Part of that is the nature of the modern presidency,' said Carl Cannon."

If Oliver Stone wants to save a few bucks, he should consider using the set of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" as a substitute for the Oval Office.