The Legacy of George W. Bush

It comes down to this: The American people have spoken as clearly as an election allows them to speak. Collectively, we have delivered an unqualified message of opposition to the president’s war.

Against all odds, overcoming a legacy of designer districting and the most powerful propaganda machine in modern history, the people spoke with resounding clarity: Stop the war!

One would assume that a president who has proclaimed himself democracy’s champion would listen to the voice of his people. Tragically, this president has turned a deaf ear. Tragically, the cloth of his presidency is not democracy but the tailoring of an emperor. He alone is chosen. He alone hears the voice of god. He alone must choose.

When the true history of this president is written, it will tell the tale of a profoundly inadequate man, bereft of wisdom, whose historical ambition was limitless but whose knowledge of history was as shallow as a wading pool. It will be the story of a man who listened to an ideological fringe as if they were true prophets and thus led a great nation into war on a foundation of delusions and lies.

Our president is a man of faith but the faith he has adopted is a vision of darkness disguised as light. All the world knows he has lost a war he should never have instigated, a war that was ill-conceived, immoral and poorly implemented, yet the implications of failure are so damaging to the president’s ego that he dismisses anyone who dares speak the solemn truth.

Neither Condoleezza Rice nor Robert Gates nor the counsel of paternal elders can tell the president what everyone but John McCain and the hardcore neocons have long accepted:

The war is lost. Every moment you prolong it is another nail in your historical coffin. Every moment of your stubborn refusal to accept reality is another needless death, another mourning mother, another abandoned child, another wounded soldier and another cycle of endless retribution born of vengeance and mortal hatred.

The wounds of Vietnam could not begin to heal until America came to terms with defeat and accountability. Vietnam was the wrong war for the wrong reasons and Iraq is little different.

No matter what happens after we withdraw, it will be better than if we had remained. The region has its own balance of powers. The Saudis will protect the interests of Iraqi Sunnis. The diversity of the Iraqi Shia population will prevent Iranian domination. The Turks will be restrained by the European Union as they resolve their substantial differences with the Kurds. None of the regional powers, within or without Iraq, desires the presence of Al Qaeda or other foreign fighters in the absence of an occupation.

America’s proper role in post-occupation Iraq is one of diplomacy and reparations. Given the emergence of evidence that Israel has plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities using tactical nuclear weapons, it is imperative that we hold Israel in check.

There is still time to establish a legacy beyond the disaster of war but it depends on a president who listens to his people. It depends on a president who has the courage to change course in more than rhetoric. It requires turning away from those who guided us into this catastrophe and toward those who advised against it from the beginning.

The damage already done pales in comparison to the damage that might yet be done. The world needs an honest American peace broker, not an American warlord. America needs a healer, not an angry, obstinate, isolated commander, hell bent on "victory" at any cost. Beyond blood and money, the cost has already exceeded the cause. The nation is not more secure and will not be more secure for generations to come.

There is a history of this presidency I would like to write. It is the history of a leader who woke up in the sixth year of his administration and dramatically reversed course. It is the history of a president who had the guts to end his own misbegotten war, who rebuilt one of America’s most treasured cities, who became an honest broker in the world’s conflicts, who devoted the resources of the world’s most powerful nation to a Marshall Plan for mass transit, renewable energies, innovative technology and energy efficient design. It is the story of a president who initiated the essential first steps in establishing the rights of labor as an international mandate. It is the story of a president who belatedly stood up for liberty, justice, dignity and the fundamental rights of all.

Unfortunately, there is nothing in the president’s personal history to suggest that he has the integrity to defy the corporate sponsors that placed him in power. Unfortunately, I believe they placed him in power precisely because he does not possess the strength of character to challenge them.

The real sources of power beneath this imperial White House are disinterested in historical legacies. Frankly, they are disappointed for while they have reaped obscene profits, the potential for blowback is incalculable.

They were counting on the president to pacify the masses with fear and loathing. They were counting on him to sustain the inevitability of global "free" trade. They were counting on him to pin the blame for all our misfortunes on unions, immigrants, gays and educators.

In the end, the president will stand alone – with only his faithful wife, his dog "Barney" and the loyal 25% whose support is unconditional, by his side.

In the end, the tragic legacy of this president seems preordained. He is hunkering down on a runaway train.

Thus spoke Mac Beth: I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.

Jazz.

JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). THE CHRONICLES HAVE APPEARED ON THE ALBION MONITOR, PEACE-EARTH-JUSTICE, THE NATIONAL FREE PRESS, LEFTWARD, DISSIDENT VOICE AND COUNTERPUNCH. Random Voices