Griper Blade: Joined at the Hip

t's kind of like the second coming. When you believe that something's going to happen in some undefined future, you can excuse yourself when it doesn't happen by adding the word "yet." George W. Bush believes that history will recognize his brilliance, even if his contemporaries think he's a dope. Given this belief, he could very well take his misconception to his grave. He may not have been vindicated in his lifetime, but all that would mean to him would be that he hadn't been vindicated yet.

Sidney Blumenthal, Salon:

In his semiretirement, Bush engaged in appeals to history, which he now says on nearly every occasion will absolve him. Early on and riding high, he expressed contempt for history. "History, we'll all be dead," he sneered to Bob Woodward in an interview for "Bush at War," a panegyric to Bush the triumphant after the Afghanistan invasion and before Iraq. Now Bush cites history as justification for everything he does. "You can't possibly figure out the history of the Bush presidency -- until I'm dead," he told Robert Draper, his authorized biographer, in an interview for "Dead Certain." The use of the words "history" and "dead" between the Woodward and Draper interviews makes for a world of difference -- the difference between a president who couldn't care less and one who cares desperately but can't admit it.

Without a doubt, history will remember Bush. But, like Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy, historical redemption is not in the cards. Which is probably good news for Democrats this year, as Bush will likely be remembered as the president who destroyed his party for a generation. The Republicans followed Bush straight off the cliff and are now on their way to the ground. An underreported fact in the Iowa Caucuses is that there is no excitement for the GOP candidates. Democrats are the ones drawing the huge crowds. The L.A. Times foretells doom:

The long-standing coalition of social, economic and national security conservatives that elevated the Republican Party to political dominance has become so splintered by the presidential primary campaign that some party leaders fear a protracted nomination fight that could hobble the eventual nominee.

Fiscal conservatives probably feel left out in the cold. Bush has been spending money like a drunk in a strip club and has very little to show for it other than massive deficits and a skyrocketing debt. It's not much of a stretch to imagine them looking at the religious right and their simplistic wedge issues and wondering why the hell these loons get to suck up all the oxygen in their party. They also can't be happy with a war that's costing billions and delivering zero results...

[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]