A $500 MILLION LIBRARY?
Johann Wagener 4-22-13
It looks like a theme park as much as it is a library,” according to Lou Dubose, co-author of “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America.” Dubose points out the library also includes freedom tower, a freedom plaza, a decision points library, the bullhorn Bush used to talk to first responders from ground zero, and even Saddam Hussein’s pistol.
All of our presidents leave a library behind to hold what they believe to be their “accomplishments” while in office. It’s also where they try to rewrite history by flaunting the positives while barely mentioning the negatives.
Nixon, for example could boast about his detente with China while playing down Watergate.
LBJ went all out in two very opposing wars; one against poverty and one against the Vietnamese. One worth fighting, the other a lost cause.
Clinton balanced the budget but got more attention for his peccadilloes with Monica L.
When it comes to Bush there is almost nothing worth mentioning on the positive side while his negatives soar;
· His policies created the Great Recession
· He started (and could not win) 2 wars
· He authorized torture in violation of the Geneva Convention
· He ignored warnings of the 9/11 attack
Omission accomplished: President Bush uses library to try to rewrite history — MSNBC
According to the library’s official website, it will be ”a results-oriented institute that will have an effect on our country and, we think, on the world,” focusing on areas including economic growth, human freedom, and education reform. But it’s tough to say what results can be gleaned from the legacy of the president who turned a budget surplus into a deficit, left us into a major recession, permitted the use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques, and instituted the “No Child Left Behind” education policy that is widely criticized even by Republicans today.
But Bush has a plan to distract everyone from the more negative aspects of his legacy. As one Bush acquaintance told the National Journal, “He’s convinced his achievement in keeping the country safe after 9/11 will get the attention it deserves as the years roll on,” which is why the library’s signature exhibit will be “a 17-foot, two-ton twisted piece of steel from the World Trade Center.” (It’s a strange quirk of historical memory–almost a form of intellectual jujitsu–that Bush has successfully branded himself as the leader who kept us safe, when in fact he’s the president who disregarded an August 2001 memo warning that Osama bin Laden was planning an attack on America.)
It’s not the first time Bush has used 9/11 imagery for his political gain. He outraged 9/11 widows and firefighters in 2004 when he ran a campaign ad with 9/11 pictures.
All of our presidents leave a library behind to hold what they believe to be their “accomplishments” while in office. It’s also where they try to rewrite history by flaunting the positives while barely mentioning the negatives.
Nixon, for example could boast about his detente with China while playing down Watergate.
LBJ went all out in two very opposing wars; one against poverty and one against the Vietnamese. One worth fighting, the other a lost cause.
Clinton balanced the budget but got more attention for his peccadilloes with Monica L.
When it comes to Bush there is almost nothing worth mentioning on the positive side while his negatives soar;
· His policies created the Great Recession
· He started (and could not win) 2 wars
· He authorized torture in violation of the Geneva Convention
· He ignored warnings of the 9/11 attack
Omission accomplished: President Bush uses library to try to rewrite history — MSNBC
According to the library’s official website, it will be ”a results-oriented institute that will have an effect on our country and, we think, on the world,” focusing on areas including economic growth, human freedom, and education reform. But it’s tough to say what results can be gleaned from the legacy of the president who turned a budget surplus into a deficit, left us into a major recession, permitted the use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques, and instituted the “No Child Left Behind” education policy that is widely criticized even by Republicans today.
But Bush has a plan to distract everyone from the more negative aspects of his legacy. As one Bush acquaintance told the National Journal, “He’s convinced his achievement in keeping the country safe after 9/11 will get the attention it deserves as the years roll on,” which is why the library’s signature exhibit will be “a 17-foot, two-ton twisted piece of steel from the World Trade Center.” (It’s a strange quirk of historical memory–almost a form of intellectual jujitsu–that Bush has successfully branded himself as the leader who kept us safe, when in fact he’s the president who disregarded an August 2001 memo warning that Osama bin Laden was planning an attack on America.)
It’s not the first time Bush has used 9/11 imagery for his political gain. He outraged 9/11 widows and firefighters in 2004 when he ran a campaign ad with 9/11 pictures.
$500 million on a building housing trophies of failures may play well in Texas but there's not much there to benefit anyone other than Bush and the neo-cons that pulled his strings.
No comments:
Post a Comment