Obama Slams Bush And GOP In No Uncertain Terms (Really)

I wonder if President Obama will be able to bring Americans along on His Great Big Post-Partisan Adventure. They sure booed Bush when he came out for the inaugural ceremonies yesterday-- or were they booing John Boehner? I guess it doesn't matter. At least all the show throwing ended the day before (see White House photo above). Nor was it just the 1.8 million unwashed masses eager to see Bush for the last time. Even Colin Powell threw a proverbial shoe at the ex-boss who turned his name to mud. On CBS News yesterday he waxed poetic about how American prestige abroad had improved significantly when Obama beat McCain, who the world saw as a stand in for Bush.

...Barack Obama's election to the nation's highest office a "reaffirmation of American principles values that will help us overcome some of the difficulties of recent years with respect to the attitude of the world toward us... I think it has really, really been a remarkable event in terms of getting everybody to stand back and say, look at what we have seen here in America," Powell said. "The America we remember is back again."

And even President Obama, for all the sickening post-partisan mania, took some major slugs at the Bush Regime-- if not Bush personally-- and at the Republican's venal philosophy of governance... in, of all places, his Inaugural. In fact, on a personal level, he was very kind to the universally reviled failed ex-president: "I thank President Bush for his service to our nation as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition," the new president began as politely as his grandma taught him.

Now let me pull a few lines out that tore into the GOP and the 8 years of malfeasance and incompetence that has virtually wrecked the country. In fact, on a personal level, he was very kind to the universally reviled failed ex-president:

Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.

If that doesn't sound like an indictment of Republicanism in general and Bushism in particular, you haven't been paying attention. And this next line wasn't really a slam against Senator McCain as much as it was a slam at Bush and the GOP again: "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." Do you think those lines made Bush, McConnell, Boehner, et al sweat a little? I don't; but they should have. He even turns God against them: "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."


The President talks about the path to greatness and makes it clear it isn't one Bush took and it isn't one Republicans take. "It must be earned... It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame." He talked about an America filled with men and women who "worked till their hands were raw," not exactly something one associates with Republicans, and about Americans who saw our nation "as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction." That's how the Chamber of Commerce fascist scum define the communism they tried pinning on Obama during the election campaign. "[O]ur time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions-- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

I think by then Bush was praying 1.8 million people weren't going to start throwing their shoes at him. And then Obama walloped him and his reactionary and rejected party:

We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its costs. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

Each line must have felt like another shoe bouncing off his skull. So Obama gave him a respite-- and went after the GOP itself (and maybe their Blue Dog allies as well):

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

He slammed Republican theology and their most sacred hysterically-guarded dogma: "[T]his crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous." That line, more than any other is probably what set Hannity off on another of his utterly out of sync, tone deaf tirades today. And then it was back to Bush-- with a vengeance: "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake." (Actually that might have gone right over Bush's head, even if he was paying attention. But I hope it was Eric Holder who was paying attention then anyway and that Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders repeat it to him... quickly.)

There was more than an implied criticism of Bush's approach to foreign policy; it was more like a complete condemnation of its very foundations:

And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.

They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan.

Although this may sound like he's talking to Mitch McConnell, Jim DeMint, John Boehner and Eric Cantor, the context seems to indicate it was meant specifically for foreign fanatics, not domestic ones: "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Although this next bit was a warning shot he clearly wanted Republicans to hear: "And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it." I think Wall Street knew he wanted them to hear too. When he got to the Oval Office he started signing proclamations: "I'm a lefty. Get used to it," which he is, though not in the way we wish he was.

Meanwhile, Bush made a halfhearted stab at defending his disastrous legacy of misery to small crowds in Midland and Waco, Texas after President Obama's stark repudiation. Perhaps not fully cognizant that his wrong-headed policies have left President Obama with the worst economy since the Great Depression, 2 wars, a hostile and distrustful world and a divided nation, Bush blathered on how “I always felt it was important to tackle the tough issues today and not try to pass them on to future presidents, and future generations."