Bullet points for assessing the Bush years

As the classic New Year’s song asks, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot?” Not if our auld acquaintance is the Bush regime. Yes, our country will soon be getting a new beginning, and maybe, just maybe, we can put it back on the right path. As we head that way, however, we ought not totally put out of mind the dark path we’ve been down the past eight, lest we allow future leaders to take us there again. Let’s long remember our old acquaintances of the Bush years.

Start, of course, with George W — what a guy! Just ask him, he’ll tell you. The essence of his self-assessment as president is that while not everything he pursued worked out perfectly, he should be viewed as a bold, transformative and even profound president. “An old sage,” he called himself during a December Q&A session.

In fairness, though, George is not the only one who’s saying that he’s been absolutely terrific. Top-ranking officials of his administration are also vouching for his overall excellence.

In case they’re not sure what to say, the White House PR office has very helpfully provided a two-page memo of talking points for the officials to follow in their public appearances. Titled “Speech Topper on the Bush Record,” this dandy document extols Bush as a terror on terrorists, a courageous tax-whacker, etc. Indeed, in two pages of bullet points, the memo finds not a single flaw in the marvelous man’s record. Amazing! There’s no need to dwell on the negative, but as we wave bye-bye to Bush and Co., it’s worthwhile to offer a few of our own bullet points highlighting some of their greatest hits:

• Stealing the 2000 election.
• The Patriot Act.
  
• Pre-emptive war.
• Iraq “will be a cakewalk.”
  
• Weapons of mass destruction.
•  “Bring ‘em on.”
  
• Troops with no body armor. 
• “Mission Accomplished.”
•  Abu Ghraib.
• Gitmo. 
• Secret renditions. 
• Torture memos. 
• Walter Reed Hospital scandal. 
• “I’m the decider.” 
• Valerie Plame. 
• Scooter Libby. 
• Halliburton. 
• Blackwater. 
• Harriet Miers. 
• Alberto Gonzales. 
• Fired federal prosecutors. 
• Illegal spying on Americans. 
• Executive privilege. 
• Signing statements. 
• Secret energy task force.
• Cheney shoots a lawyer. 
• Tax cuts for the rich. 
• More tax cuts for the rich. 
• National debt. 
• Global climate change. 
• Privatize Social Security 
• Veto of children’s health care bill. 
• No Child Left Behind. 
• Deregulate Wall Street. 
• Bail out Wall Street.
  

It’s said that the worst job in the circus is  cleaning up after the elephants. As we move on from the Bush years, we can’t ignore the  messes they left. There’s a great deal of cleaning  up to do.

Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, columnist and editor