They're having second thoughts; he hasn't had his first.
President Bush has drawn massive public criticism for his reaction to Hurricane Katrina (or lack thereof), his support for the controversial No Child Left Behind and Patriot Acts, and his role in driving the country further into debt. Recently, his decision to send more troops to support a lost cause in Iraq has caused even his supporters to wonder.
Give him credit though; George has tried his best in all aspects of the job:
• Economics- “It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.”
• Industry- “I understand small business growth. I was one.”
• International Affairs- “This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.”
• Religion- “I trust God speaks through me.”
• Promotion of Democracy- “If this were a dictatorship, it's be a heck of a lot easier.”
• National Defense- “People don't need to worry about security.”
• Education- “Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning.”*
News critics, liberals, television comedians, and ground squirrels continually harass Bush for his incompetence and after all, he's given them a lot to work with. Some people have drawn the impression that we may have the worst president ever.
However, this country has had more unpopular wars, aggregately worse depressions, and more constitutionally unjust laws. We've also had worse presidents. Here are a few:
• Millard Filmore- Who's Millard Filmore? My point exactly.
• Rutherford B. Hayes- Stole the presidency from Samuel Tilden in 1877 and then proceeded to prove why he lost the election to start with.
• Warren G. Harding- One of the few presidents to invite his old college buddies over to the White House, then give them a few stiff drinks and appointments to cabinet positions.
• William Henry Harrison- Died of pneumonia four weeks into the job after forgetting to wear a coat outside to his inauguration.
• William Taft- Weighed more than both FDR and JFK, but with half the intelligence.
• Herbert Hoover- Couldn't engineer his way out of a paper bag, much like the Great Depression. Just like his namesake vacuum cleaner, he sucked.
• Hillary Clinton- It hasn't happened yet, but honestly, if it does, it can't turn out pretty.
So things aren't all that bad; Bush is more inarticulate than he is outright moronic. He may have attended both Harvard and Yale, but apparently he slept though his English classes. The fact is George may just be an average guy being put under enormous pressure on national television. He's not stupid, but he's not brilliant, either.
Maybe we've just “misunderestimated” his intelligence.
*Note- All quotations were actually spoken by President Bush and weren't tweaked by the reporter, no matter how tempting it may have been. Look them up for yourself on “the internets.”
I wrote this as an editorial column for my high school newspaper. Actually this was the first time I have ever had anything published, and it still remains one of my favorite things that I have ever written. This may very well be because of the title. I have stated before and I will state again here that I take great pride in the titles I give to my publications. This remains one of my best.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the piece is now a little outdated as it was published over two years ago. Looking back on it, I can see ways that I would change this piece with the experience of those two years behind me. After all, this was written before anyone had probably even heard of Barack Obama. I honestly believe that we have already begun to forget about Bush. We’re still feeling the effects of his tenure, but the American people are infatuated with Obama and have quickly moved on. In fact, I doubt that Bush will be viewed with such hostility when his name is obscured by history. People may remember why he was disliked, but probably won’t know why. This is mainly because most of the dissent was ill founded.
ReplyDeleteThe change in medium allows a wider audience of people to view it than the original circulation of roughly a few hundred. Of course, this also means that it is easier for it to get lost in the shuffle now that it one of a few million articles, rather than a dozen. Online it is easier to remain anonymous and thus more likely that any opinions would receive strongly negative feedback. The Internet also lifts any all restrictions I had placed upon the original print piece. There is limited space in a newspaper, but unlimited space on a blog. In addition to that, a personal blog has no editor to either catch mistakes or eliminate questionable material. I’ve personally had my work tweaked and misconstrued by editors and know that it can be frustrating. However, they do serve as a safety net for everything from misspellings and libel, although one happens more frequently than the other.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, my goal in writing this piece was to make some people laugh and to convince them to adopt my opinion on the subject matter. This goal has not changed significantly with the transition to a hypertext format. To be honest, this is probably best suited for this new format, because the idea is ephemeral and will change along with the topic of the blog. It is greatly opinionated and required substantiation that only further research will yield. Also it was written quickly and informally, similar to most blog posts.
ReplyDeleteI still hate George Bush. I'll never forget.
ReplyDeleteA transition to the blog format also means an alteration of how feedback is received. All of the response I got from the print version was verbal. On a blog, the comment feature allows for strangers to casually add their remarks, and additionally, gives the author the privilege of moderating these comments.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that I originally included the footnote encouraging the reader to further research Bush “on the internets,” and readers of the blog post already have that opportunity provided to them via the hyperlinks.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Bolter and Grusin, through remediation, “media (especially new media) become systematically dependent on each other and on prior media for their cultural significance.” (56) This is essentially a new form of the intertextuality that existed before with print work. Through remediation, “one medium is seen by our culture as reforming or improving upon another.” (59) Thus, my project can seen to be representative of the general transition of the traditional print news media to a digital format.
ReplyDelete