Bush on display

By Robert Kuttner | October 21, 2006

IN TWO WEEKS, Election Day will render George W. Bush a lame-duck president, and he can begin thinking about his presidential library. Imagine what an honest rendition of that library might look like.

Such libraries typically begin with the early career -- in this case The Foggy Years, the heroic service in the Air National Guard, and the falling upward economically. A gallery could commemorate all the Texas businessmen who helped young George turn business blunders into windfalls.

This would lead into an exhibit on Governor Bush, the Uniter not the Divider, his collaboration with Texas Democrats, and the unity theme in the 2000 presidential campaign. From there, you'd go directly into the Hammer Room, and observe Tom DeLay excluding Democrats from the legislative process in Congress.

The next salon would be the Rogues Gallery, featuring each of the several congressional scoundrels of the Bush era -- DeLay being forced to step down as Republican House leader, the hapless Representative Bob Ney pleading guilty but refusing to give up his seat, Representative Randy Cunningham devising convoluted scams that led to prison time, as well as an elaborate interactive diagram on the multiple connections with corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. A nearby exhibit would commemorate corporate felons close to Bush, beginning with Enron officers.

One of the most surprising exhibits would be the Gay Closet, depicting the several senior Republican congressional staffers, congressmen, and leaders of the national Republican Party who turned out to be closeted gays. The exhibit would be paired with examples of Republican anti-gay ballot initiatives. The Museum of the Iraq War would open with the Mission Accomplished Room, a wax diorama of President Bush costumed in his flight jacket, emerging from a fighter jet on the USS Lincoln flight deck. The Mission Accomplished banner used in the original May 2003 stunt would adorn the wall. On a facing wall would be discrete portraits of each of the thousands of soldiers killed in Iraq after the mission was declared accomplished...http://tinyurl.com/y2gy93

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This is a definite must-read.

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