At Bush's pharaonic "Presidential Center," we
commoners can dig deep into the shallowness of his achievements.
Gosh, it seems like
only yesterday that we saw George W. Bush on TV reading The Pet Goat to
some second graders. Now he’s all grown up and has an entire , super-duper,
king-sized library filled with big books and other neat stuff — all dedicated
to him.
Bush’s pharaonic
“Presidential Center” is now open, allowing us commoners to dig deep into the
shallowness of his achievements.
The enormous building itself sets the tone: sharp edges, high brick walls, and the welcoming feel of a fortress. Yet the ex-prez insists that it’s a place for public contemplation of his legacy, “a place to lay out facts.”
How ironic is that?
After all, the Bush-Cheney regime was infamous for its disregard of facts, as
well as its constant hiding, twisting, and wholesale manufacturing of facts to
fool the people.
On everything the
regime pushed — from going to war over Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass
destruction to its plan to gut and privatize Social Security — “facts” were
whatever Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Rove, and Condi imperiously declared them to be.
More ironic (and even
insulting) is the centerpiece of the library’s attempt to whitewash George’s
eight awful years. There’s even an interactive exhibit called “Decision Points
Theater.” This make-believe exercise portrays George heroically as “The
Decider” on such Big Moments as Hurricane Katrina and the Wall Street collapse.
What a piece of work
Bush has erected. The $250-million, 226,000-square-foot edifice sprawls across
15 acres. Never has something so large been built to contain something so
small, namely the thoughts and record of achievements of this two-term
president.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is
a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He's also editor of the
populist newsletter, The HightowerLowdown. OtherWords.org
