Still Tied To The Master
Published January 28, 2007
Well the danger of Iraq is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last?
Modified lyric from "Home At Last" by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (Steely Dan)
One would have to wonder if this metaphorical dilemma isn't an accurate statement of the situation facing George W. Bush and his desire (well, Laura's anyway) to locate his library on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Religious personnel and teaching staff oppose this establishment due to such "quaint" little problems as Bush's violations of our traditions of civil liberties, his expressed and practiced disdain for international law, and his refutation of human rights as evidenced by the abuse of those declared by him and his agents to be enemy combatants without proof or trial.
In an op-ed piece in the January 28, 2007 New York Times, Dorothy Samuels expressed the desire for SMU President R. Gerald Turner and the board of trustees to insist that two conditions be met before agreeing to host the Secret Document Stash - er, library.
The first is to insist that The Deciderer agree that revoking his Executive Order 13233 would be the politically correct thing to do. There is too much room to abuse its secrecy provisions by denying scholars access to the presidential papers without clearance by political moderators.
The second condition would be to voluntarily put into practice the provisions of a bill now being promoted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intended to make publicly available the list of contributors to any such Oval Office Archive of the public's property.
Assuming that Executive Order 13233 ever gets rescinded, just what might we find in Bush's files? Would we finally discover just how chummy the attendees of Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force were with officials of foreign oil producing nations? Might there be an explanation why the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is now an oily piggy bank for politically-connected oil companies to access at will, thwarting the plans of those who seek to dramatically reduce our oil usage? And just how much influence over our domestic economic politics do the Saudis actually wield?
- Still Tied To The Master
- Published: January 28, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Politics: Elections and Candidates, Politics: Energy and Environment, Politics: Government, Politics: International, Politics: Law and Rights, Politics: Local and Regional, Politics: Policy, Politics: U.S., Politics: War and Terrorism
- Writer: Realist
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Interesting article; every time I turn around there are ever more not-so-little Bushian skeletons being outed from closets. Pretty bad if even a reactionary bastion of southern religious conservatism as SMU is kicking against having the Bush 'library' (major artifacts: the flight suit he wore to proclaim "Mission Accomplished"; the actual copy of "My Pet Goat" he was reading on 9/11?) on their soil. 'Bushelzeebub' - I like that; good one, Shark.
the flight suit he wore to proclaim "Mission Accomplished";
the actual copy of "My Pet Goat" he was reading on 9/11?
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Nancy, good stuff. We should solicit a list of items for the library.
Could be a hoot!
Good ayem, Shark - whatcha doin' up so early, or have you not been to bed yet?
Other suggested items: the bicycle he rode when Lance Armstrong let him 'beat' him when they raced at The Ranch; the prop plastic turkey used when he "served" Thanksgiving dinner to the troops; Barney - stuffed & mounted - with a leg lifted symbolically on a copy of the Constitution; his hand-tooled, custom-made, silver-inlaid cowboy boots & cowboy hat....
...his pearl-handled chainsaw that he used on both ranch brush AND the Bill Of Rights...
Actually, Nancy, you'll notice that this article doesn't reveal any skeletons in any closets. It speculates that there might be some. There is a difference. Generally, it's worth distinguishing between "real" and "imaginary" things.
Like WMDs?
OK, that was a bit harsh, but the irony was too much to ignore.
"The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope -- an ideology of hate -- excuse me --with an ideology of hope." --George W. Bush, Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11, 2007
"Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006 (Watch video clip)
"It's bad in Iraq. Does that help?" --George W. Bush, after being asked by a reporter whether he's in denial about Iraq, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
"And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. To show you how important this one is, I read it, and our guest read it." --George W. Bush, on the Baker-Hamilton Report, appearing with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
"This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all." --George W. Bush, on speculation that U.S. troops could be withdrawn from Iraq, Amman, Jordan, Nov. 30, 2006
"The only way we can win is to leave before the job is done." --George W. Bush, Greeley, Colo., Nov. 4, 2006 (Watch video clip)
"Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words." --George W. Bush, interview with Rush Limbaugh, Nov. 1, 2006
"You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war President. No President wants to be a war President, but I am one." --George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006
"and a number of Tom Clancy novels."
If only we had Tom Clancy running the War on Terror then things might be very different.
As for the Bush library, I thought the plan was to put it at the U. of Texas, not SMU. Methodists are creepy anyway.
George Dubya Bush: Mr/Mrs Malaprop incarnate.
I wish things WOULD go as well for us in reality as they do in Clancy's novels, Vox.
The latest Dubya malapropism, on how he didn't intend to mispronounce "democratic" & offend Dems by dropping the "-ic":
"...I'm surprised at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. I'm sorry it's the case ... and I'll try to elevate it."
You almost have to love the man, he's such a twit.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/58848)
The concept of a "Bush Library" is such an oxymoron and a gigantic irony that I have trouble wrapping my mind around it.
What will it look like -- considering he's the most SECRETIVE, "CLASSIFIED" status-happy, uneducated, semi-literate President in history?
My guess: copies of his public speeches -- and a number of Tom Clancy novels.
feh.
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additional note: SMU is a pretty conservative place, but most there are freaking out at the idea of hosting a Library for Bushelzeebub.