With an historic moment looming on the calendar, the pundits are now scrambling to sum up the Bush presidency, which poses quite the challenge. This was no ordinary president so bringing his legacy into focus is no small task.
Bush, Cheney and their small, unhappy band of supporters would love for us to believe that Dubya's legacy is that He Kept Us Safe (unless we count, y'know, 9/11). It is doubtful that anyone will be buying one last whopper from these charlatans.
What's a legacy anyway? We know that Ike was grandfatherly. We know that Nixon was crooked. We know that Lincoln was steadfast. We know that Ford fell up a flight of stairs. It's all nice, but none of that sufficiently explains the dynamic between those men and the nation they led for better or worse.
It would take an awful lot of beans, but those who inhabit the world of high finance could count them all up and tell you what the statistics say about our 43rd president, so his impact can in fact be quantified. That's just evidence, however, and does not adequately illustrate the whole story.
George W. Bush needs something more symbolic, and more permanent, than any of the usual stuff. Otherwise we may as well just chisel his visage into a melting glacier. Recapitulation of this particular Chief Executive calls for drastic and lasting measures.
The United States mint should retool its extrusion presses and impose his image upon the penny. (Lincoln wouldn't mind - after all, he's still got the five-dollar bill.) This would be a fitting and lasting tribute.
Remember, it actually costs 1.3 cents to produce each small copper-plated zinc slug that is worth one one-hundredth of the dollar, which means that pennies are less than worthless. They only represent, as Bush does, a net loss for our country.
That doesn't merely embody Bush or his administration, but also the Republican Party, and all of conservatism as it has existed for the past eight years. A true legacy deserves more than effort, ink and bleached tree pulp.
Let his profile be stamped onto our coinage so that the world can know that we understand. That we have finally figured out our heads from our tails.
Bye, George. I think we've got it.
pH 1.19.o8
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