Bush's Legacy

According to an article printed online on MSNBC, "A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease," Bush is asking a number of experts about the difference between good and evil and his Presidential legacy.

Mr President, I believe it is almost certain that future generations will see you as the worst President in American history. They will see their civil rights destroyed and see you as the author of their destruction. They will see their property destroyed and friends and neighbors harmed through global warming that you refused to act against. They will see the size of the bill that you gave to them. They will see all of this and judge you harshly.

The problem, Mr. President, is that you never learned the art of evidence-based thinking. You have a history of ignoring the evidence - ignoring the facts, and going with your "faith" - which tells you about an imaginary (and grossly misinformed) fantasy world that existed only in your head. You took these faith-based policies from your imaginary friend and tried to apply them to the real world and discovered that reality simply refuses to be ignored.

You are like a person who, coming to a street, sees all of the evidence of an approaching car. However, having an approaching car at that moment is inconvenient, so you step out onto the street anyway, having faith that your invisible friend will prevent the truck from doing you harm, and condemning those who warn you about the truck as traitors who only want to prevent you from crossing the street.

Then, BLAM!

Only, the truck did not hit you, Mr. President. You were protected by the thick armor plating of family wealth and power. The truck swerved into a crowd of innocent bystandards who lack your special protections - people who are most vulnerable. Theirs are the lives you destroyed.

The people who suffer and die are the citizens and soldiers in Iraq, our children and grandchildren, and countless people who will suffer from the abuses of government that you upheld and defended in your tenure.

They will have little to thank you for, Mr. President.

That will be your legacy.