Final Farewell

For 2, 915 days I have been awaiting the time when I could bid George W. Bush a final adieu. With only five days in his presidency remaining, I have started waking up in a cold sweat, filled with fear that he will refuse to leave or something equally dastardly. (Ok, I am not really waking up in a cold sweat, but I put nothing past this man, or more specifically his puppet master, Cheney, but more on Lord Vader in a moment.)

Tonight, Bush will address the nation, part of this week's veritable pantheon of farewell addresses. For my own sanity, I may have to skip this one. I have long ago given up watching his State of the Union addresses and the like, simply because my weak and aged heart can not stand the driving, thrust of my increased blood pressure.

So I must confess I didn't see the entire final press conference that Bush gave on Monday, but the delightful snippets I have caught on the news and other venues have been enough to create a mild ventricular arrhythmia. Bush was at times defiant (to be expected and his favorite way of addressing the media), petulant (my personal fave in his emotional arsenal), and simply insane. Some highlights (per Yahoo News):

• DEFIANT—He particularly became indignant when asked about America's bruised image overseas."I disagree with this assessment that, you know, that people view America in a dim light," he said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom."
• PETULANT—He went on to mock the way some describe the job."I believe the phrase 'burdens of the office' is overstated," he said. "You know, it's kind of like, `Why me? Oh, the burdens, you know. Why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch?' It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity? And I don't believe that President-elect Obama will be full of self-pity."
• INSANE—He also cited the abuses found to have been committed by members of the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as "a huge disappointment.""I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not, but they were — things didn't go according to plan, let's put it that way," Bush said.

Disappointment or disappointing seemed to be Bush's watchword for the entire affair. For analysis of that, I must bow to Jon Stewart's greater skill (this is about an 8 minute clip and the best part starts around 3.30 minutes in)

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

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Barack Obama Interview
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I think that Jon Stewart is right, Bush needs to redefine the word "disappointment." But then Bush has never understood nuance. 

And now for a bit on Cheney. He too has been pounding the media pavement of late, tossing bon mots about the way he usually throws around buck shot and pace makers.  The transcript from last night's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and some fun bits:

• ON MISTAKES MADE—That is, we thought that the Iraqis would be able to bounce back fairly quickly, once Saddam was gone and their new government established, and step up to take major responsibilities for governing Iraq, building a military and so forth. And that took longer than I expected.
• ON THE IRAQ WAR—(Question)But Mr. Vice President, getting from there to here, 4,500 Americans have died, at least 100,000 Iraqis have died. Has it been worth that?  (Cheney) "I think so."

How many hours in five days  . . .