Daydream Believer

Apologies all around gentle readers for my lengthier than normal absence. I have excuses of course (aren't there always excuses?), but I won't load you down with them today.

Sitting on my chair for several weeks now has been an older copy of Rolling Stone (RS 1070), which features an imaginary exit interview with Dubya by Matt Taibbi. For any of you who have encountered Taibbi through his writing or his somewhat toned down election reports via Real Time with Bill Maher (who btw returns to HBO tonight—party at Broad's house, well if I could stay up that late, god bless the dvr), you will know that Taibbi is, shall we say, less than sacrosanct when it comes to his attitude toward politicians and their ilk.

But near the conclusion of the mock interview Taibbi has Bush say that his wife and dad have both given him looks "Like there's something they want to say to me, but won't." Taibbi responds "I think there are a lot of people who feel that way." Imaginary Bush asks what do they want to say and this is Taibbi's response:

OK, here it is. You're the child of two emotionally absent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection from an early age. You grew up resentful and lacking completely in natural gifts or curiosity and by early adulthood found yourself desperate to fulfill the expectations your parents by then mostly had only for your much more competent brother, Jeb. You failed every test you ever faced as a young man and were unable to hold any job at all until the age of 45 or so, at which time you decided to try to win some self-respect by going into the family business. You were aided in this quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys and holdovers from your father's administration who every step of the way manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments to their advantage, enriching themselves and their friends. All you wanted was a pat on the back and a few accomplishments of your own to hang your hat on, but instead you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on Earth by turning the presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis that threatens the entire system of international capitalism, and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias or maybe Nero.

That about sums it up. I really do intend to move on from the "Blame Bush" bandwagon, but this was too good to pass up. 

If your curiosity is sparked, you can read the whole thing here.