The Times has a piece about the fine whines the loyal Bushies are now enjoying as they leave Washington:
Mark McKinnon, the political consultant who helped elect Mr. Bush twice and was on the plane Tuesday, described the mood as one more of equanimity than resentment. In an essay on The Daily Beast, the new web magazine started by Tina Brown, Mr. McKinnon said there were good wishes for the new president and “an absence of malice one normally sees among the constituencies of the vanquished.” But he also said there were “some critical reviews of the speech, complaints about taking unnecessary shots and grousing about borrowed ideas.”
Mr. Obama never directly mentioned Mr. Bush’s name after the ritual thank you at the beginning of his Inaugural Address but the context of some of his remarks was lost on no one. He criticized “our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.” He promised to “restore science to its rightful place.” He rejected “as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” He assured the rest of the world “that we are ready to lead once more.”
Some writers, including David E. Sanger of The New York Times , concluded that it was the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt took over from Herbert Hoover in 1933, that an incoming president used his Inaugural Address to so evidently repudiate his predecessor as he headed for the door.
If the shoe fits…
I got a kick out of this too:
The passengers were shown a 22-minute film produced by Scott Sforza and edited by Laura Crawford celebrating the Bush presidency.
Twenty-two minutes? Even his supporters could only squeeze 22 minutes of celebratory material out of an 8 year presidency.
Johnny Pez
Elections have consequences, bitchez!
sgwhiteinfla
Oh the shots were necessary AND much appreciated. As was the nah nah nah nah song when Bush was leaving which is the part of the production that I have probably watched the most over and over again since Tuesday. The funny thing is their lack of self awareness endures in that they still haven’t realized that nobody gives a shit that their feelings were hurt and some people are glad they were.
Incertus
They probably had to stretch to get to 22 minutes, and maybe had to show some stuff more than once, like in a porn film when the guy finishes too early and you get six minutes of looped doggy-style. Yeah, I’m trying to set off the filter.
Andre
Yeah, isn’t a terrible thing that a Presidential candidate who won because he campaigned against the policies of the previous administration had the audacity to talk about the policies he was elected to reverse in his inaugural speech as President.
It’s almost like these people think Obama’s victory means they were right.
Andre
@Incertus:
Of all the Bush Administration’s many crimes, "finishing too soon" is not amongst them.
I’d say there were plenty of awkward cuts to cover up the long hours James Dobson and Richard Perl spent trying to get the little Decider back up to a full salute.
gbear
I wonder how Bush feels about the huge cheers that went up in the crowd every time Obama repudiated a Bush policy. Being insulted by one guy is bearable, but to have 2 million people cheer in agreement has got to cause some heartburn. I hope Bush has dreams about those cheers every night.
Other news: The wingnuts’ heads are starting to explode. Not pretty.
calipygian
Twenty two minutes is the standard length of a network half hour show. Like ALF or Charles in Charge. Maybe they’re planning on selling it for network use.
Rick Taylor
Hundreds of thousands dead, millions of refugees, America’s reputation in tatters, and impending economic armageddon, and what’s on these peoples’ minds is the incoming President who has to clean up this one’s mess said mean things about them? What to say.
Zifnab
How much of that time was dedicated to clearing brush?
Yeah, Bush had to call in, like, three sets of dry cleaners to get the White House carpets sperm free. And he took so much flak for that one little "restoring honor and integrity to the White House" quip. The nerve.
Oh, wait. Wrong presidency change-over.
MikeJ
I thought the vanquished always greeted you with flowers and candy. I know I heard that somewhere……
demkat620
Yes because the important thing here is it is not the country thats been hurt but the poor little Bushies feelings.
Poor babies. Christ, don’t they ever get tired?
Punchy
I wonder what Bush thinx as he watches day after day, rule after horrible rule get reversed by Obama’s team, to complete fappulation and cheers from damn near every American…
Balconesfault
I think that being subjected to a 22 minute film on Bush’s greatest accomplishments is far too little punishment for having being involved in getting Bush into office for 8 years.
I say lock them in a room and force them to watch every Morning Joe, Bill O’Reilly, and Fox and Friends episode from the last 8 years.
calipygian
You want some pouting? Go to the Corner and see the whiny bullshit Jay Nerdlinger has been spouting for the last few days.
You’d think someone waterboarded his dog.
woody
They could have spent 22 minutes on the Top 25 Bushisms.
There is only one thing I will recall with anything resembling ‘fondness’ about the departing Bushevik Clusterfuck Machine, and that is the neologism "misunderestimate." That one could actually make the dictionary someday…
DougJ
Bush-Cheney: one-and-a-half men?
Joe Lisboa
What s/he said: I say lock them in a room and force them to watch every Morning Joe, Bill O’Reilly, and Fox and Friends episode from the last 8 years.
ricky
Was there an 18 minute gap?
Zifnab
@Balconesfault:
You’re threatening them with reruns?
Jon H
To paraphrase Dick Cheney, it’s their due.
pattonbt
Isnt McKinnon the smart one who saw the light at the end of the tunnel and dropped out of the McCain campaign way early when it was clear Obama was going to be the Dem nominee? Saying, essentially, he respected Obama and the places that a successful campaign against Obama would have to go he would not want to be party to? Smart move to avoid that taint.
Still….suck it asshole. Thanks for helping us get to the state the country finds itself in now.
These guys are in for a harsh non-bubble media storm right quick. The media wont hold back on Bush and his cronies (especially the cronies, no ex-president deference required) as they dont matter anymore, so no reason not to tar and feather them. I doubt they have skins thick enough for even the most lukewarm of criticisms that are to come their way. No more cherry picking their crowds and media. Welcome to your legacy – may your eyes be opened to your suckitude.
Jon H
It was going to be a third longer, but that was all vacation shots, so they trimmed it.
R. Porrofatto
Cool. 22 minutes equals one minute for every 1% of his approval rating (acc. New York Times/CBS News). I wonder if as many as 22 people even appeared in the video.
catdander
So much to love about this.
Balconesfault
@Zifnab:
Hell yeah. I want them to sit through prediction after prediction of how tax cuts would create a stimulus that would generate enough growth to defy the business cycle. To listen to hours and hours of drivel on what kind of WMDs we were going to find in Iraq. On how Muslims essentially only understand force, and if we went in there forcefully they’d bow to our power and follow America’s lead. On all those predictions and analyses that have proven so execrably wrong – to make them do the retrospection that it’s a fundemental tenent of Bushism to avoid.
The Dangerman
22 minutes? TWENTY-TWO minutes? Was that the People Magazine Presidency (i.e. People’s articles are just long enough to read during the process of a single, um, sitting)?
AkaDad
It’s 20 minutes longer than I expected.
Jay B.
@pattonbt:
Yeah, McKinnon’s that guy. He’s also a two-faced symp who used to work for Democrats and got jazzed by the Bush/Rove magic. Not content to simply slink away after showing such pathetic judgement in Texas, McKinnon helped run Bush’s masterful 2000 campaign when he lied through his teeth and lost to Al Gore. Bolstered by that success (aided by his brother and father’s picks for the Supreme Court), McKinnon stayed close to that "compassionate conservative" through endless wars, botched policies, corrupt practices and all the other things that have made the Bush Years synonymous with "Golden Age".
His Beast chronicle is like reading a positive take of an existential vision of hell. Gonzo! Laura! GW! Andy Card! Watching movies of the highlights!
I imagine this is what it’s like going to a Mormon wake. There’s no booze, everyone has terrific manners and no one wants to talk about the departed’s life-long, self-inflicted struggle with pederastry.
catdander
Peggy Noonan practically creams her granny-panties over Michelle giving Laura a pre-departure gift, but I thought that was customary.
Jennifer
catdander – I gotta say, I like this clip even better, especially at 2:10 – 2:20 in. You get to see the look of absolute panic on Bush’s face as he realizes that for the first time in many years, the vast majority of people who have big issues with the things he’s done are not sequestered in "free speech zones" blocks and blocks away…and it’s gonna be ugly.
Jon H
"Peggy Noonan practically creams her granny-panties over Michelle giving Laura a pre-departure gift, but I thought that was customary."
Too bad it wasn’t a vibrator, leading to Laura’s arrest on arrival in Midland.
FMguru
I love how they think that being helpful and courteous to the incoming administration was some kind of above-and-beyond sacrifice on their part, that all but demanded that Obama show it ongoing deference. "We didn’t piss up the carpets on the way out the door, and this is how they repay us?!?!?" Like Chris Rock said, in a very different context:"What do you want, a cookie? You’re SUPPOSED to do that."
Yeah, Obama took his shots at you in his speech. That’s because he’s the PRESIDENT now and he was elected by an enormous margin to repudiate your wretched and monstrous policies. Who the fuck are you, again?
Moby Dick
@Incertus:
I heard a rumor that the intro credits took up the first twenty-one minutes and the ending credits took up the last minute. Just like Chimpy’s administration, everyone wanted to take credit at first but by the end of it nobody wanted anything to do with it.
Amazing how that works, eh?
Jay B.
I think it was just this shown in a loop.
Tymannosourus
So, am I the only one who thought it was a little strange that rather than shake Obama’s hand before he flew off into the sunset, Bush tried to give Obama the love with a high five? (fast forward to about the :35 mark)
Classy to the very end, W.
Cain
Anybody catch the suprise visit from Prez Obama (goddam I love saying that) where he actually said ‘flop sweat’. The president is aware of all internet traditions!
cain
Joshua
Was this the first time in Bush’s life that he had to sit there at take it from someone? The guy has lived his entire life in a little bubble.
My girlfriend keeps saying she thinks Bush is an okay guy, like it fucking matters or something. We are all eating a giant shit sandwich he made and delivered to us. I hope Bush hears Obama’s speech in his mind every day for the rest of his life.
cs
Just read the Daily Beast article and there’s one thing that jumped out at me.
Bush’s infamous gut thinks Obama will be a successful leader.
Which, of course, means we’re all doomed for the next 4/8 years, considering the excellent reverse accuracy of his wise and sagacious gut. If Bush’s gut approves, there’s no way Obama cannot be a disaster.
Tsulagi
Maybe a season premiere for a resurrected Half Hour News Hour.
freelancer
Nah, the man is so loathed that even when Trey Parker and Matt Stone got involved, his Midas Touch …of Shit is acting at full force.
(For the record, I thought it was a funny show that parodied sitcom cliches)
kth
I wouldn’t describe the inaugural speech as "taking shots" at Bush so much as emphasizing the fairly abrupt change of course Obama hopes to effect. Obama was just keeping it real. A bunch of collegial happy talk would have trivialized those very real differences, and hence failed to do justice to the magnitude of the challenges we face. One ought to be able to understand this quite apart from one’s high or low opinion of the Bush administration.
Mnemosyne
@catdander:
I really want to believe it was a group of Chicagoans who started singing that song, at least early in the day. The White Sox adopted it as their unofficial theme song years ago.
I was hoping Olbermann would crack since he used to be a sportscaster, but he managed to keep it together.
gex
@kth: Agreed. He was just talking about what America values and what we need to do to fix up our problems. It’s not his fault that his predecessor always promoted the opposite.
Brick Oven Bill
Abraham Lincoln was seated in January, 1961 and issued his first Executive Order (E.O.) around two months later. His first E.O. allowed the hostile Maryland militia to assemble. I kinda think that Lincoln didn’t have to turn to his Vermont lawyer in the face of questions asked by his General.
Lincoln then directed his General to shell innocent Maryland civilians if the militia started firing.
Lincoln issued 114 E.O.s in four years. Obama, in contrast, started issuing E.O.s immediately, generating an impressive 5 in the first 3 days alone! At this rate, he will issue 2433 E.O.s in four wartime years. This should disturb those division of powers fans.
In any case, this is a good place to read Presidential orders. It is one thing to complain, it is another to execute. The Presidency seems to be a very hard job.
Brick Oven Bill
Correction: 114 E.O.s in 4 wartime years. 2433 E.O.s in four hopefully quiet years. Don’t edit before sending.
Conservatively Liberal
That’s My Bush was pretty damned funny but my favorite episode was the one with the cat, Princess. The part where Laura thought George was talking about her having a ‘feminine hygiene problem’ when he was talking about the sick cat was priceless.
That was one twisted episode that I still laugh at today (captured the series and put it on DVD).
Brick Oven Bill
Obama’s 5 Executive Orders are now available online.
Compare and contrast Lincoln’s and Obama’s writing styles. Lincoln writes directly. I find it hard to believe that there is no plan for what to do with the prisoners, as Obama has been talking about it for years. Here are some ‘findings’ from the Guantanamo Order:
“To the extent practicable, the prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals detained at Guantánamo should precede the closure of the detention facilities at Guantánamo.”
“New diplomatic efforts may result in an appropriate disposition of a substantial number of individuals currently detained at Guantánamo.”
But the Executive Order has the answer. Therefore:
“There shall be established a Special Task Force on Detainee Disposition (Special Task Force) to identify lawful options for the disposition of individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations.”
ricky
You don’t know Texas. All the cops in Midland live in Odessa and they know every lady in Midland has a drawer full for use until they can sneak away to visit Odessa too.
Brick Oven Bill
Now this is an Executive Order.
Kyle
They probably had to stretch to get to 22 minutes, and maybe had to show some stuff more than once
I hope they included the seven minutes on the morning of 9/11 where he sat like a deer in the headlights reading a stupid children’s book, after being informed the country was under catastrophic terrorist attack.
This is the asshole who loved to dress up in military uniforms and wank about what a great Commander in Chief he was.
AnneLaurie
It was timed for the C-Plus Augustus’ attention span. Most people could watch a professionally-produced video praising their every thought, deed, and wardrobe choice for quite a long time, but experience told the Busheviks that shortly after the 20-minute mark Dubya was going to start squirming & whining like a toddler during an old-fashioned church service.
rachel
@Joshua: No, remember when Stephen Colbert gave him a birching and then rubbed salt into the welts at the White House Correspondents Dinner in ’06?
John S.
Leave it to Thick-as-a-Brick Bill to obsess over the most trivial things while missing the point (the perfect Republican).
It isn’t the VOLUME of EOs that is important – it is their CONTENT. One horribly misguided EO that turns the Constitution on its head is far worse than 1000 legally sound ones.
jenniebee
@Mnemosyne: hmmm maybe at the second inauguration Red Sox Nation will have to show up and serenade Obama with "Sweet Caroline" – so good, so good, so good…
maya
Pres Obama’s inaugural speech is nothing new;
I have come to bury Seizure, not to praise him. The evil that men do live after them. The good is oft interred with their bones. So let it be with, Seizure.
Obama, the celeb, sure knows his Britany Shakespeare
Mnemosyne
There was also Coretta Scott King’s funeral, where Rev. Joseph Lowery (yes, the guy from the inauguration) took the opportunity to denounce the Iraq war while Bush had to sit there and take it.