It’s fairly well-known that doing an internet search on the term “miserable failure” turns up President Bush’s on-line official White House biography. You can now shorten that search to just “failure”. Why be surprised?
Tag Archives: George Bush
On Evaluating President Bush
It’s hard to look at what’s happening in Louisiana and not think that we’ve seen a massive failure of the federal, state, and local governments in responding to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. It’s hard to understand how someone like the Secretary of Homeland Security can be so blithely clueless about people stranded inContinue reading “On Evaluating President Bush”
On Bush, the Emperor Nero, and the Historical Perspective
Nero fiddled as Rome burned. Bush strummed as New Orleans sank. Nothing more to say, really. Except that someone in the Bush White House has lost all sense of historical perspective.
On Hurricane Katrina
At the risk of being insensitive… Is it cynical of me to wonder whether the President will visit storm-ravaged New Orleans anytime soon? He’s on his vacation, after all. He famously said that he “need[ed] to get on with his life.” The deaths of hundreds, the devastation of a city, would these prompt him toContinue reading “On Hurricane Katrina”
On the Things that Matter
I’ve been mulling this post since Friday. On Friday the company held a Town Hall meeting in Charlotte to provide the latest updates on the corporate merger. I won’t say much about the meeting–in terms of information provided we received little, yet the important aspect of the meeting, the boost in morale it provided, can’tContinue reading “On the Things that Matter”
On Flying Flags
Driving through Raleigh today I noticed something unusual. About half the flags I saw were flying at half-mast. There was no consistency to it. A whole stretch of businesses might have their flying at the top of the pole, while other businesses might have just the national flag at half-mast with the state and localContinue reading “On Flying Flags”
On the Razzies
I wonder what questions the White House press corps ask of Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, on the President’s latest honor. From today’s Raleigh newspaper: George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger won elections. Now they’ve won Razzies. The [Razzie] awards, doled out in Hollywood on Saturday, are an Oscar spoof that trashes Hollywood’sContinue reading “On the Razzies”
On Nuclear Weapons
I heard about the North Korean nukes on the BBC World Service this morning on the way to work. I can’t say I was surprised. I can say I was disappointed. Not in the North Koreans–we knew what they were up to since the mid-90s. I was disappointed in the President for treating the NorthContinue reading “On Nuclear Weapons”
Taking a Stand
Tomorrow I will be cancelling my subscription to Time. Effective immediately, I will no longer use AOL Instant Messenger. (Friends shouldn’t let friends use AOL anyway, but that’s a story for another time.) It’s a good thing I bought the Return of the King Special Edition last week–tomorrow I would not have. Why? Because TimeContinue reading “Taking a Stand”
A Thought for the Day
Gandalf’s judgment on Denethor as given in Lord of the Rings: The Third Age: Thus is the havoc when a steward breaks his solemn bond with his people. Gondor shunned counsel, chose to dominate its subjects. While its sons were sent to die in hopeless causes, alliances faltered. Hope withered. Armies were squandered, leaders lost.Continue reading “A Thought for the Day”