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Bush Says Buh-Bye
Last
night, George W. Bush gave his farewell address on the TV. From a
USA Today account:
President Bush used his farewell address Thursday to stress that the nation has not suffered a major terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. But the threat remains, he said, and will be President-elect Barack Obama's biggest challenge.
"Our enemies are patient and determined to strike again," Bush said in a nationally televised address from the White House.
Bush, who listed the Iraq war as one of his efforts to combat terrorism, said he understands disagreement with some "tough decisions" he made, "but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions."
Full text and video of Bush's remarks are here.
So whaddya think? Are you happy, sad, or whatever to see him go?
Reason magazine on Bush's Exit, Stage Left.
B|1.16.09 @ 10:39AM|#
Wait...that guy is still the president? I had no idea!
(Seriously, though, don't let door hit your ass on the way
out.)
|1.16.09 @ 10:40AM|#
(Children)
So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight
(Marta)
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight
(Children)
So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, adieu
(Fredrick)
Adieu, adieu
To you and you and you
(Children)
So long, farewell
Au revoir, Auf Weidersehen
(Leisel)
I'd like to stay
And taste my first champagne
(talking to the captain) yes?
(Captain) no!
(children)
So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye
(Kurt)
I leave and heave
A sigh and say goodbye
Goodbye
(Brigitta)
I'm glad to go
I cannot tell a lie
(Louisa)
I flit, I float
I fleetly flee, I fly
(Gretel)
The sun has gone
To bed and so must I
(Children)So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
(guests)
Goodbye
|1.16.09 @ 10:41AM|#
"You ungrateful motherfuckers! If it wasn't for my magic rock, the terrorists would have turned this country into a wasteland!"
Xeones|1.16.09 @ 10:42AM|#
He was willing to make the tough decisions, it's true. He mostly
decided wrong, but hey, he decided.
Can i be relieved to see him go and also sad to see Obama
arrive?
|1.16.09 @ 10:42AM|#
(Seriously, though, don't let door hit your ass on the way
out.)
You fucker...I was going to say exactly that. Instead I will say
"here's your hat...what's your hurry?"
gmatts|1.16.09 @ 10:46AM|#
""Our enemies are patient and determined to strike again," Bush
said in a nationally televised address from the White House."
So George, maybe it was the patience of "the enemy" that is the
reason we haven't been attacked again? And not anything in
particular that you've done.
By his standard, Clinton was just as succesful in deterring attacks
on the homeland after an initial one.
Fluffy|1.16.09 @ 10:50AM|#
Which is the tougher decision to make?
To decide to stick with an earlier decision that has gone wrong,
but which it will embarrass and damage you to admit was wrong
-
Or to decide to abandon an earlier decision once it has soured,
even though your opponents will use it against you if you admit you
were wrong?
Kolohe|1.16.09 @ 10:52AM|#
"but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the
tough decisions."
Actually, he was not willing to make the tough decisions. That's my
fundamental problem with his administration. For instance, a person
who was willing to make tough decisions would have at least used
'soft power' to curtail some of the obvious excesses in the
financial sector that was giving a false sense of prosperity. True,
doing so in 2004 may have imperiled one's reelection chances as the
economy trimmed it's growth, but that's why it's a tough decision.
And doing so in 2005 or 2006 would have hurt the midterms - but
that's what happened anyway. No, instead of becoming a profile in
courage, his administration tried to ride the unsustainable growth
as long as possible. Granted, he wasn't the only one, but he was
one of the most important.
sage|1.16.09 @ 10:53AM|#
Even disregarding the Iraq war, I would say he's the worst
president so far in my lifetime. I'm 35,
btw.
And I really want to stress the "so far." We can, and might, see
much worse.
I can remember the day after he was sworn in. I was in a carpool
with a bunch of Navy folks, and they were so happy to have a new
leader. Ugh.
Elemenope|1.16.09 @ 10:56AM|#
Can i be relieved to see him go and also sad to see Obama
arrive?
Fatalism is a symptom. The cure is more weed.
|1.16.09 @ 10:58AM|#
Put me in the "Bush was the worst since FDR" column. I can't
believe we had to suffer a second term of this monster.
I'd feel a lot better about his leaving if I wasn't so afraid of
what's moving in.
We are SO fucked.
|1.16.09 @ 10:59AM|#
The cure is more weed.
That'll just give you the munchies, and you'll get fat. A little
coke will perk us all right up, and no appetite.
TofuSushi|1.16.09 @ 11:03AM|#
What about the birds that were murdered by that USAIRWAYS
polution machine yesterday?
The pilot was probably part of the RightWingWarMachine.
|1.16.09 @ 11:04AM|#
And now begins the sickening revisionism of his presidency into something quasi-benign.
KT|1.16.09 @ 11:05AM|#
It's something like relief, but really I wish we replaced the admin the day after the election like some other countries do. Having these shitheads linger in office has only given them time to prolong the effects of their shithead-ery.
|1.16.09 @ 11:06AM|#
I'm sorry, joe, but the hills are not alive with the sounds
of music.
Well, shit, why don't you blow your little whistle and alert all
the other Nazis?
I always wanted to see "The Sound of Music II," where that kid
loses his fingers to frostbite outside of Moscow while wearing
women's clothes.
Uh...anthrax?
No, just the check. Thanks.
TofuSushi|1.16.09 @ 11:07AM|#
Having these shitheads linger in office has only given them
time to prolong the effects of their shithead-ery.
That is why Obama got to take over early. He is really President
now. He already almost has a secretary fo state.
Mad Max|1.16.09 @ 11:07AM|#
'but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough
decisions.'
Then I'm sorry to disappoint your hopes, you [person with with an
extreme Oedipal complex].
You could have vetoed the Bipartisan McCain-Feingold Free Speech
Abolition Act, but you signed it so that you could fob off the
issue onto the Supreme Court. Nice way of not ducking the tough
issues!
You proposed a couple of Band-Aids for the looming federal
entitlements crisis - that is, when you weren't adding to the
problem with extra entitlements. You probably figured that later
Presidents and Congresses could deal with the issue.
You took a low profile on abortion, which you supposedly believe to
be a moral crisis. So much for your 'values voters.'
You courageously decided you didn't have to obey the laws against
torture, and against locking up American citizens without
Congressional approval. To show your willingness to make such tough
decisions, you emitted a cloud of legal ink, squid-like, to conceal
the reality of what you were doing.
Thank God for the 22nd Amendment, but in your case I doubt that
Amendment would be necessary to prevent you from having a third
term.
TofuSushi|1.16.09 @ 11:07AM|#
Well, shit, why don't you blow your little whistle and alert
all the other Nazis?
Sure are a lot of them around here.
|1.16.09 @ 11:08AM|#
I feel like celebrating.
It's an incredibly beautiful dismal day. The (big) sky
is a fabulous shade of blue grey. I feel an
overpowering urge to go skiing clean my
bathroom.
I think I hear New Hampshire calling you.
|1.16.09 @ 11:08AM|#
I'm with KT.
Obama should propose that now. He could accurately say that the
only way this change could even effect him personally would be to
shorten his term, since he's never going to be PEOTUS again.
|1.16.09 @ 11:11AM|#
joe,
I thought the happiest moment in The Sound of Music was
when Christopher Plummer blew the whistle, and the kids lined up,
in uniform, and stood at attention. I get a tear in my eye just
thinking about it.
I actually like that movie--I even sing songs from it to my
daughter, who can sing "Do, Re, Me" with some prompting. We need
leaders like Baron von Trapp today!
Jerry|1.16.09 @ 11:13AM|#
So what will Bush do next, write a book, hit the speakers' circuit, get tenure at devry?
|1.16.09 @ 11:14AM|#
I wouldn't look to Christopher the Plummer for child-rearing
advice, Pro Lib.
"If any of you fucking pricks move, I'll execute every
last motherfucking one of you!"
|1.16.09 @ 11:14AM|#
joe,
I too would love an Obama administration to usher in a new age of
industrial music.
But I kinda doubt it...
I'm chewing on glass
And eating my fingers
I'm not the one
Who's run out of lies
Lies!
You've run out of lies!
|1.16.09 @ 11:15AM|#
He's going to be the next president of Russia. He looked in Putin's eyes or something.
|1.16.09 @ 11:16AM|#
Baron von Trapp was an excellent father. . .until that Maria tramp showed up and ruined everything. Oh, the joy of order in a home with many children.
|1.16.09 @ 11:16AM|#
So what will Bush do next
He'll decide after the lengthy process of cleaning the shit off his
cock. It's got quite a build-up after fucking America in the ass
for 8 years.
|1.16.09 @ 11:18AM|#
SugarFree,
"This next song is presented in honor of the outgoing
President..."
Minds are empty heads are hollow
You might find out the truth is hard to swallow
There's a place down there where heads are square...
|1.16.09 @ 11:19AM|#
If Bush had made the following speech, I'd demand that he stay in office as dictator for the next ten years:
Everything is different, but the same. . . . Things are more moderner than before. . .bigger, and yet smaller. . .it's computers. . . .San Dimas High School football rules!
Kolohe|1.16.09 @ 11:20AM|#
"If any of you fucking pricks move, I'll execute every last
motherfucking one of you!"
That's just shows he knew how to empower his daughter. See, she
knew how to make the tough decisions - like don't shoot Samuel L
Jackson.
|1.16.09 @ 11:20AM|#
Pro Libertate | January 16, 2009, 11:16am | #
Baron von Trapp was an excellent father. . .until that Maria tramp
showed up and ruined everything. Oh, the joy of order in a home
with many children./i>
This is the most awesome take on a movie since my four year old
nephew rooted for the tornado in The Wizard of Oz.
"Go tomoatoe! Blow! And...." stomps around, waving arms.
|1.16.09 @ 11:20AM|#
"...but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the
tough decisions."
The Road To Hell is paved with good intentions.
Cue AC/DC.
|1.16.09 @ 11:22AM|#
Episiarch,
That's a faith-based initiative we can all get behind.
Ding dang dong a rama long ding dong!
|1.16.09 @ 11:24AM|#
I've always thought the tornado in Oz got a bum rap. Everyone seems to forget that it killed an evil witch. And cured Dorothy's colorblindness.
|1.16.09 @ 11:24AM|#
Italics-Challenged joe,
Hard to watch that movie when you have four kids and not think that
way.
I need a whistle.
KT|1.16.09 @ 11:25AM|#
If Bush had made the following speech, I'd demand that he
stay in office as dictator for the next ten years:
I would say the closest he got to that was the G8 summit in July
2008. As he left he was pumping his fist and almost sorta-proudly
declaring the USA to be the world's biggest polluter. This is my
favorite moment of his entire presidency.
|1.16.09 @ 11:26AM|#
See, now I want to listen to Ministry, but that really, really doesn't fly at work.
|1.16.09 @ 11:29AM|#
Which begs the question, what should be the official band of the Bush administration/years? Now that he's leaving, I think this can be assessed.
|1.16.09 @ 11:33AM|#
Limp Bizkit.
They capture perfectly that "How the hell did I ever think these
guys didn't suck?" vibe really well.
|1.16.09 @ 11:35AM|#
I was thinking more David Soul (who wasn't a band, of course) singing, "Don't Give Up on Us, Baby." Gosh, my stomach hurts just typing that title.
|1.16.09 @ 11:35AM|#
Miley Cyrus. Inexplicably popular with a certain segment of the public, wholly manufactured and cynically empty, and complete fucking torture to listen to.
a name before submitting the f|1.16.09 @ 11:36AM|#
He's not gone yet. He still has a laundry list of pardons to give.
TallDave|1.16.09 @ 11:37AM|#
I thought it was funny how Obama, who for two years insisted we must catch Osama bin Laden, is suddenly saying "Oh, well, as long as he's forced to live in hiding, that's the important thing" now that it's going to be his responsibility in a few days.
|1.16.09 @ 11:39AM|#
Bush's official soundtrack absolutely has to include the mutant banjo-picker from Deliverance.
|1.16.09 @ 11:40AM|#
Pro Lib,
You've convinced me: I think they should remake the Sound of Music
as a tragedy, with Maria as the villain who destroys the happy Von
Trapp home and denies the Captain the chance to avenge his
humailiation with martial glory, rips him away from his friends,
and ruins his chances at happiness as the husband of a super-rich
countess. In the end, their ship is torpedoed by a Wold Pack and
goes down with all hands.
Yes, yes, there are pro-Nazi overtones, but sometimes you have to
sacrificae for art.
|1.16.09 @ 11:43AM|#
In place of the Baron's neo-pagan awe at nature and deference to
natural authority, the tramp brings her self-abnegating
popery!
This stuff writes itself!
Pete Guither|1.16.09 @ 11:46AM|#
You guys are nitpicking on the "tough decisions" bit. It was
just another Bushism. He meant to say that he made decisions on the
tough questions. They just weren't the tough decisions (or the
right ones, or even rational ones). But he was the decider.
And when those tough questions came along, he wasn't afraid to
screw it up.
|1.16.09 @ 11:59AM|#
Simply making a big decision isn't enough. To paraphrase a well-respected Admiral, "I need your judgment! You're competence!"
|1.16.09 @ 12:00PM|#
joe,
I'm totally on board. It doesn't have to be pro-Nazi as much as
pro-Germanic valor.
Damned meddling nun.
Shirt Boy|1.16.09 @ 12:08PM|#
Fatalism is a symptom. The cure is more weed.
That is excellent advice.
Yeah, because nothing cures "Whatever" like a deep toke.
|1.16.09 @ 12:11PM|#
In the climactic scene, young Rolfe valiantly tries to appeal to the Baron's honor while impoloring him not to abandon his homeland, and Maria STABS HIM IN THE BACK.
Warty|1.16.09 @ 12:12PM|#
I have the official song of the Bush administration right here. With any luck, we can squeeze it into our Sound of Music remake.
|1.16.09 @ 12:14PM|#
True, Maria has none of the German virtues. I understand that aside from being a papist, she was also a communist.
Warty|1.16.09 @ 12:16PM|#
and Maria STABS HIM IN THE BACK.
You're on your A game today, joe. Get a new coke supplier?
(I typed that as "cock supplier" at first. I was really conflicted
on whether I should fix the typo.)
|1.16.09 @ 12:30PM|#
Maria needs to be recast, of course.
I'm thinking the Snapple Lady.
Open with a scene of a very nordic looking prostitute leaving her
on the doorstep of the abby.
|1.16.09 @ 12:36PM|#
Will anybody miss anything about him?
Ask the late night comedy shows after about 6 months of tip-toeing
around Obama.
BDB|1.16.09 @ 12:37PM|#
I don't recall them tip-toeing around Clinton. Then again, Clinton was a much easier target.
Urkobold™|1.16.09 @ 12:37PM|#
THE URKOBOLD IS INTRIGUED AND MAY REQUIRE AMATEUR MINIONTATE TO
ADD THIS REMAKE TO THE
URKOBOLD'S PLANNED TELEVISION AND FILM PRODUCTIONS FOR 2009.
HOWEVER, THE URKOBOLD HAS ALREADY SELECTED THE ACTRESS TO
PLAY THE ROLE OF MARIA.
NUN SHALL PASS.
|1.16.09 @ 12:42PM|#
Bush was funny. Clinton was funny. Poppy was funny. Even Reagan
offered some pretty good opportunities for humor.
Barack Obama is just not a funny subject. There's the ears, and
then what?
I tell you what: Joe Biden.
"Come on, stand up! Let everyone see you! Come on, stand up!"
BDB|1.16.09 @ 12:44PM|#
I think Biden will cause him some headaches for years to come.
The only reason it didn't hurt him more in 2008 was because Palin
sucked all the gaffe oxygen out of the room. Everytime Biden said
something stupid, Palin would say something ten times as stupid the
very next day.
My money is on him being off the ticket in 2012, though.
|1.16.09 @ 12:46PM|#
I'm pretty sure Leno and his ilk are secretly hoping the two
girls are going to be fuck-ups. But that's a long way off. Biden
might help a bit, but he'll probably fade into the background, like
Gore.
The late night comedy industry's going to ask for a bailout any day
now.
|1.16.09 @ 12:48PM|#
SNL could probably get a couple of years worth of skits about Hillary trying to bump him off.
BDB|1.16.09 @ 12:49PM|#
I guess the humor in Obama will come from his more fanatical supporters thinking he will solve everything with a magic wand. That's really the best angle to go on, but that's still more about his fawning supporters than him.
|1.16.09 @ 12:50PM|#
Comedians with any balls (that would NOT be SNL, Leno, or Letterman) would do some hero-worship stuff or race-based stuff from an unexpected angle. Maybe MadTV will step up. They are generally by far the most offensive of the major programs.
|1.16.09 @ 12:51PM|#
BDB | January 16, 2009, 12:49pm | #
I guess the humor in Obama will come from his more fanatical
supporters thinking he will solve everything with a magic wand.
That's really the best angle to go on, but that's still more about
his fawning supporters than him.
Something along the lines of the Shat telling the Star Trek
groupies to get a life? I can see that.
BDB|1.16.09 @ 12:54PM|#
I don't think the Daily Show is going to be very good anymore, though. They still don't know how to deal with it (they still talk about Bush mostly).
|1.16.09 @ 12:57PM|#
Well, Bush is still the president.
And he's a lot funnier than B. Hussein Obama.
They were good during the Clinton presidency. Ever see the
interview with Joycelyn Elders?
Opening question: "So...you grew up on a cucumber farm..."
|1.16.09 @ 12:59PM|#
I actually think Obama will be mocked quite thoroughly. The big problem with him is that he's still, to a large degree, a cipher. That'll end shortly.
BDB|1.16.09 @ 12:59PM|#
Yeah they were good when Clinton was in, but again, Clinton is
such an easy target. His weight, his womanizing, his general
sleaziness, his pathological lying, his relationship with
Hillary...the list goes on.
I mean, how could a political comedy show NOT be good during
Monicagate?
|1.16.09 @ 1:06PM|#
The only words from the origninal "These Are a Few of My
Favorite Things" that will remain:
...tied up...
|1.16.09 @ 1:11PM|#
I'm just trying to imagine her spinning around on that mountain
top. I don't think it's physically possible.
Is that a typical nun?
Kolohe|1.16.09 @ 1:13PM|#
Whoever is doing Obama on MADTV, he's the first one to actually
capture how the new prez speaks. I'm sure material will be
forthcoming. And the conceit of that particular sketch wasn't all
that bad. (And if SNL takes risks like what they allowed
whatshisface to do to the NY Gov, Obama will be a target shortly
enough)
As for the Daily Show and Colbert, to be sure Bush was low hanging
fruit, but their main thrust was always how much in general the
media sucks. That's a target that's not going away anytime
soon.
|1.16.09 @ 1:16PM|#
Obama doesn't even talk like "the Rock" anymore.
Do you SMELLA what BARACK'S a-COOKIN?
BDB|1.16.09 @ 1:18PM|#
I don't know why (he doesn't REALLY look like him and is way too tall) but Will Ferrell will always be the best George W. Bush.
|1.16.09 @ 1:19PM|#
Obama doesn't even talk like "the Rock" anymore.
I consider that a bug, not a feature. ;-(
|1.16.09 @ 1:20PM|#
I mean, I always thought nuns were old and ugly, like the Penguin. And is that an authorized habit?
|1.16.09 @ 1:50PM|#
I would have thrown a lot more spitballs in high school if the women with the rulers looked like that.
|1.16.09 @ 2:22PM|#
I'm just trying to imagine her spinning around on that
mountain top. I don't think it's physically possible.
It is possible: I did it. As did all of my my drunken fellow
exchange students.
If you're still dubious, I dare you: Go to Southern Germany, climb
to the top of a beautiful alpine hill and just try to keep
yourself from spinning like a gorgeous englishwoman.
You'll spin till you puke, guaranteed.
|1.16.09 @ 2:49PM|#
Matthew,
Sure, you, me, joe, Julie Andrews, we can all spin and spin on
Swiss/Austrian mountaintops, no problem. However, I don't think the
nun pictured in the link posted by the Urkobold above could. I'm
pretty sure that would violate a law of physics or create some sort
of bosomy singularity.
Fluffy|1.16.09 @ 2:59PM|#
Since 5 people died in the anthrax attacks, Bush's claim that no
one died as a result of terrorism after 9/11 is false.
The guy can't even make a fairwell address without either lying or
just getting the facts wrong [hard to know if his error there is
deliberate or just stupidity].
|1.16.09 @ 3:41PM|#
Pro Lib's right. There would massive centrifugal forces produced
if the good Sister in that photo were to spint around on a
mountain. There would need to be something to provide a centripetal
force to counter it.
I believe such a position is known in the film world as a "Key
Grip."
|1.16.09 @ 3:48PM|#
I'd just like to say that I'm feeling a little verklempt over
how you boys have come together this day. It's so heartwarming to
see you all in agreement on something.
I love you guys! *snif*
Also, I think the mountaintop spinning shouldn't be too much of a
problem. So long as she's wearing a bra with decent support. I am
similarly endowed, and am pretty sure I could manage the spin, so
long as I'm wearing comfortable shoes :)
|1.16.09 @ 3:50PM|#
I imagine, actually, that less support may be better... as the
breasts spin out, they may provide a stabilizing effect...
Who has a high-speed camera? Should we get the Mythbusters to check
this one out?
|1.16.09 @ 3:57PM|#
Huh. First linguist, now Bronwyn. What is it with libertarian
women and their impossibly large mammalian indicators? I'd pursue
this more rigorously, but I'm happily married and don't want my
wife to beat me with her large bosoms.
Yes, the Mythbusters crew should handle this.
Urkobold™|1.16.09 @ 6:16PM|#
THE URKOBOLD PRESENTS TO YOU A LITTLE-KNOWN FACT: KEY GRIPS WERE
ORIGINALLY DESIGNATED KEY FONDLES.
GET ME TO A NUNNERY!
Head|1.16.09 @ 9:03PM|#
joe at 11:22 HOLY CRAP! Jesus, he built my car, it's a love
affair. mainly Jesus. and my hot rod. Yeah fuck it.
awesome reference.
|1.16.09 @ 9:51PM|#
What? Pat him on the back for 'making tough decisions?" You've gotta be kidding me! Given Bush's repeated blatant violations of constitutional civil liberties, his corporate welfare bailout policies, and his lying about the reasons to go to war against Iraq (all at the expense of the poor and middle class taxpayers), I have thought often, "How does she (Laura) live with him, much less sleep with him?"
economist|1.16.09 @ 10:11PM|#
To GWB,
"So long George, don't let the door hit your arse on the way
out!"
To BHO,
"Wtf are you doing here?"
|1.19.09 @ 8:20AM|#
I predict that Bush will be a wonderful ex-President, and pretty
much just shut the fuck up, unlike these endless windbags and
totalitarian ass-kissers the Democrats give us for their
ex-Presidents.
No, I'm not calling you an ex-President, joe.
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