I remember george w bush right after the 2001 September 11 attacks. I was staying at a motel in Duluth, as I was attending a training for conducting forensic child abuse interviews. We had heard about the attacks during the day, but our trainers powered through, and we managed to get through most of the first of three eight hour sessions.
After we had finished for the day, I raced back to my room to watch the news. I remained glued to the tube until I fell asleep. I cannot remember if bush spoke that first night. I don’t think so. I do remember when he finally did speak, as it is permanently seared into my brain. He looked like a frightened little boy. Deer caught in the headlight also applies.
I had not liked bush up until then. I thought (and still do) that he had stolen the presidency from Al Gore, and that he would never have been able to accomplish that major miracle unless his name had been george w bush jr. His initial reaction to the news and the following speech to the nation sealed my perception of him as the worst resident of the white house/representation of the United States I had ever seen.
I think what followed was even more appalling as bush transformed from a blathering idiot into a swaggering idiot. I know I watched in horror as he took a giant dump on the world and our Constitution over the next seven years. We are beginning to get some clarity on just how bad it was. I remember thinking so clearly about the story of the emperor who had no clothes and the striking similarities to george w bush.
Progressives, liberals, and libertarians screamed our opposition to the bush doctrine and general tone of the media since the bushies decided to use 9/11 as a political advantage.