The great presidential disappearing act
Billmon has a really interesting article on the Bush disappearing act. His handlers are no longer satisfied with creating a PowerPoint-like backdrop for him to speak from, he is too unpopular for that. Nope, he is not the Boy God Emperor anymore, landing on an aircraft carrier with the little emperor deftly framed and highlighted, he is now actually hiding behind or within the backdrop.This is as apt a demonstration of Bush's failure to do anything constructive in his second term as I have found. With the "political capital" he earned by (apparently) winning the 2004 election, he has variously promised Social Security reform, to make the 2002 tax cuts permanent, to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, and a host of other promises that have either not engaged the American public or came to naught. The second term, which for most presidents would be the time to do great things, to create the legacy that will bear their name, for Bush is marked instead by failure. For him it is the time when the problems he created during his first term come home to roost. The CEO president becomes case study in failure.
It's going to be nice to see him disappear back to Crawford for good, won't it?
