E.J. Dionne/WaPo: "End of the Bush Era"

[Penndems]

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Page A27

The Bush Era is over. The sooner politicians in both parties realize that, the better for them -- and the country.

Recent months, and especially the past two weeks, have brought home to a steadily growing majority of Americans the truth that President Bush's government doesn't work. His policies are failing, his approach to leadership is detached and self-indulgent, his way of politics has produced a divided, angry and dysfunctional public square. We dare not go on like this.

The Bush Era did not begin when he took office, or even with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It began on Sept. 14, 2001, when Bush declared at the World Trade Center site: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Bush was, indeed, skilled in identifying enemies and rallying a nation already disposed to action. He failed to realize after Sept. 11 that it was not we who were lucky to have him as a leader, but he who was lucky to be president of a great country that understood the importance of standing together in the face of a grave foreign threat. Very nearly all of us rallied behind him.

If Bush had understood that his central task was to forge national unity, as he seemed to shortly after Sept. 11, the country would never have become so polarized. Instead, Bush put patriotism to the service of narrowly ideological policies and an extreme partisanship. He pushed for more tax cuts for his wealthiest supporters and shamelessly used relatively modest details in the bill creating a Department of Homeland Security as partisan cudgels in the 2002 elections.
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Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091201433.html

(Great piece, E.J.! :) )

[texpatriot2004]

1. And Great Peace now. Hallelujah. n/t

[Penndems]

3. Amen to that!

n/t

[mattclearing]

2. Clinton's favorite Post columnist pulls out a good one.

Dionne has disappointed me lately, but this is a solid read.

[tuvor]

4. If WaPo's publishing this, does that make it official?

I'm not used to this kind of thing coming from them.

[Penndems]

5. E.J. is a columnist for the Washington Post

His opinion pieces are just one of many, as are Richard Cohen's, George Will's, Ann Applebaum's, Eugene Robinson's, Dana Milbank's, David Broder's, William Raspberry's or Charles Krauthammer's.

He doesn't necessary speak for the Post. Their Editorial Board does that.

[texpatriot2004]

6. I never rallied behind him, EVER! Yeah for me. He is

you know, in TRUTH, a "DIVIDER" pitting people against each other. The man seems to bring complete and utter failure if not downright DESTRUCTION to every thing that he involves himself in. The way I see it, all those failures have one common denominator...BUSH!

[Penndems]

8. Neither have I

After having worked with many of the very same people in this Administration that were in Daddy's, I knew full well what Junior and his minions were like.

Unfortunately, through a series of horrific tragedies, the rest of the country is just beginning to find out the moral caliber of these self-centered, obnoxious, nutty, clueless scumbags.

[moobu2]

7. Great read

[marbuc]

9. EJ is awesome

He's the only "must read" Post columnist in my opinion.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. This column is very much to the point, and a good read.

[WhiteTara]

16. Paul Krugman gets my vote

[burythehatchet]

11. memorable prose

He failed to realize after Sept. 11 that it was not we who were lucky to have him as a leader, but he who was lucky to be president of a great country that understood the importance of standing together in the face of a grave foreign threat.

[newscott]

12. I would posit that the "Bush" era

had it's beginnings in the Nixon era, where most of them cut their teeth. It started it's ascendancy in 1980 and blossomed during Clinton. Then the coup in 2000.

[realFedUp]

13. and the end of "America" as we knew it....

most of us have woken up to what American "leaders"
have done in our name around the world past and present...the good,
bad and ugly but I doubt we thought one man's
presidential terms would leave the country bankrupt plus
intentionally, with our social contract and bill of
rights so full of holes.

[Demeter]

14. I Wish I could Believe This

I've been waiting for the end of this era all my life.

Nixon resigned and the House and Senate changed hands, and I thought it was over. But BushCoSr screwed over Carter, and Reagan did his Jedi mind trick and it was Morning In America.

BushCoSr found that after 12 years of abuse, the American economy and the American people couldn't take any more, and Clinton came into the White House. It was truly Morning in America then, but the prima donnas of the Democratic party and the media had their noses bent out of joint (had they already drunk the KoolAid at that point?) and Clinton and his family and friends were persecuted for 8 years and counting, although they triumphed over the trumped up impeachment. Unfortunately, now it looks like they have a KoolAid addiction, too.

Then Caligula's buddies (sorry, Dubya, Junior, whatever appellation you perfer) stole two elections. And here we are.

It ain't over til it's over. And this is how we will know it's over:

Universal health care, with uniform elective abortion through first two trimesters, and contraception without restraint.

ERA or equivalent.

Legal limits on CEO,COO, CIO, and other top corporate officer compensation of all forms.

$10 minimum wage. Or whatever the prevailing inflation rate dictates.

Penalties for multinational corporations who pump profits out of one country into another.

True environmental remediation and stabilization.

A well-defined and inforceable law separating churches from any political movement, other than the separation of church and state.

Equal legal and social rights for all, including the non-white, non-heterosexual, non-rich, non-male, and all the rest of us who aren't born to privilege.

There are probably other milestones that I have forgotten, but feel free to add to the list.

[pro_blue_guy]

15. Dear President Bush:

I have one thing to say today.

Christians don't start wars.

[katty]

17. It IS Over-problem is: bush's cronies WON'T ACCEPT FACTS