Countdown: Keith Olbermann Looks At Bush's REAL Legacy
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Dec 10, 2008 10:00am
Keith Olbermann shines the cold, harsh light of reality on BushCo's attempt to catapult the propaganda and spin his legacy based on an LA Times report of talking points handed out to staff:
A two-page memo that has been sent to Cabinet members and other high-ranking officials offers a guide for discussing Bush's eight-year tenure during their public speeches.
Titled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record," the talking points state that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office."The document presents the Bush record as an unalloyed success.
Clearly a work of fiction. And while it's all fine and good to castigate the Bush administration for their non-stop public relations messaging over substance, I do wish that Olbermann would be as equally harsh on his colleagues in the media (besides the ones on Fox News) only too happy to repeat these talking points, because it is they who will continue to give a platform for the lies.
Transcripts below the fold
President Bush tells interviewers he does not care how history will portray him.
But in our third story tonight, the Los Angeles Times has obtained an internal White House memo giving cabinet members talking points for painting history a rosy portrait of Mr. Bush even though his image will only get worse, as new, damning facts emerge.
What does the memo say? And how are we obliged to correct its bizarre claims?
To start, it says Mr. Bush, quote, "...promised to raise standards and accountability in public schools -- and delivered the No Child Left Behind Act," an act so poorly received, that the Times points out it became a standard applause line this year... for Democrats.
Also from the memo: he curbed AIDS in Africa.
Its spread has slowed, and Mr. Bush has won praise for this but he has not won any praise for withholding funds from groups that promote condom use, a proven life-saver in favor of abstinence-only programs, which have also failed in this country.
Also, Mr. Bush's foreign-aid puritan, Randall Tobias quit last year after patronizing an escort service linked to prostitution.
Also from the memo: Mr. Bush lifted the economy with his tax cuts and, quote, "responded with bold measures to prevent an economic meltdown."
In 2005, Mr. Bush told a 57-year-old single mother of three, one of them mentally challenged, that it was "fantastic", "uniquely American" that she had to work three jobs unlike half a million people who have no job as of November... in the first presidency for decades during which family earning power fell, and income disparity continued to rise.
The "meltdown" he "prevented" now having claimed several Wall Street institutions which had weathered 1929, and 9/11... but not 43.
And, of course, the old standby, quote, he "kept the American people safe"...
Not counting twenty percent of his first term, January 20th, 2001, until September 11th, 2001. On 9/11, he sat reading "My Pet Goat" for seven minutes after learning America was under attack. Then covered up environmental dangers at Ground Zero, and failed to provide for the health of rescue workers. Helped bin Laden's family flee the country. Opposed the 9/11 Commission, the Department of Homeland Security. Tried to outsource America's port security to Dubai. Did not keep us safe from the shoe-bomber... alert passengers and crew did that...
Did not keep five Americans safe from anthrax... and never caught their killer.
Still hasn't caught the killer of 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole.
Still hasn't caught the killer of 3,000 on 9/11... outsourcing that to Afghans... turning that country into a narco-state, giving bin Laden a safe haven in the region of Waziristan by literally endorsing a truce that Pakistan signed with the Taliban there.
And most of all, not keeping safe 4,200 Americans dead in his war, a war that made us less safe, invading a country that posed no grave or gathering threat, provided a check on Iran... then igniting insurrection by disbanding the Baathist Party, creating a Muslim theocracy purged of its moderate intelligentsia. One in which freedom has marched backward for women.
And Lebanon, too, elected a Muslim theocracy... run by Hamas, no less.
Keeping us safe?
Terrorism is rising worldwide.
The still-thriving enemy has claimed Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto...
And thousands of people in India... including 200 in Mumbai last month.
Russia can now invade U-S allies without fear of retribution.
And Mr. Bush failed to prevent Kim Jong Il from joining the ranks of nuclear powers.
Despite even more ample warning than he received prior to 9/11, he lifted not a finger to keep a major American city safe from wind and water.
And what, finally, of the claim in the talking points... that Mr. Bush has always upheld, quote, "the honor and the dignity of his office"?
You must define dignity downward to find it in a lie.
The lie of "Mission Accomplished."
Of upholding the Constitution... or protecting habeas corpus.
That we do not eavesdrop without warrants... do not eavesdrop on Americans.
The lie that we do not torture.
That we do not play politics with justice... that we do not use the wheels of justice... to crush dissent.
That we do not betray those who serve us in secret.
That we uphold, rather than commute, the penalties for those who do.
That we do not stage fake news conferences, do not censor science... do not plant propaganda in Iraqi newspapers... nor pay US columnists to write it in American newspapers.
Or push respected Americans to vaporize their honor and dignity with lies to the world.
Or lie about the causes of the credit crisis, high gas prices, or even that he watched the first plane hit the North Tower on TV.
Where is the honor in vowing a crusade? Of daring those who would kill American troops to "bring it on?"
Of promising to care for the troops after you put them in harm's way, without body armor or up-armored vehicles?
Where was the honor, the dignity in giving a dead soldier's mother a presidential coin and telling her "don't sell it on eBay."?
His memo, revealing yet another lie.
He does care how history will portray him.
And now... he knows.
Login or Register to post comments.
Never having a dime when he goes to the Oval Office bathroom, and it's not even a pay toilet.
And they still haven't spackled over the screw holes in the walls from the condom machine during the Clinton years.
A classic! Everyone should print it out and save it to read as the years go by and some historians try to change the reality of what has happened.
Sometimes Keith is too over-the-top in his presentation, but this was both factually and theatrically a proper and devastating indictment of the Bush years (otherwise known as about as poor a way to start a new century as one might imagine).
Thank you, Keith. And let's get to work. There's all to much to be done to even start correcting the worst of the wrongs of the last eight years.
a million Iraqi dead
Specific mention of Abu Graib, or Bush's secret prisons, or kidnapping and "special rendition" to torturers, or the actual deaths of torture victims. Or Bush's laws and signing statements to attempt to shield himself from prosecution for his torture crimes. The essay lumps it all together in one single reference about torture. Olbermann's screed barely scratches the surface of Bushco crimes.
I don't believe it's possible to adequately cover the litany of BushCo crimes since each one is a rabbit hole that leads to something horrible. As times change and the fog of what has been done to this country lifts, you may find that this administration will be the fodder for numerous documentaries, expose and investigative reports as well as feature films. If GW thinks that by issuing a memo and having his GOP cronies parroting the same line of bull will somehow shape how he will be judged by history, though it's par for the course for GW, he's sadly mistaken.
it is exhausting to keep track of the bush crimes and errors. yet, and thanks to KO and others, it is CRUCIAL to throw it back in the faces of those who try to defend bush's legacy with lies and half-truths.
i have no doubt, unless we keep refuting the lies of rove and others, that bush's legacy will slowly be cast in a better and better light--thanks to a compliant media and legions of ruling class and rightwing thuggies who lie on his behalf. much like ronald reagan.
I expect the "legacy" [yes he will have turned that word into a negative as well.. congrats chimp] of the idiot-king will continue to evolve as his endless parade of errors, wrong doing, stupidity, lies and evil are slowly squeezed from the remains of the rotting corpse of his presi-dunce-y.
Thanks Keith for spelling out some of the big ones for us. If it were up to me this would be played non-stop for the next year so that no one would be allowed to forget exactly what that disgusting frat-boy moron did. Not just to his own country, but to the planet. And so that no wingnutter is permitted to perpetuate the insane, ridiculous idea that dumbya is anything but a stain on the history of our world.
Bush can't leave town fast enough, even if he left today. That hack has pulled this country down in so many ways and still he is at it with nary a protest from the American public. I wonder if Americans are so sick of this guy that they can no longer pay attention to him. Maybe that's the Bush plan. My god, he sucks.
About the coin? Does someone have a link to that?
The dime?
Where was the honor, the dignity in giving a dead soldier's mother a presidential coin and telling her "don't sell it on eBay."?
I hadn't heard about that one. If it's true as shown, we certainly don't need any more testimony as to the shallowness of this "man".
It was reported last year.
That was mind blowing....I think I need anger management when I hear shit like this....that man really upsets me.
It'll cost a quarter. (inflation, you know.) ;)
I presume the line about maintaining "the honor and the dignity of his office" is a reference to Monica-gate. I'd prefer to go through another 10 Monica-gates if there were a way do that and to trade them all for his Iraq-gate and his Gitmo-gate.
Here's more accomplishments from this great leader!
- No new wars started since 2003
- No major cities allowed to be erased from the map since 2005 (a few smaller coastal cities in 2008 don't count)
- No major market crashes since October of 2008
That was one of Keith's best! An endless and undeniable list of atrocities.
and let them know he's the worst president ever and a criminal to boot!
A criminal president who was never elected and cheated to get "reelected". A republican who tried to drown the country in a bathtub of water by bankrupting it. A War Criminal who invaded a country by lying to get support, and caused the deaths of over one million people. KO is the only voice on television to approach the truth, corporate tv is worthless otherwise.
Thing is.....like poorly laid concrete, I don't think his legacy is has quite set yet. The Shrub still needs to head off to Texas and live a long, alert life, and if at all possible for him, find a self-aware place where all he can do is reflect. If he has not stopped drinking, and continues to spiral out of control, he will be kept ala-Reagan and we'll see very little of him. If he continues to drink to the point of a loose mouth and drunken admissions,.....well someone will be buying him a lot of big pretzels to put him out of his misery.....legacy....we shall see
When I hear the horrific litany of crimes against humanity by our Serial Murderer in Chief, I have to sit and calm myself down.
No American in history has done more harm to so many of his countrymen than this evil, sick man.
Here I am, delving into the mysteries of infinitesimal magnetic charges deposited willy-nilly on metallic coated flapjacks, chompin’ at them bits (I love that pun), so I lift my furrowed weary head up as if to pause before desperately trying to ignore the latest passing wind of Boosh, to wonder out loud, “Where is the Darth Vader, the big dick, in this most foul year of our lord? Has his brain switched polarities to the point that he’s now lost in his uber-identity languishing ‘neath some abandoned silo playing Risk?” As you have probably guessed with Boosh, the drugs no longer “work”. I checked out Laura the other night, and the drugs appear to be working on her just fine. Dick, he’s probably huffing gas. And that inevitably will lead some pencil dick rockabilly news pundit/hack to nicely and oh so politely to throw the next softball query: Feeling low, are you?
One of my favorite things to cheer me up, other than dancing in the dark to Gerry Lewis and the Playboys records with my imaginary llama, is contemplating where the fuck this world is headed. Down the crapper is my usual response, but with the use of the all powerful Internet and a little research acumen, it doesn’t take anytime at all to come up with something more in line with the “educated guess” column. Just picture this: Morons elect Sarah – it’s a world full of wackies. On the streets, you’ll see people flapping their arms and shouting they’re a large chicken. In the president’s office, a moron will say, ‘I wonder what this button does’ – and promptly starts a nuclear war while grinning like a Chihuahua. Others will hopefully kill themselves, jumping from buildings or drinking Lucky Lager, shooting each other up with extract of pineal gland for fun, or stepping in front of trains because they like the sound. Admit it; If you’re a repug, it’s fun and it would be a rather odd way of going out.
But actually, the nutcase scenario is not that idiotic. It got high marks on a dead-serious ranking of what can go wrong with the world, published by the popular science magazine Discover. And Boosh’s legacy fantasy aside, indeed, there’s some fairly serious evidence we’re heading for total insanity. Dude, I’m already there! We’re a more mentally deranged species than ever before. And we’re going crazier all the time, the figures show. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, boners – they’re all on the rise.
... will all go together when we go
Every Hottentot and every Eskimo
When the air becomes uranious
We will all go simultaneous
Oh, we will all go together
Yes, we'll all go together
Oh, we'll all go together when we go!
is like shooting fish in a barrel. the reason he does it is because in this neocon administration it blended "news" with "commentary". they are the most blatant at doing it, so they get the most press.
but you haven't heard ko get on katie couric before have you? i think she's won gold on worsts twice now. relatively i think the people at nbc (other than himself) are safe from getting called out. i think that if someone steps out of line in the media (other than those who work for nbc) something is going to be said. but no one has been as egredious as fixed noise yet. i don't expect that to change any time soon.
I have seen these exact talking points repeated ad nauseum in the comments section of virtually any mainstream article that is even vaguely critical of Bushco or vaguely laudatory of Obama.
It's generally written thusly: bush is a grate President!!!! he's KEPT us SAFE!!!!!!! He stopped africans from gatting AIDS!!! The economy was Clintons/is Obama's fault!!! Wait till you see what happens when Obama takes away our guns and makes us all mulins!!!!!
Well, he certainly is grating...
I can never decide whether to deal with the lies first or the appalling grammar/spelling. I have never seen the poor tilde so abused!
Well, it made me smile when read literally!
You could call it Chairman Bush's "Great Leap Of Faith...Backward".
His eight years have done as much damage as Mao and the "party" (read: both parties, media and Wall Street) are perfectly willing to whitewash history.
Who will write the history books that American children study years from now?
Will it be FoxNews reports, or the work of professional historians?
What strikes me once again about Bush is the obviously poor upbringing he had -- somebody should have taken that boy out to the woodshed and polished his behind so he couldn't sit for a month. Several times. Instead, he did what he wanted and never learned to live stably. He still hasn't.
He got drunk and when GHW called him to task for knocking over the garbage cans when he came home and taking his younger brother, Marvin, with him out drinking, ole GW threatened to settle it with the ole man "mano a mano". He has now literally gotten away with the murder of thousands of people.
If only the woodshed had been part of his history, life for all of us might have been very different.
He's never had to face the consequences of his actions. Sink a company, get a new one. Screw up as a CEO, become governor. Do a half-arsed job as governor, become preznit. Screw that up, plead with your sycophantic suckups in staff positions to praise your 'honor and dignity.'
In an odd way, the mentality behind 'No Child Left Behind' is his life story. He's not allowed to fail.
What's tragic (for us and the world) is that he was born into that particular family of power, wealth and privilege. And apparently wimpy parents. I knew some boys like him when I was a kid, without the family wealth and power, and they were often brought into line by teachers (when paddling was not illegal in public schools) and other kids, who'd punch them in the nose when they were mean and nasty. GW just never had to face any of those things, and your list of his failures-without-consequences in adulthood is a good one.
You may have noticed that he also doesn't allow his friends to fail, either.
Would it be possible for a "Citizen" to make a "Citizens' arrest" and charge Bush with War Crimes or just Crimes and Misdemeanors against the state and public?
All the lies, the shredding of Constitution, bad intel, all of it, if the incoming President's administration and Congress, are too busy with the economy, two wars, etc., can't an individual walk up to Bush in the presence of a Policeman and arrest him? Could we send Bush to another country where they would arrest him for war crimes?
Will Bush be as infamous as OJ?
Inquiring minds want to know and see justice done!
not with bush, but rove.
and those that tried to make a citizen's arrest? well, they were arrested and have been charged.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Four_found_guil...
Keith might want to double-check some of his claims, at least the more minor ones: Hamas won in the Palestinian territories, not in Lebanon.
Russia can now invade U-S allies without fear of retribution.
I'd like to make that into:
Russia can now intervene and hinder ethnic cleansing conducted by U-S bought allies without fear of retribution with misleading reasons.
Otherwise a good list.
KO got a couple of "facts" wrong ... Russia ... they didn't invade ... and Bin Laden being responsible for 911 ...he wasn't ... so who's talking points was KO using?
Other than those two important facts ... he got the rest alright ...
That was great, Keith Olberman, my hero.
Too bad that is just the tip of the Ice Berg. So many more great accomplishments/disasters were left out. BushsuXiT
The CORPORATE CONTROLED MEDIA is all ready holding Obama feet to the fire along with the REPUBLICAN PARTY. But they in Bush and his Crime Family was never held to account FOR anything that ROVE(TURD BLOSSOM) and the rest of the Crime family did. They were never as any HARD Questions only one time and that was by a IRASH woman reporter that was told to leave the COUNTRY by the NEXT DAY. And all of the DEMOCRATIC talking heads can say is this REPUBLICAN is MY FRIEND or that one. Just listen to CNN(FOX) and Wolf-E boy do is thing about Obama it is as if Obama has been in office these past EIGHT(8) years. Also Criss MATTHEWS (NO Ba---).We need new leadership in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY Pelosi and Reid are very,very WEAK. We need someone who will stand up and GIVE more back then is GIVEN.
Titled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record," the talking points state that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks-- but what about the attacks themselves, on his watch??-- , lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office." BY signing off on torture, dismantling the Constitution, and using cronyism, to name a few.
Face it. Bush intends to "rewrite history" after he destroys America and sells us out. And he who wins writes the history. It's a page right out of Goebbles propaganda (remember Prescot Bush is a Nazi). You don't split your armies overseas and strand them without closing-out a two "won" wars,censor all your broadcasting,lied to by all of those in a position of trust and power, bankrupt a nation, corrupt the entire election process,destroy the assembly production plants by outsourcing jobs over the last 40 years, threaten to destroy your last major production plants(autos) where America "could" build military vehicles if necessary, denounce the constitution and a whole hell of a lot more if someone wasn't ORCHESTRATING THE TAKE OVER OF AMERICA! This is not by accident! Bush will rewrite the history. You have been Bushwhacked!
Wake up America. You are entering Jerico! "Where's your army now? How can they protect us if they are still over there?"
Clearly one of Olbermann's best comments of late. I don't necessarily see Bush as evil, just pathetic. Undoubtedly, he will be remembered as the worst president in American history.
Never in US history has any president done as much damage as this man! Take our economy into consideration. The total lack of any conscience relative to the middle class or the poor, and that is enough to condemn him as the worst domestic terrorist in history. He and his policies have cost thousands (if not millions) their jobs, their retirement security, THEIR HEALTH, and not a word is said in the mainstream media about it. Turning US businesses loose on America to do as they please is tantamount to treason in my opinion, as business doesn't care a twit about anything but MONEY. Business has been allowed to do anything they desire to our environment, and the damage may be so severe that it is too late to do anything about it. Nothing is said about that either.
The man is NOTHING if not a WAR CRIMINAL. And our beloved country will bear the stain of his actions for a hundred years. It is sad that we lack leadership anywhere in the land to do anything to correct his corrupt, criminal actions. It is sad that the world too will be unable to do anything to correct it.
He has lifelong Secret Service protection, so the thought of anyone being able to perform a citizens arrest against him is laughable ... a normal civilian won't be able to get within a hundred yards of this criminal without endangering his own safety.
It amazes me to realize that Jeb is actually considering running for the Senate in Florida. What amazes me even more is the fact that if he chooses to run ... he most likely will win. What is wrong with the people in this country that they are so stupid they would actually vote to perpetuate this criminal enterprise we have come to call the Bush dynasty?
We should all be very concerned too, because in our own democratic party we have the Clintons who hobnob with these criminals. And in our own party (particularly those who call themselves the DLC) there are those who have drunk the Kool-Aid right along with the Bush family, and will march almost lockstep beside them and their policies.
It makes me sick that the country has been so brainwashed that so many simply can't see the evil that lurks in our midst! If drastic changes don't occur very soon, the country will not be AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL any longer. I am glad I am old and won't have to experience the destruction of the land of the free, as it is no longer the home of the brave. People should have been rioting in the streets the past eight years in opposition to this asshole, but instead, they sat in their easy chairs drinking BudLite watching NASCAR!
Login or Register to post comments.