Bush Library...I mean, WTF??

[ola.]

I'm unable to post links, but I was curious about your thoughts on George Bush's new little library.

Excerpt From the Washington Post article:

Former president George W. Bush was hailed as a leader of courage, resolve and compassion. President Obama led the tributes, calling Bush “a good man” who showed strong leadership in the days after the nation was attacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. “As we walk through this library,” he said, “obviously we’re reminded of the incredible strength and resolve that came through that bullhorn as he stood amid the rubble and the ruins of Ground Zero, promising to deliver justice to those who had sought to destroy our way of life.”

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

At the sycophantic bullshit opening ceremony, found this image quite apt...

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67249000/jpg/_67249058_67249057.jpg

[Q]

Oh, so he got a library? How cute.

http://sh1ft.org/babyblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/books-nick-sharratt.jpg

[l'Enfermé]

Mod action: Merged the two Bush Library threads.

[The Jay]

That's a pretty expensive piece of propaganda. I wonder how many drones it would be equivalent to building.

[DasFapital]

you mean libary

[Klaatu]

I really hope this was not paid for with taxpayers' money :crying:

[RedAnarchist]

Good, maybe he can learn how to read. After that, maybe he can try tackling something even more super difficult like learning how to show empathy and compassion for other humans.

[Le Libérer]

I often wondered if it was really shopped or not

http://www.classperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bush-reads-front-of-the-class-upside-down.jpg

[Brutus]

I often wondered if it was really shopped or not

http://www.classperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bush-reads-front-of-the-class-upside-down.jpg

It's unlikely

[Nevsky]

Libraries are supposed to be honorable places of wisdom and knowledge. Naming a library after an imperialist murderer and reactionary is a disgrace.

[Hexen]

Naming a library after an imperialist murderer and reactionary is a disgrace.

But perfectly legal under capitalism.

[The Intransigent Faction]

Well...at least it's not a Cheney library, I guess.

EDIT: Anyway this isn't all that surprising, and frankly is it really the worst we've seen? Obviously I'm no fan of Bush, but there have been libraries named after far worse people, former Presidents included.

[Comrade Nasser]

A horrible, horrible man. WTF. Go and sit in you're library, king nothing.

[goalkeeper]

Am i the only one who finds "Bush is dumb" jokes really boring now. It's so 2006.

[Skyhilist]

Inside the library there's an interactive "decision making area" where you can pretend to be GWB when he was facing difficult decisions. After 9/11 if you choose not to invade Iraq, it literally tells you "you made the wrong decision."

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Am i the only one who finds "Bush is dumb" jokes really boring now. It's so 2006.

Amen.

It is the usual liberal gibberish. Bush was no idiot. I find that insulting. Behind that is the implication that his policy, especially Iraq, was a result of idiocy instead of class-interest. Bush-jokes are what Liberals who try to not give any answers, which would need class-analysis, use. It's really weak too, to not make an actual critique but to keep it to, in my opinion, really horrible jokes.

[Skyhilist]

Amen.

It is the usual liberal gibberish. Bush was no idiot. I find that insulting. Behind that is the implication that his policy, especially Iraq, was a result of idiocy instead of class-interest. Bush-jokes are what Liberals who try to not give any answers, which would need class-analysis, use. It's really weak too, to not make an actual critique but to keep it to, in my opinion, really horrible jokes.

To be fair he was a C student and a cocaine addict... And it's not like that's because he had some kind of rough upbringing.

[Crixus]

Libraries are supposed to be honorable places of wisdom and knowledge. Naming a library after an imperialist murderer and reactionary is a disgrace.
Obama's Nobel peace prize? It's all a sham. Of course this has been the case since day one. Washington was a bastard, Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison etc. God bless America. Land of the free, home of the brave. It's not like they rebuilt the Alexandra library for Bush or anything. If they did two airplanes piloted by Australians might crash into it burning it to the ground in so justifying the invasion of Canada.

[Raúl Duke]

I think the only serious direction this thread can take is the revisionist treatment of the Bush legacy which the opening of this library have brought out plus the way Obama offers accolades (although then again, that's to be expected. I wish I lived in a country where its acceptable in the political culture to totally hate the opposing party, call them fascists or whatever, and be openly derisive about them even while holding office rather than this "non-partisan politeness" BS especially as practiced by Democratic politicians these days while pretending that it'll do them favors to play nice to the opposing party; American political theater is dull).

[Hexen]

Obama's Nobel peace prize? It's all a sham. Of course this has been the case since day one. Washington was a bastard, Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison etc. God bless America. Land of the free, home of the brave. It's not like they rebuilt the Alexandra library for Bush or anything. If they did two airplanes piloted by Australians might crash into it burning it to the ground in so justifying the invasion of Canada.

Because the U.S. was originally intended for wealthy white christian heterosexual males (since everything the constitution, bill of rights, etc were actually written exclusively for them not us which is what most people especially inside the U.S. still don't understand apparently due to the lack of class consciousness) and still remains so today than most people realize.

[skitty]

You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test. (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgewbu384804.html)
George W. Bush (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgewbu384804.html)

"I read the newspaper."—In answer to a question about his reading habits, New Hampshire Republican Debate, Dec. 2, 1999

One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.”
― George W. Bush (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13747.George_W_Bush)

“Reading is the basics for all learning.”
― George W. Bush (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13747.George_W_Bush)

[REV3R]

I mean, is this really surprising?

[Crixus]

You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test. (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgewbu384804.html)
George W. Bush (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgewbu384804.html)

"I read the newspaper."—In answer to a question about his reading habits, New Hampshire Republican Debate, Dec. 2, 1999

One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.”
― George W. Bush (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13747.George_W_Bush)

“Reading is the basics for all learning.”
― George W. Bush (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13747.George_W_Bush)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/17/usa.bookscomment

I remember seeing an interview where he ducks questions about existentialism but he did go to Yale and Harvard, obviously not on scholarship but most politicians aren't anything but representatives of capital which doesn't require deep thought only dedication to doing what capital wants in order to keep profits expanding and the system healthy. The smartest man in the world could be president and it wouldn't change anything, if she/he tried they'd get a bullet in the head but congress and the senate are under the control of capital so the president can't do much. I don't think Bush is that stupid anyhow, a lot of that was to make his administration seem harmless while he implemented capitals wishes. It all worked as people focused on Bush and not the system.

[Bardo]

The ironing is strong here. Good show, George. Fool me twice, you won't fool me again.

Now show me to the nukular weapons exhibit.

[Fionnagáin]

Libraries are supposed to be honorable places of wisdom and knowledge. Naming a library after an imperialist murderer and reactionary is a disgrace.
A disgrace to what?

[Geiseric]

Amen.

It is the usual liberal gibberish. Bush was no idiot. I find that insulting. Behind that is the implication that his policy, especially Iraq, was a result of idiocy instead of class-interest. Bush-jokes are what Liberals who try to not give any answers, which would need class-analysis, use. It's really weak too, to not make an actual critique but to keep it to, in my opinion, really horrible jokes.

I recently started seeing it that way too. He's not from Texas, he's from conneticut, and he's been faking that accent for years. He went to Harvard business school as well, so you can't tell a book by its cover. Bush has been playing the wolf in sheeps clothing for the past decade, faking his accent and playing ignoramus. Once he's dead people will make fun of him for it, but that kind of shit is how cultural hegemony works.

[Sam_b]

I don't really see why this should be in Politics. Especially due to the posting of images which some mods should know better to use in a serious part of the forum and recycled jokes from about ten years ago about reading comprehension.

[skitty]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/17/usa.bookscomment

I don't think Bush is that stupid anyhow, a lot of that was to make his administration seem harmless while he implemented capitals wishes. It all worked as people focused on Bush and not the system.I never thought he was stupid either-just lazy and arrogant; and, as Bardo pointed out, it bugged the hell out of me every time he said "nucular". Here was a guy who heard the word "nuclear" every day; and had someone following him around with the "nuclear football" and he didn't care enough to pronounce the word correctly.:confused:

[Bardo]

I don't really buy the idea that he's just been playing the part of an ignoramus. Sure, the jokes may exaggerate the extent of his idiocy, but I don't believe there is anything exceptional about his mental capacity. The problem with the idea that he plays the village idiot for the public while at the same time masterminding elaborate imperialist excursions is that he probably didn't do alot (if any) of the actual planning himself. The same routine is being run under Obama, who doesn't carry himself as an illiterate, yet the focus is still on Obama rather than the systemic structure.

[Le Libérer]

I think the jokes are certainly apart of his legacy, one he cannot escape. He even joked about it in his library speech dedication, saying no one would have foreseen his name being on a library. And I have no doubt that Bush is smarter than he let on.

It is one thing to cause your opponents to underestimate you—or mis-underestimate you (I guess making the joke here is obligatory, or something), but consider who is base was. He was appealing to those who aren't known as political critical thinkers, who live in at fear based reality of the boogie man is around the corner. It's a little odd why we consider stupidity to be such a strong insult in politics, when in reality most people trust those they deem to be like themselves.

[Le Libérer]

Inside the library there's an interactive "decision making area" where you can pretend to be GWB when he was facing difficult decisions. After 9/11 if you choose not to invade Iraq, it literally tells you "you made the wrong decision."

I have heard the stories of small children breaking into tears when they didnt pick the "correct" decision (which I am supposing was his decision). I find that horribly disgusting.

[Brutus]

I have heard the stories of small children breaking into tears when they didnt pick the "correct" decision (which I am supposing was his decision). I find that horribly disgusting.

Someone should change it so if you invade Iraq it tells you that you made the incorrect decision

[vizzek]

Amen.

It is the usual liberal gibberish. Bush was no idiot. I find that insulting. Behind that is the implication that his policy, especially Iraq, was a result of idiocy instead of class-interest. Bush-jokes are what Liberals who try to not give any answers, which would need class-analysis, use. It's really weak too, to not make an actual critique but to keep it to, in my opinion, really horrible jokes.

Bush was actually rather "dumb" both in his intelligence and in his decisions. And most bourgeois critics would tell you that Iraq was a bad move altogether, so it's questionable whether there was 'class interest' being fulfilled. if anything iraq was more to assert American supremacy in the middle east than it was to reap economic benefits. also bush was certainly not the architect behind any of his foreign policy, it was more the work of people like cheney, rumsfeld, and wolfowitz.


I recently started seeing it that way too. He's not from Texas, he's from conneticut, and he's been faking that accent for years. He went to Harvard business school as well, so you can't tell a book by its cover. Bush has been playing the wolf in sheeps clothing for the past decade, faking his accent and playing ignoramus. Once he's dead people will make fun of him for it, but that kind of shit is how cultural hegemony works.

errr...no, he was actually raised in Texas and lived there for much of his life, so the accent is not fake. though he did fake his 'cowboy' persona by buying a Texas ranch before the election, so you do have a point.

[Red Commissar]

Regarding Bush and reading, you know the whole thing is old when even the guy himself refers to it, something along the lines of "a library was the last place you'd expect to find me. Now I'm founding one".

It was pretty annoying around here when it did come up. The authorities and media both tried to discourage protests as much as possible by making it difficult for the group(s) to gather as well as shaming them into not doing it by some of the most ridiculous appeals to calm I've heard with them saying stuff like the library is of use with its archives for historians and academics. What's overlooked of course is all of these presidential libraries have ties to think tanks and the like to cultivate future politicians and other political operators. Plus it lets the president in question frame their presidency in the way they want to.

As far as protests go the police basically kept them restricted to a small area, on the otherside of the highway from where the SMU campus is (where the library was built). The protesters mainly took the appearance of "faceless" individuals holding the names of dead American soldiers and civilians from the "War on Terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan and the lack of accountability from the government on that matter. I was actually surprised that the media wasn't more harsh towards the protestors though at the same time relatively little was mentioned about them beyond the usual "but of course the project has its critics" type deal.

The only benefit is AFAIK these things aren't publically financed in their construction (or at least from my knowledge of the previous Clinton, Bush I, and Reagan libraries). They have to gather the costs of construction from private donors, though local and state governments often throw in incentives and such to make sure they get the library. SMU was one of several universities in this state that were jockeying for the library. Employees and management of the presidential libraries appears to be handled by a government agency though.

The Bush library is only second in size to the mammoth Reagan library, which among other things, also happens to be where Reagan is actually buried. An American conservative's mecca if there ever was one.

I can't wait to see the mess when Obama starts the project of his own library, which we'll likely hear soon.