Ex Post Facto
03-21-2008, 06:05 PM
http://media.www.csucauldron.com/media/storage/paper516/news/2008/03/17/TheMeltingPot/Bush-Sets.Presidential.Record-3272145.shtml
That's right. George W. Bush has surpassed all past U.S. presidents in (drum-roll, please)… number of vacation days! According to CBS Radio News correspondent Mark Knoller, Bush surpassed the previous record of 436 days by Ronald Regan when he made his 70th trip to Crawford, Texas this February. 452 days and counting - that's close to 1 1/3 years. A remarkable feat, considering all the domestic and international crises he's had to deal with. Between 9/11 and the ensuing 'war on terror', Hurricane Katrina, gas and food prices and the recent epidemic of foreclosures sweeping the nation, one might assume our president should be busy at work.
Of course, upon further examination it all makes sense. The war in Iraq has been called one of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history - and it's certainly been the most expensive. The federal government failed its citizens miserably in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and there is strong evidence that they ignored dire warnings in the months leading up to it. Superficial efforts to stem the foreclosure crisis have done little to help the millions of hardworking Americans in danger of losing their homes. Food prices have skyrocketed. Gas is likely to reach $4 per gallon by late spring.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobile is posting record profits in the billions and the CEOs of shady lending companies like Countrywide are leaving their companies with cushy retirement packages in the hundreds of millions - while our government touts 'voluntary' measures to help those at risk of foreclosure. No-bid contracts are being awarded in Iraq and coffers are being filled. And as we watch with increased frustration, powerless to stop it all, we wonder if this is all purely circumstantial.
In the last year of his second term, our president can sit back in his Crawford ranch and survey the damage he's done with satisfaction. He has successfully waged a war on the middle class through a remarkable combination of sheer negligence and deliberate, calculated action. Perhaps as Americans, we should ask ourselves why we impeach presidents for having extramarital affairs and why we look the other way when they set records in both vacation time and vicious corruption.
That's right. George W. Bush has surpassed all past U.S. presidents in (drum-roll, please)… number of vacation days! According to CBS Radio News correspondent Mark Knoller, Bush surpassed the previous record of 436 days by Ronald Regan when he made his 70th trip to Crawford, Texas this February. 452 days and counting - that's close to 1 1/3 years. A remarkable feat, considering all the domestic and international crises he's had to deal with. Between 9/11 and the ensuing 'war on terror', Hurricane Katrina, gas and food prices and the recent epidemic of foreclosures sweeping the nation, one might assume our president should be busy at work.
Of course, upon further examination it all makes sense. The war in Iraq has been called one of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history - and it's certainly been the most expensive. The federal government failed its citizens miserably in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and there is strong evidence that they ignored dire warnings in the months leading up to it. Superficial efforts to stem the foreclosure crisis have done little to help the millions of hardworking Americans in danger of losing their homes. Food prices have skyrocketed. Gas is likely to reach $4 per gallon by late spring.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobile is posting record profits in the billions and the CEOs of shady lending companies like Countrywide are leaving their companies with cushy retirement packages in the hundreds of millions - while our government touts 'voluntary' measures to help those at risk of foreclosure. No-bid contracts are being awarded in Iraq and coffers are being filled. And as we watch with increased frustration, powerless to stop it all, we wonder if this is all purely circumstantial.
In the last year of his second term, our president can sit back in his Crawford ranch and survey the damage he's done with satisfaction. He has successfully waged a war on the middle class through a remarkable combination of sheer negligence and deliberate, calculated action. Perhaps as Americans, we should ask ourselves why we impeach presidents for having extramarital affairs and why we look the other way when they set records in both vacation time and vicious corruption.