HE'LL FLY AWAY
That final flight home from Washington and the White House on Air Force One is always poignant for the newest ex-president, as the shiny new next president begins his honeymoon with his adoring public. This honeymoon appears to be even more passionate than usual. Still, let us be glad for the peaceful transfer of power, one of the greatest signs of a true, albeit nasty democracy. God bless America. And God bless our new president, Mr. Barack Obama. Oh, I almost forgot. God bless Mr. Bush, along with wonderful Laura, now the happiest, most relieved man and ex-president alive in the known universe on the occasion of his last flight from Washington D.C. back to Crawford and Dallas, Texas, circa January 20, 2009.
Want to also add my deepest admination and gratitude to Laura Bush, for carrying out her duties of First Lady in the highest and most elegant of ways. She looked the part, she acted the part, she spoke the part, she dressed the part, she comported herself the part of One Great, Great Dame, and I for one will greatly miss her in the years to come as First Lady Extraordinaire.
More.
7 comments:
Here's hoping Barack Obama's first act as President names former President George W. Bush as the Permanent U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq. Having him live in democratic freedom inside the Green Zone (watch out for incomming fire!) would be the most beautiful kind of poetic justice...
Truly, how disappointed are you that W didn't pardon Scooter Libby? I have to admit I'm shocked George didn't communte American traitor/Orthodox Jew Jonathan Pollard's sentence and allow him to live as a hero in Israel.
Libby never asked for a pardon.
Libby might not have asked for it, but his defenders were pressing his case to the President:
"But the decision not to pardon Libby stunned some longtime Bush backers who had been quietly making the case for the former vice presidential aide in recent weeks. A number of Libby's allies had raised the issue with White House officials, arguing that as a loyal aide who played a key role in shaping Bush's foreign policy during the president's first term, including the decision to invade Iraq, Libby deserved to have the stain of his felony conviction erased from the record. In the only public sign of the lobbying campaign, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial strongly urging Libby's pardon.
"I'm flabbergasted," said one influential Republican activist, who had raised the issue with White House aides, but who asked not to be identified criticizing the president. Ambassador Richard Carlson, the vice chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a neo-conservative think tank, added that he too was "shocked" at Bush's denial of a pardon for Libby.
"George Bush has always prided himself on doing the right thing regardless of the polls or the pundits," Carlson said. "Now he is leaving office with a shameful cloud over his head." Carlson, who was among those who recently weighed in on behalf of Libby with the White House and previously raised money for his legal defense fund, said that Libby had taken a "knife in the heart" from critics of the president and deserved to have his conviction erased."
My guess? Poppy Bush got to W and explained the danger in outing agents, which he discussed while addressing the CIA on April 26, 1999: "I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors."
This is our last post on the subject of Scooter Libby, the sacrificial lamb of the Bush administration. For as long as you have been commenting, Vienna, you've lugged this gunny sack here and unloaded it time and time again.
And now we go forward, you with your opinion and everyone else with theirs. No one has changed anyone's mind in this matter. But one thing is clear: any further comments on Scooter Libby will not be published here.
Why aren't you out celebrating on the Mall anyway?
As for why I'm not on the mall, it's too cold, our kids have homework/book reports due this week and my husband and I have to work tomorrow. I'm afraid the draconian security measures kept us away, and we've seen the President before, having taken our kids to the rally in Leesburg in October. My friend is there though with her children and is giving hourly updates. We had our own party here, grateful that the change of power went so smoothly and happy in the knowledge that the previous inhabitant of the WH will fade into the annals of history (and not kindly).
I think your choice of song/video is exactly what the Bushes were thinking this afternoon. Bless their hearts! I'll miss them! Love your sense of humor.
Please note, except in very, very cases I do not publish anonymous comments. Otherwise, thanks for your comments.
Post a Comment