A Library I Won't Check Out

The George W. Bush Presidential Library? Like Southern Methodist University, the college that houses it, the very idea of it is a contradiction in terms.

The nation's forty-third President, who has recently taken up painting (pictures, not bedroom walls), was lauded for his "service" at the opening of his library today by President Obama and the other three living ex-Presidents (including W.'s dad), most notably for fighting AIDS in Africa. Oh wait, that's the only notable thing he can be lauded for, as he ignored the threat of a domestic terror attack by al-Qaeda as late as September 10, 2001, let himself fall out of the loop when the actual attack occurred the day after, waged an unnecessary war against Iraq, turned the entire world against us, put John Roberts and Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court, mishandled the response to Hurricane Katrina, presided over tax cuts that wrecked the economy, and then presided over a financial bailout in a pathetic attempt to save it. As a statesman, he must be a hell of a painter. When Jimmy Carter spoke in positive terms of Bush's "leadership," how did he keep a straight face? (Maybe that's why he was wearing sunglasses.)

Somewhere, Al Gore was watching all this on television and saying to himself, "That should have been me!"

Honoring George Walker Bush with a presidential library is the political equivalent of the induction of Madonna into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A lot of damage was done by the honoree, and much of it may prove to be irreversible. Actually, I'm talking about Madonna here. By bringing back disco and incorporating hip-hop in her records, she turned out to be a major destructive force in popular music that pushed rock and roll to the point of oblivion, as rock radio stations continue to go off the air all across America. In trying to save the country from eight years of George Walker Bush, President Obama has a fighting chance. In trying to rescue rock and roll from the dance popsters and big, bad rappers who infest the charts these days, the Black Keys and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs aren't so fortunate.