Snow and Sky: Bush's Legacy?

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January 15, 2005

Bush's Legacy?

Scotsman.com News - International - Bush looks to history books with slaughter of sacred cows

Ok, so maybe I should have made a promise to myself before I started this blog mania to avoid political topics. This weblog is not in the "Blogosphere", nor will it expound or pontificate or complain like so many other politically-oriented (and as we saw in the last election, completely ineffective) blogs. So don't take this the wrong way - I'm not falling into such a trap. Rather, I like to take a much more hands-off approach to the political scene. I want to know what and why people think much more than I would like to tell them what I think. I'll tell you what I think if you really want me to, but unless you're really convincing (aka "an offer I can't refuse") I won't go knocking on doors.

So I'm reading this article, and it seems to echo what I've seen before. President Bush seems to have a somewhat megalomaniacal thread to him. I say this because he seems to be determined to make an impact on the world, to be 'known for something great'. I imagine that in his mind, nothing could be better than for his name to go down in history along with the other 'great' presidents. His plans for sweeping reforms in immigration, social security, tort reform and the tax code are recognized by everybody as ambitious; of course, the pundits say too ambitious.

Is there anything wrong with a little megalomania in our presidents? After all, much the same could potentially be said about Kerry, Dean, Clinton, Bush... to varying degrees, of course. After all, in order to have the passion and drive to seek after the highest public office in the land, you've got to have concrete and ambitious goals. Nobody would elect someone who runs on the platform of 'four more years of the same.' Or is that true? I think I remember reading about some president in the 20th century who had such a platform... Anyway, I think the difference comes in recognizing one's own strengths and weaknesses. Megalomania (in my understanding, at least) is characterized not so much as a drive to be successful, but rather as a lack of perspective towards one's peers. The megalomaniac has no peers; he is unmatched, in history or in the present. This lack of perspective, of course, would tend to make one ineffective in the grand scheme -- both through ignoring and therefore repeating the mistakes made in history, and also through alienation of one's peers.

How much, therefore, does Bush fit this picture? We've already seen both aspects of such a loss of perspective. By assuming that, under similar circumstances, Bush could lead the Iraq war much better than the Vietnam war, we've become mired in a conflict we will never successfully complete. Also, by ignoring the recommendations of his world peers, Bush has alienated himself - and us by proxy - from the world community. Do these observations mean Bush is a certifiable megalomaniac? Well, my musings have neither proven necessity nor sufficiency with respect to the above observations. So we can only guess, and consider it supporting evidence.

Now that Bush has gained a second term, though, he seems to be pointing his focus much more towards domestic issues. Most pundits have agreed that Bush realizes his legacy, if it were to end now, would consist solely of terrorism and war; while those subjects may be dreamy for a Texas Cowboy, they're not what makes a president Great. Therefore, most agree that we'll see drastic changes in domestic issues, concomitant with the gains the Republicans have made in the Legislature. While Bush's first term seems to only have excited the Neocons and people with more guns than brains, his second term is making nearly every Republican excited. Here, finally, the chance to get something done!

So the last question is, will the reforms that do get done be a blessing or a curse to the nation? I don't know. Given that these are contentious issues, I get the sense that if I were to express an opinion on such matters, I would guarantee 50% of my blog readers would disagree with me. And since don't we all just want to get along, I'll leave the ~~mudfest~~discussion to the comments :) Whatever the effect on the nation, however, I'm sure it'll be done with gusto and passion. Even if it is running headfirst into a brick wall.

Posted by kgutwin at January 15, 2005 10:28 PM

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