I was listening this morning to Don Gonyea’s piece on NPR debating the “Bush Legacy,” and was frankly amazed at their snub of the obvious in seeking a “catch phrase” to define Bush’s presidency. Reaching out to presidential scholars, historians and even Bush’s more or less official biographer, everyone from whom Gonyea sought closure on the Bush term fumbled in an attempt to find that “bumper sticker” slogan that would serve as W’s soundbite for history.
The typical defining moment phrases in presidential memorial were reiterated:
Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
John F. Kennedy: “The torch has been passed to a new generation.”
Richard Nixon: “I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
Ronald Reagan: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Other than Nixon’s assertion, given the lie by truth’s antiseptic, none of these proclamations could be viewed with irony in hindsight. But this one at least opens the door to the obvious Bush declaratory imprint: “Mission accomplished.”
It stands to reason that a generation that popularized the term “whatever” — something that’s always made me cringe for its antithesis of owning up to reality/responsibility — would happily attribute last eight years to a sentiment that reflects the inverse of what was intended.
Unfortunately, in this case the shoe fits. Always ahead of her time, Alanis Morissette wrote the anthem for Bush’s departure in 1995 when she penned “Ironic“. It’s the good advice you just didn’t take, Mr. President. That’s what’s gotten us here.
But America’s too good to wallow in irony. (In my mind’s eye I see the Sunday, Jan. 4 comic Prickly City with the characters atop a giant 2009 asking “is it change yet?“) Change is constant, but those who remark it least are those who work to precipitate it. The one thing that’s got to change, if we’re to grow beyond dyspepsia and truly change America for the better is for everyone to roll up their sleeves and participate.
Belief — living purposefully and in the moment — this is the opposite of irony, and the only way to look back on the Obama legacy with something more than regret for what could have been.
Isn’t it ironic?
March 27, 2009 at 6:13 pm |
If you’re looking for a Bush catch phrase then how can you overlook “miserable failure”. A few hundred people were able to link this term to President for over two years via Google, and in our new online world Google and Wikipedia often drive what is recorded as ‘true’ history.
http://searchengineland.com/google-kills-bushs-miserable-failure-search-other-google-bombs-10363