Bush...Likable?

As I've said here many times before, the Bush Legacy Machine trying to convince us that sometime in the far-off future Bush's presidency will be viewed as a success is complete nonsense. Fifty years from now historians will be looking back and thinking "what...the...fuck...?"

But I do believe that eventually Bush the GUY will be seen as LIKABLE once again. As the years roll on and we're not being grounded into the dust with his daily yoke - his insufferable smugness, his frat-boy entitlement good-ol' boy networking, his flat-out lying and desperate need to remind us that unless you're rich you don't matter - I feel like eventually he'll be remembered PERSONALLY for more things like THIS VIDEO. (Mukluks Tip: Ta-Nehisi Coates)

Like I was saying - if you don't actually have to live under Bush and be directly affected by him being such a shitty president, it's easy to see a video like this one and think well, he seems to be trying. He's kinda bumbling, and he has to do some "re-takes," but he seems somewhat sincere, and nice. He seems perfectly likable here. Like the jackasses calling into sports radio every day who think they can run teams better than existing general managers, we all think we could be a better president than Bush, but we see a video like this and it's easy to sympathize re: the difficulty of filling up 8 minutes of camera time talking about things in a room.

Which is another reason I don't understand why the Bush Legacy Machine now feels the need to turn him into some speed-reading intellectual - if there ever was a time to start pushing Bush as the aw-shucks, "normal" guy as during his election, wouldn't this be the correct time? Baffling.

As time goes on I'm sure Bush's approval rating will edge up slightly, much like a ballplayer whose Hall of Fame numbers go up for no apparent reason. Make no mistake - he still will be viewed as one of if not THE worst presidents ever. He deserves his ranking. But if they play their cards right, coupled with our natural tendency to soften with age, it's possible to turn Bush back into a somewhat likable guy.