by Seth Michaels, Jan 28, 2008

Tonight is President Bush’s last State of the Union address. (Question: Does anyone know why The Washington Post repeatedly has written it’s “probably” his final State of the Union address? Do the editors know about a coup the rest of us don’t?)

Bush says he’s not making this State of the Union address a “legacy” speech. No wonder. With a legacy like his, who would?

Seven years ago, many of us knew the incoming Bush administration would be a disaster. But even the most pessimistic of us couldn’t predict how bad it would be.

In January 2001, the satiric newspaper The Onion wrote an article about the new Bush administration, aptly titled “Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity Is Over.’” In the article, the new president announces his plans to change the course of the country:

Bush swore to do “everything in [his] power” to undo the damage wrought by Clinton’s two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.

Now it’s all too clear Bush managed to turn into reality what seemed, at the time, just a pretty good joke. This chart from Think Progress details the sad truth of the Bush presidency:

• 5 million more Americans in poverty.
• 8.5 million more uninsured Americans, a decline in real median income.
• Higher prices for everything from gasoline to a college education.
• A doubled national trade deficit.

Seven years of Bush have made satire obsolete.

The Onion also noted that Bush was entering his presidency with a friendly Congress to advance his agenda:

“Finally, the horrific misrule of the Democrats has been brought to a close,” House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-IL) told reporters. “Under Bush, we can all look forward to military aggression, deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries, and the defunding of vital domestic social-service programs upon which millions depend. Mercifully, we can now say goodbye to the awful nightmare that was Clinton’s America.”

Hastert, of course, later became speaker of the House and presided over the decline and fall of the Republican majority that enabled Bush’s excesses and was ousted in the 2006 elections. His damage done, Hastert also is slinking off into the shadows; he’s retiring and will be replaced in a special election March 11.

He’s not the only one. Hastert is one of 25 Republicans who are jumping ship this year.

Another key Bush ally in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), has offered effusive praise for Bush’s speeches and policies all along and has kept the Bush agenda intact by obstructing nearly every piece of legislation with procedural schemes.

The destruction the Bush administration has wrought for workers, the environment, civil liberties, foreign policy, national security and on and on, is far too long to list here. (We’ve chronicled his attacks on workers, health care, pensions and more at our BushWatch site.)

For the 63 percent of the nation who disapproves of the Bush presidency, according to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, we will spend tonight’s State of the Union address pondering the same question:

Is it Jan. 20, 2009, yet?

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