Stories related to disastrous natural or environ- mental events often use the phrase, "It will take years to recover." When used as an Internet search term the words yield seeming accidents or acts of nature. They said it after oil spills such as the recent Black Sea event and the South Korea environmental disaster. President Bush himself and many others said it would take years to recover after Hurricane Katrina.
The Reaction I have is similar to the people contemplating ruined beaches and endangered wildlife. It is a mixture of anger, sadness, revulsion, regret, frustration and anxiety.
Ironically it will take years to recover from the disastrous Bush years. As each day's new Bush scandal headline appears, my reaction and those of my fellow bloggers at our website of the same name mirrors rising disgust. The phrase was brought to my mind by a casual reference in Capt.Fogg's recent blog comment from which I quote:
I've heard a number of economists say privately that it will be many many years before the world recovers from George W. Bush - even if his successor is better - and we are far from certain of that.
Profligate: It will take years to recover from the loss of billions of dollars unaccounted for during the war in Iraq. The billions of dollars expended in that unjustified and protracted war of aggression-turned-civil could have prevented the decimation of our nation's military readiness. It will take years to recover a balanced budget in the wake of unprecedented deficits. It will take years to recover a decent balance of domestic vs. military spending.
Unruly and aggressive: It will take years to recover from the retreat from the rule of law undertaken under the guise of "protecting the country." It will take years to recover from the damage done to the reputation of U.S. leadership's role around the world. It will take years to recover the momentum for peace between Israel and Palestine after so many years of abdication of responsibility of being the honest broker no other nation could be.
Irresponsible: It will take years to recover from the ground lost to the changes already happening within a very real threat of global warming. The ice melts and polar bear and penguin populations decline. And the national representatives gathered on the island of Bali try to figure out how to finally get the U.S. on board with the rest of the world. It will take years to recover the lost opportunities when our nation failed to move in the direction of renewable energy, with its promise of economic growth. Any disengagement from an angry and troubled group of radicals becomes more and more difficult as we remain oil dependent on the Middle East.
Partisan: It will take years for Congress to recover the courage to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities, after a protracted period of fear-mongering by the Bush administration. It will take years to recover the will to cooperate across party lines to work out bipartisan solutions to the country's major problems. It will take years to recover the will to tackle reforms to immigration, health care, consumer protection, corporate greed, safe credit, education and all the other issues that have languished these past 7 years.
Dishonest: It will take years to recover our ability to somewhat trust our government. There is widespread mistrust of what our current president says, what he and his administration discloses or hides, and a failure to hold officials accountable for performance. Incompetence, misbehavior or illegal actions are denied and widespread cover-ups are attempted. People who behave with honesty can see their careers ruined by retribution.
An oil spill is what it is. And the clean-up needs to start soon because it will take years to recover.
View my current slide show about the Bush years, "Millennium," at the bottom of this column.
(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)
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