EXITING THE STAGE WITH GRACE

We're getting into the homestretch now, and while it will take some time for Bush's legacy to become fairly solidified, I'm finding lots of newsprint that offer distinctive takes on it.

The L. A. Times has a columnist, Rosa Brooks, whose work I always enjoy reading. Today's offering made me laugh all the way through it. The headline is "Bush was a uniter after all." She starts off with helping us remember some of the laughable lines that Bush has offered for posterity. "Bushyisms" I think they are called. As an example, Brooks reminds us that he said, "too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country." And she adds another: "You're working hard to put food on your family."

Tangling up words or sentences is not limited to Bush, of course; I had a very educated friend who always said she was flustrated. It was a quirk and I didn't think her any less smart for not realizing that she should have said either frustrated or flustered, because "flustrated" was not a word. Another example is saying "A whole nother..." instead of "Another whole..." Even well-educated and well-spoken TV commentators say "a whole nother..." But Bush has really pushed the envelope on his chronic mangling of what he meant to say.

Her column today is well worth reading - but of course if you are one who still somehow thinks Bush's tenure has been a real plus for the country, you won't like the column one bit. And because I simply refuse to read columnists who fall on the side of conservative republicanism (I know what you are going to say, but I still won't), I imagine you aren't going to subject yourself to Rosa Brook's latest column, which I'm sure can be found on the online LA Times.

But she does end with a positive thought on Bush: "(He) broke many of his initial campaign promises but he ended up keeping his promise to be 'a uniter, not a divider,' though hardly in the way he intended: He leaves behind a united nation, brought together at last by a heartfelt desire to see him gone."

Brooks ends with "We'll miss him." And I say, Bye Bye, Bush. Have a good rest of your life.