I recently found and enjoyed University of Pennsylvania professor Alan Kors’ “60 Second Lecture” summary of human history (thanks, Boing Boing and Mark Hurst). It’s wonderful on its own terms, but the tenth bullet — “No one who teaches you knows what will happen” — kicks it up onto a whole different level.

As longtime readers may have noticed, I’ve cut way back on the political blogging this year. Partly it’s because my personal energies are focused elsewhere. Partly it’s because the political blogosphere is now crammed with people saying much of what I would say. And partly it’s because there has really been so little one could do or say this year other than wait out the final awful twilight of the worst presidency of my lifetime.

But I have to say I’m inspired by the spirit of Kors’s elevator-pitch-style lecture. As a year-end exercise, and to make up for the long silence here, I offer this 60-second, ten-bullet-point, 100-word overview of the achievements of the Bush Administration:

• Lost popular vote but won in court, claimed mandate.
• Spent budget surplus on tax cuts for wealthy.
• Squandered post 9-11 unity on bid for “permanent Republican majority.”
• Stockpiled terror suspects at Guantanamo with no rights; instituted shameful regime of torture.
• Led nation falsely into Iraq war, bungled occupation, destabilized Mideast, trashed U.S. military.
• Diplomacy-free, unilateralist foreign policy eroded American influence worldwide.
• Attempted to scuttle Social Security via “privatization.”
• Destroyed Justice Department’s nonpartisan tradition; used prosecutors to punish enemies and throw elections.
• Undermined Constitution through “signing statements.”
• Blocked global warming solutions.
• Will retire to ranch in year; we face lifelong cleanup.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.