WHEN WILL IT STOP?

Ever since George W. Bush was declared the winner over Al Gore in 2000, the Bush haters have been on the march. We’ve been reading and hearing their invectives now for eight years blaming Mr. Bush in particular and Republicans in general for every problem, small or large, real or imagined. For example, hurricane Katrina was not a Mother Nature event but due to President Bush’s failure to embrace the Kyoto Compact to reduce emissions everywhere except in China, India and third world countries. He fed terrorism after 9/11 by going to war with terrorists rather than opening a dialogue – and on and on.

With Mr. Bush leaving office on January 20, 2009, we might expect those cheap shots to be tapering off, with his end date in sight. I fear that is not the case, as pundits are rushing to get in their last licks in what I dub the "Blame Bush For Everything" or the BBFE Syndrome. Why just on the last few days in our own Milwaukee Journal Sentinel we find:

1. An editorial cartoon of an easel painted portrait of President Bush atop drape cloths, covered with paint droppings, entitled "We the People," "Bill of Rights," "War Powers Act," "Geneva Convention," "UN Against Torture," all implying his legacy will be only as a stomper of our Constitution and our freedom.

2. An OpEd article "Disgraceful shenanigans in Illinois" written by Harold Meyerson. You might think that purely Democratic Party brouhaha, would leave the Republicans untouched. Oh no, Mr Meyerson ends up blaming the "disgraceful shenanigans"on the fecklessness of the voters depressed by the era of Republican President Ronald Reagan and he now hopes that Obama will bring that age to an end. How’s that for convoluted logic?

3. Another example comes from a Community Column authored by Joe Simon "Sadly, there’s no justice for gays." Mr. Simon deplores the bigotry of the California electorate in banning gay marriage which he extends to the Wisconsin voters ban as well. He laments the military policy of "Don’t ask, don’t tell," forgetting to mentioned that the policy was a creation of the Clinton Administration. After all Mr. Simon’s lamentations, he ends his screed by blaming President Bush for everything because he "openly embraced the wholesale debasement and dehumanization of gays for political gain." during his eight year term. Does he offer any examples of this "debasement and dehumanization?" No, but he gets a free ride on the "Blame Bush For Everything" bandwagon as a full fledged passenger.

4. Lastly, we have good old O. Ricardo Pimental, the Journal Sentinel’s editorial page editor, who we can always count on for some good BBFE reading. In an "Quick Hit" O. Ricardo alleges that "Bush pushed the (Iraq) war based on flawed evidence in the face of countervailing evidence." Would he mind informing us of that "countervailing evidence?" Funny, but I remember Colin Powell making the case at the UN and Senator Hillary Clinton along with a bevy of her Democrat colleagues voting for that action based on the evidence at hand. But facts have never bother O. Ricardo in the past and I’m sure they won’t in the future as he continues to push his leftist leanings down the throats of innocent Wisconsinites .

When can we expect the left leaning media and their fellow travelers to let up with their "Blame Bush For Everything" mentality? Not soon, because no matter what goes wrong during the upcoming Obama Administration, ex-President Bush is certain to be blamed. Maybe during Obama’s second term the "BBFE Syndrome" will run out of steam. Don’t hold your breath.