The Bush Farewell & Matthews Scathing Assessment

What seemed like an eternity (god please end it soon), Bush is leaving office, and tonight he finally gave his farewell address. From his self congratulatory speech, I've chosen my favorite moments of lies, fabrications and fear, followed up by Chris Matthews unkind but honest assessment. What can you say about this frightening monster. Will we really ever want to look back on the last eight years, to hear his voice and see his face, or will we once and for all close the book on this blighted presidency?

Just the thought of this psychopath numbs my senses.



According to a CNN poll, three quarters of Americans have a parting thought: "Good riddance."

Asked their view of President Bush at the end of his presidency, 75 percent said they are glad he is leaving. Bush's image of resolve got him re-elected in 2004, when terrorism was the dominant concern. No more. There is a fine line between resolve and stubbornness, and Bush seems to have crossed it.

Only 17 percent now believe Bush united the country. "I think one of the big disappointments of the presidency has been the fact that the tone in Washington got worse, not better,'' Bush told ABC News. "The tone was rough," Bush said, "and I was obviously partially responsible because I was the president."

But the outgoing administration's economic record is the weakest of any president since World War II. The country's job growth under Bush: just 2 percent. Bill Clinton's eight years in office saw more than 20 percent job growth. Job growth for the previous nine postwar presidents averaged 12 percent. "It's sad to say, but we really went nowhere for almost 10 years after you extract the boost provided by the housing and mortgage boom,'' Mark Zandi, chief economist and cofounder of Moody's Economy.com, told The Washington Post. "It's almost a lost economic decade."