We've all been burned by the son ..

GEORGE H. W. Bush's presidency began with the fall of the Wall and the collapse of communism. George W. Bush's presidency ends with the fall of Wall Street and the collapse of capitalism.

As George Sr watches the destruction of the political dynasty founded by his father senator Prescott Bush, he must wish that he too was turning in his grave. The family tomb must be looking very attractive.

Polls agree that about 80 per cent of Americans are appalled by his son and you can bet George H.W. heads the list. Pretty early in the Iraq fiasco it was painfully obvious that dad was mortified by his son's strategic idiocies, hence his desperate and unsuccessful deployments of family loyalist James Baker to find a face-saving way out of the mess. But now? Iraq must seem almost the least of the dynasty's disasters. To borrow from one of George H.W.'s quaint sayings, it's now in the deepest of doo-doo.

Within hours of Pearl Harbor George H.W. left college to become the youngest naval pilot in US history. He flew scores of missions and won a heap of medals for quite exceptional courage. And his son? Despite the lowest possible scores in the entrance exams he got to be a pilot and did everything he could to avoid doing his duty or getting in harm's way. Despite all the family's influence, he failed to make the cut at the University of Texas law school. He became an alcoholic and a drunk driver. Whereas dad was a millionaire at 40, the son's career as an oil man was an embarrassment. Until young George was provided with the governorship of Texas, his CV was a disaster.

And dad? House of Reps, ambassador to the UN, chairman of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China, boss of the CIA, Reagan's vice-president etc etc. Though devoid of charisma and little better than his son as an orator he became the 41st president. Like father Prescott, his career was devoted to pushing the barrow of the biggest of big businesses. His oil industry connections to the Saudis certainly influenced his decision to cross Saddam Hussein off the list of favoured dictators and launch Desert Storm. But Bush Sr was infinitely more careful in his foreign policy than his son. George H.W.'s reluctance to push on to Baghdad and do some regime changing was clearly a factor in his son's later recklessness. And George H.W. made his disapproval clear through the high-level manoeuverings of such dynastic disciples as Baker. There seems strength in the quasi-Freudian argument that the world fell victim to difficulties in a father-son relationship.

Even before the great fiscal f..k-up George H.W.'s spectacularly stupid son had blown the US budget by turning the Clinton surplus into an apocalyptic deficit. On his watch there was a 70 per cent increase in the national debt. Gross domestic product was almost flat-lining at 2.5 per cent, real median income hadn't budged, the dollar was looking worse than the zloty and only the rich were having fun. And now? Not even the rich are happy. Despite vast amounts of anti-depressant being pumped into the global system, the world teeters on the edge of the biggest depression since the 1930s. The Republicans will not only lose the White House but Congress, the Senate, and gubernatorial and state elections across the nation. Not even the dazzling political talents of Sarah Palin will save them.

Under Bush Jr, the unprecedented levels of sympathy for the US post 9/11 evaporated. Now the international polls can be read as prayers for a Barack Obama victory. Anti-American feelings? In the Western democracies they were largely anti-Bush. The invasion of Iraq with its death and destruction led to Abu Ghraib and torture and civil war. Guantanamo and rendition unleashed worldwide protest and recruited regiments of terrorists. Domestic politics saw dramatic attacks on the US constitution and on civil liberties. Political scandals were two a penny, such as Alberto Gonzales's mid-term sacking of those US attorneys he deemed insufficiently conservative.

Bush's ongoing denial of climate change was capped by Katrina, where Washington's scandalous inaction led to the ethnic cleansing of New Orleans. Was there a single issue where George Jr got anything right? While the sub-prime mortgage crisis was kindled before Bush's election his administration did nothing to head it off. The USSR may be dead and buried but George Jr has presided over the creation of a new socialist state: the USSA.

George Jr leaves Washington DC as the most unpopular president in history. He leaves the US, the Middle East and the world economy in much worse shape than they were eight years ago. And he leaves the Republican Party in ruins; it will take decades to repair. As for the Bush dynasty? The presidential campaign of Jeb Bush isn't attracting a lot of donors..

from The Australian, Phillip Adams | October 21, 2008