Have you ever wondered why, more than three years after leaving office, we haven’t seen very much of George W. Bush? Typically, upon departure from office, presidents will hit the speaking circuit, write memoirs (that actually have to do with their time in office,) or hit the campaign trail with their favorite candidates. The most we got from Bush was a poorly-written book that talked more about his failed baseball team than how he destroyed our country.
I’m confident that there aren’t very many people from either political party that miss Bush, nor are there many people who have even noticed his absence. The reason we aren’t noticing is because his brand of dumbed-down, incoherent politics has found a new home with the modern incarnation of the GOP.
Bush had a way of butchering basic English, he never stood up straight during a press conference, and most of the time when addressing the nation he would lean on the podium with a smirk on his face as if he was talking to his old drinking buddies, rather than the free world. And after eight years, we grew accustomed to that style, and our complacency paved the way for people like Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin. All of these people, at one point or another over the last few years, have been considered serious contenders for seats of enormous power. And the worst part is that none of them are even qualified to run the counter at a fast food joint.
Today, when a political candidate is able to speak in complete sentences or stand up straight, or even if they attended an Ivy League University, they get labeled as an “elitist” or “out of touch” with Joe Six-Pack. When did intelligence became a bad thing? Why do we want a “common man” type person running our government? Take a look at the “common person” types that you encounter on a daily basis – would anyone of them make a good leader of the free world?
I consider myself to be highly intelligent. I’m a member of MENSA, and I wear that badge proudly. But when it comes to running America, I would hope to God that the person holding that job is smarter and more eloquent and more sophisticated than I am. But thanks to George W. Bush and the creation of the Tea Party, candidates with an IQ below room temperature are now considered contenders, and voters embrace their “common man” attitudes and beliefs.
This damage, which again, was caused by Bush / Fox News / Tea Partiers, is a lasting devastation that can’t be corrected with policy decisions. Yes, they also torched our economy and led us into two unwinnable wars, but a president with the right ideas can fix those things. It will never bring back those that we lost in those wars, but it can put us back on the right track as a country. But this psychological damage is semi-permanent. You can change a country’s policies a lot faster and easier than you can change their mindset. We accepted a dumbed-down presidency and Congress, and we grew accustomed to that just being the new normal.
But now we get to the chicken vs egg part – Did Bush cause the dumbing down of our country, or is he the result of our de-evolution? A new study out this week confirms what previous studies have shown us, which is that conservatives, on average, have lower IQs than their progressive counterparts. They are also more likely to hold racist and isolationist views – the lower the IQ, the more likely they are to hold such beliefs. So it could be conceivable that Bush was just the result of our lessening intelligence as a nation. But there’s no question that he helped kick start our declining expectations and intelligence.
And here’s why this is so important. Think about this – would you want Sarah Palin or Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann to have nuclear codes? Combined, these three people have been responsible for more gaffes than almost any other group of politicians in the last few decades. They can’t tell night from day – do you want them to have the ability to launch a nuclear weapon? If you answered yes to that, then enjoy your next Tea Party Rally. If you said no, you’re on the right track.