For the longest time, President George W. Bush was nicknamed Shrub. After yesterday’s farewell press conference with the White House press corps, possibly that should become Shrug, as he shrugged off any criticism. Not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? A “disappointment.” Torture? His lawyers said it was fine. Recession? The economy was broken when he got it. The infamous Katrina fly-over? Standing on rubble in New York after 9/11 good, standing in water bad. Every failure of his administration, just shrugged off.

But possibly the most remarkable moment of shruggage from the latest president from the Lone Star State (Sorry, Texas, but for all the claims that he’s a carpet-bagging Yankee, Connecticut never made him governor) was a seemingly throw-away comment about why politics got so bitter under his administration.

“The rhetoric got out of control.”

“Why?” asked a reporter.

“I don’t know,” said the outgoing incumbent. “You’ll have to ask those that used the words they used.”

Oh, really? And who could have approved such rhetoric?

Youtube video

This article appears in January 9 • 2009.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.