Farewell to George Dubya

By Brian Kernan

Oliver Stone's latest biopic, "W.," on President George W. Bush came out on Friday to mixed reviews. Though the film had its shortcomings, it served a purpose.

Afterward, I found myself critically reflecting on the man who has occupied the White House for my entire adult life.

On Nov. 4, we will choose our next president. However, even after we choose our next leader, Bush will still be president until the clock strikes noon on Jan. 20.

But once Bush's actions have moved from news to history, our nation will begin the work of constructing a mainstream interpretation of what it has all meant.

How will future teachers depict the Bush years? Maybe the American history student of 2040 will envision Bush as a political Dirty Harry to be played in future timepieces by tomorrow's Clint Eastwood, the sort of man who said to three U.S. senators in March of 2002, "F*ck Saddam. We're taking him out."

Will he be seen as a unilateral decider answering to gut instinct alone?

Maybe he will become a misguided Will Ferrell attempting to find approval from George Bush senior or acceptance from Vice President Dick Cheney.

History books could also gloss over the less savory aspects of the last eight years and turn Bush into a "Harold and Kumar"-esque pop icon to whom we can relate on some level, the sort of fun-loving guy whom we could all see playing beer pong in college.

Bush is a man who is frequently bossed around by all his dad's mean old friends.

He is the sort of classmate we might all hear about in the news one day and immediately think, "That guy is running for president?"

Then there's Bush as the man who energized the evangelical movement, bringing heartland Christian values into the moral cesspool of Washington while challenging the threat of international Jihaddist extremism.

Or there is Bush as the threat to the American constitution, an unaccountable patron of the Patriot Act and Guantanamo Bay as we know them today.

There should, by now, be some consensus that this administration has set a lot of precedents we'd be far better off reversing.

America, though it likely will, cannot blame Bush for everything that has gone wrong in the last eight years.

Internet conspiracy theorists, nightly news subscribers, the apathetic and everyone in between should agree on that.

Only time will accurately tell what the full impact of Bush on our country will be. But when Bush does eventually move out of the White House, bidding farewell to Dubya will mean something different to everyone.

Brian Kernan is the opinion editor for The Santa Clara.