An Unconscionable Legacy

4 more days.

As part of the continuing countdown, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviews Helen Thomas, the most senior member of the White House press corps. Thomas talks about the Bush "legacy," the incoming Obama Administration and journalism.

Thomas wrote of Bush in a recent column, History Cannot Save Him:

As he leaves office, President Bush is passing on to his successor two wars and a growing economic debacle. What a way to go!

Because of Bush's policies, the U.S. also is complicit in the Israeli attack on the Palestinians on the Gaza Strip by providing a 'made-in-America' high-tech arsenal for the assault and blocking a ceasefire for nearly two weeks, a move intended to help the Israelis consolidate their hold.

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It's true -- as Bush and company point at their proudest achievement-- there have been no new terrorist attacks on the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001.

But they fail to acknowledge administration mistakes before and after that fateful day, starting with the fact that White House and security officials ignored significant early warnings of an imminent strike against the U.S.

The second half of the double 9/11 mistake was the trampling of our constitutional system and American values by the administration's infamous torture policies, illegal interrogation practices, including water boarding (simulated drowning), secret prisons abroad and U.S. run jails at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. Post- 9/11 Bush strategy also nurtured a climate of fear that enabled the self-styled "decider" to lead the country into a senseless war against Iraq, a calamity still underway as he leaves office almost six years after the invasion.

Add the administration's pathetic response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and you have basis to dub Bush's eight White House years as the "Bush error."

He was to be the great "unifier" but instead he became a great polarizer.

At the end of her interview with Thomas, Goodman says:

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Helen Thomas, I want to thank you for being with us. You’re famous for saying at the end of every news conference, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

HELEN THOMAS: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: I say to you, thank you, Helen Thomas.

HELEN THOMAS: Thank you, Amy.

But there will be no thank yous for George W. Bush.