Historians will not give Bush a break

Ever hear conservatives compare George W. Bush to Harry Truman?  It's a convenient comparison because they simply say, "Well, Bush might have a 28% approval rating, but Truman's was even worse, and now he is thought of by historians as one of the greatest presidents ever."

So the question at hand is when we are all long gone, how will historians view George W. Bush?  For the most part, the 43rd president is already getting negative marks from history scholars.  For example, David Shanet, a member of the Organization of American Historians, says our grandchildren will view Bush as a president that obviously did not learn his history:

Hyper-masculine and self-defeating, the Bush imperialist executiveprobably does not see its adventure in Iraq as a generational issue.Historians who know about the post-Civil War generation drumming up theSpanish American War, can see that eagerness to be tough “like Daddy’sgeneration” runs through this group, too. Ignorance and militantxenophobia along race, social class, religious and cultural lines areeasily seen in the United States ’ occupation of Iraq today.

The secrecy will not stop history, and people will tell the tale of theBush years. Corruption, incompetence, waste, Cheney’s own Halliburtonand its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root squandering vastfortunes…this was all historically predictable from the U.S. experiencein Vietnam and other post-colonial wars. The ignorance of Arabic, theignorance of Sunni, Shia and Kurd conflicts, the ignorance of basicmilitary ‘artillery and infantry’ relationships, all these factors putthe US in today’s embarrassing position.

Kids, this is why studying your history is important.