'Dubya'

Amazing – I still can’t quite believe this myself, but I’m actually reading the memoirs (entitled 'Decision Points') from George W. Bush’s two terms in office as the 43rd President of the United States of America, but that’s precisely what I’m doing! For many years, I’ve harbored ‘certain’ feelings for this man & never dreamed that I’d ever feel any differently. Yet incredibly, my feelings have since changed in that regard.

1st off, let me emphatically state that I claim to be neither republican nor democrat (I think BOTH parties suck ass). As far as political affiliations go, I guess I’d be best described as an independent; however, I’d beg to differ with that assessment in many instances as well.

It all started with the 2008 release of Oliver Stone’s biopic “W.” which traced the ultimate rise to power of the former President (played by Josh Brolin). Though much of the movie was more or less frowned upon & viewed as sketchy by the Bush camp in general, it allowed people to see a side of him that was often rumored & discussed, but rarely documented & never before depicted on-screen.

It was at this point that I started to think to myself, ‘this dude actually ain’t that bad,’ sure he might have been misunderstood & aloof at times (ok, ok – most of the time, lol), but far from the devil reincarnate that many people would have you to believe that he was.

As far as his opponents & critics (including myself), I think his perceived lack of intelligence & foresight simply became the easiest thing to attack. Though I still question many of his domestic & foreign policy decisions, I feel I have a clearer understanding of why he felt the need to make some of the choices he did.

Then came his November 9th appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. To me, he appeared to be a far more relaxed & easy-going person & while I've come to understand this to be typical of most presidents following their respective presidencies during my lifetime, he seemed far more genuine in his responses to the various questions that Oprah placed upon him & she certainly threw some hardballs at him, so I was pleasantly surprised to observe the candor in his responses.

Sure, it's common for people of his stature to get coached before making appearances, but I don't really see the motivation for such in this instance. He's done with all hoopla we've come to know as being Head of State — so really, why would he even bother to put forth the effort of so triumphantly fooling people at this point? I realize at the end of the day he's still a politician, so it may be deeply ingrained into his subconscious after so many years, but I really don't feel that's the case in this instance.

I was especially interested in hearing his thoughts on the tanking of our economy, 9/11 & the Katrina/FEMA debacle. Those were definitely the biggest issues during his reign & he again succeeded in pacifying my thoughts, even though the hour-long format of the show only afforded him to briefly touch upon each topic. I can't really determine how his interview came across to other viewers at this point, but my gut leads me to believe that many felt the same afterwards.

I look forward to finishing the book & will undoubtedly share my conclusive thoughts of the man with you all upon doing so...