Keith Olbermann: Bush's Legacy: The President Who Cried Wolf

You just beat me to seed this spellbinder, Aine--better from you, however, then the newbie. Nails the case emphatically. Hope that the ensuing commentary can rise to the level of patriotism and candor for which I commend Keith Olbermann.

Bush legacy clear as Mudd

Some people are best remembered by an idiom—like, "Your name is mud," which means, "You are not popular." The term "mud" (slang) was defined as "a stupid twaddling fellow,"—e.g. "And his name is mud!"—according to a dictionary published by John Badcock c. 1823.

The idiom became popular in 1865 soon after the assignation of President Abraham Lincoln. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, broke his leg while jumping to the stage from the balcony after shooting Lincoln at the Ford Theater. Booth escaped. In the early morning hours, 30 miles south of Washington, D.C., Booth arrived at a farmhouse owned by Dr. Samuel Mudd, who knew nothing about the assassination. Dr. Mudd treated his injury and provided him with a pair of hand-made crutches. Booth paid Mudd for his services and departed.

Days later, Mudd was arrested by the United States Government on charges of conspiracy and aiding Booth in Lincoln's assassination. Court testimony against Mudd revealed he was a sympathizer and member of the Confederate underground during the Civil War and abusive toward his slaves. Mudd was found guilty and convicted to life imprisonment at Ft. Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas 70 miles from Key West. The phrase, "Your name is mud(d)," is attributed to Dr. Mudd.

Allan Pinkerton, Abe's personal body guard before becoming President, claimed Booth would have been foiled had he been in charge of Lincoln's security that night. Pinkerton founded the National Pinkerton Detective Agency, from which the idiom "Pirvate Eye" derived. Everybody knows "Pinkerton" and remembers his business logo and slogan: "We never sleep" printed underneath a human eyeball.

And everybody knows that "D-Day" is the idiom for the Battle of Normandy in June 1944. And most folks understand the term "McCarthyism" as the Second Red Scare when U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy trampled civil rights to flush out communism in the late 1940s through mid-50s.

The phrase "Black Tuesday" refers to October 29, 1929, the day panicky stock holders tried to pull out of the market all at once, which led up to the Great Depression. This idiom, "Black Tuesday," like, "Your name is mud," has a dual meaning. "Black Tuesday" also refers September 11, 2001—most people world-wide just refer to it as nine-eleven.

The idiom "bushwhacker" was used to describe a method of guerrilla warfare during the Civil War. The people doing the attacks were called "bushwhackers."

As I reflect on idioms of yore, undoubtedly our culture will invent an iconic moniker that will depict the last five years—and events yet to come—in the United States of America. We've always been a culture of slogans: Prosperity for America's families; Compassionate conservatism; Leave no child behind; Real plans for real people; Reformer with results. But idioms don't describe an ideology as cleverly as they depict reality or define a legacy.

It's premature to label this administration, just yet. Because even with a Democratic stronghold things will get worse before they get better. There's more shock-and-awe to come as we stay the course before we can cut-and-run from Iraq, before the mission is accomplished, victory achieved, as we continue to move forward.

Slogans are like points of light, eventually they loose all luster and burn-out. But idioms like Black Tuesday, D-Day, or the Red Scare period of fear and suspicion, will survive for generations, because they best describe the ineffable, the unbelievable.

But I wonder, what idiom will be invented to describe the legacy of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States? Will his name be mud!?

After many appeals, and for his exemplary work as a physician-inmate, Dr. Mudd was granted a pardon by President Andrew Johnson, and released from prison after serving four years. Mudd returned to his farm in Maryland and continued his medical practice. Subsequent to his release, several appeals by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, were made on his behalf to clear his name, fait accompli. His name will always be Mudd.

Olbermann makes scathing into an art. He is the god of polemic. "...internationalism by drawing pictures of Superman in the margins of the text books..." That is absolutely precious.

I haven't been watching lately because of various factors. I'm going to have to put his show back in the vdr schedule.