evilOpinion: Pay No Attention to the Man in the Big White House.

I wonder how many people were actually surprised to see George W. Bush making a couple speeches this week.

"Hey anybody know who this guy in the big white house is on my television screen?"

Seriously, I know Bush has taken more time OFF from being President then any other Commander in Chief since they began recording that kind of thing (almost 900 days at his Crawford Ranch...that's over 3 months off a year. Franklin Roosevelt served over 3 terms in office, having been elected for a fourth before he died, and he didn't take that many days off!), but has there ever been a President, actually an entire administration, that's performed such an amazing disappearing act?

Dick Cheney? Probably off hunting (alone, one would hope) since it's the Fall. Condoleezza Rice? Writing the next "Tell all from inside the Bush Administration" book no doubt (and possibly trying to figure out how she got two e's and two z's in her name). Are they even having daily press meetings at the White House these days, or are all the "White House Correspondents" following Obama and McCain around?

"So what's the problem?" you ask? Sure, for any other lame duck President this might be an amusing time. Bill Clinton went about his daily routine in relative obscurity in late 2000 as the nation was engrossed in Bush v. Gore, and Ronald Reagan spent plenty of time rooting on Bush Sr. in 1988.

The problem is this; if we let George W. Bush quietly slip off into that land they call "ex-president" then we also let slip into the past all the things that he's done wrong, and I mean criminally wrong in some cases.

Let's refresh shall we? (or, the Top Ten Bad Things Bush Has Done As I See It.)

10. Lying about the Iraq War. I know it's been a really long time since this war began in most people's minds, but does anyone remember the laundry list of reasons we went into Iraq? How about how many of them were actually revealed to be lies? Weapons of Mass Destruction? Lie. Ties to Sept. 11th attacks? Lie. There to fight the terrorists. Lie.

9. Not Supporting the Troops. First they didn't have the right armor or machinery in Iraq. Then they got their pay cut even though it was "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. Then it was 'We're going to keep sending you back to Iraq for longer and longer tours because we can't find new troops'. Then to cap it all off he opposed the new GI Bill until it was absolutely clear it would pass veto-proof...at which point he claimed it as his and thanked McCain for helping it pass, when McCain opposed it and then didn't vote.

8. Outing Valerie Plame. At least this one got someone put in jail...for a few days. 'Scooter' Libby is convicted of lying to federal prosecutors, which means his 'truth' (that the White House didn't leak the name) was actually a lie, and yet after the Libby pardon nothing else is ever done. Someone in the White House committed an act that could be considered treason, and despite Bush's "I'll oust anyone who had a part in it" platform, the 'source' *coughdickcheneycough* is never found.

7. Hurricane Katrina. OK, this could be a column by itself, I don't think I need to explain it. He ate cake with John McCain while a city drowned.

6. Dept. of Justice fires US Attorneys. "Are you a good lawyer? We might want you, but do you like Bush (and yes that means the President)? No? Then get the hell out." It's like only hiring referees who like one team better then the other. But it got better...

5. DOJ does a really bad job of covering up attorney firings. Alberto Gonzalez come on down! He made "I don't recall." a mantra. Sometimes he used it in the face of such damning evidence it was like watching a man carrying a gas can in front of a burning building saying "what fire?". There is some hopeful news on this front, as the DOJ might FINALLY be getting around to actually investigating and prosecuting some of this mess, but you know it will never go as high up as it should.

4. - 2. Halliburton, Blackwater, and KBR. The second and third are part of the first, so let's put them all together. Halliburton, which happens to like to give lots and lots of money to Dick Cheney and Bush, gets a whole bunch of no-bid contracts to build/rebuild stuff in Iraq. That's unfair. Their guards/contractors from the Blackwater company then decide to shoot a bunch of Iraqi civilians for no reason, then claim (and are pretty much given) immunity. That's criminal. Then as if that wasn't bad enough, KBR, the part of Halliburton that built the temporary US military bases in Iraq did such a bad job that at least 13 soldiers have died from electrocution because of bad wiring in the bases, particularly around the showers. That's disgusting, and the workers and contractors that did and approved the work should be tried for 2nd degree murder.

1. Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, where we don't torture...except when we do torture. But it's ok, no one here is innocent. Waterboarding is torture...wait, no it was torture in World War II, but now it's just "intense interrogation". America doesn't torture. Unless you ask John McCain at the first presidential candidate's debate on Sept. 27, in which case it's "[America] will never torture anyone ever again." Ever again...meaning we did it before. Anyone else care that torture is a WAR CRIME?

Then there are the "trials" that are going on at Gitmo. I'll let Keith Olbermann tell it better than I can.

First 'Conviction' at Gitmo

Fourth Military Prosecutor Resigns

So before we let George W. Bush (and his friends like Dick Cheney) walk out the backdoor silently while we all watch the next President walk in the front, I think we need to remind Mr. Bush that he has a little explaining to do about some of his legacy. Bush likes to say "history will judge" his presidency.

Me? I'd like to see an actual judge decide.