2008 Woodie Awards
How Easily We Forget: Our Memories Run Amuck
We augment our memories by remembering all of George Bush's mistakes but no positives.
Jami Furo
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: Opinions
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How easily we forget. In this country, it does not seem to take long. A year, maybe. Sometimes, not even. We forget things that should not be forgotten. But we remember things that should be forgiven.
Our memories of the Bush Administration are perhaps skewed because of this nation's strange memory. We remember things the way they are not. We remember things the way we want to remember them, though I cannot imagine why anyone would want to remember the last six years in the way that this country has chosen to remember them. But it goes something like this.
We remember a disaster when September 11 occurred. We remember a president who sat idly by reading to children as innocent people were dying in New York and Washington. We remember not knowing where our president was or what he was doing in a time when we were terrified.
But on that day nearly five years ago, the story was painted much differently. We praised our president. We understood that his main objective was to not allow the country to panic. He landed all planes immediately to avoid further attacks. He made his decisions from his own plane flying somewhere unknown high in the air to make sure the terrorists could not get to our head of state and commander in chief. He took action immediately and intensely. We saw a strong leader. His approval rating in the ensuing months was through the roof, because citizens of all parties agreed that the situation was handled well.
How easily we forget.
We remember the 2000 election. We remember the crisis of it. We remember how close it was. We remember that George W. Bush "stole" the presidency from the saintly Vice President Gore. We remember chads and recounts and the Supreme Court. We remember wondering whether or not we would decide on a president before inauguration day. Here in Florida, we remember being humiliated. We remember that slightly more than half the country was extremely disappointed with the outcome.
We remember six years ago, but a year and a half ago is fuzzy. We have forgotten that there has been another election since then. We have forgotten that we have, no matter how one chooses to look at it, a controversial president in office with low approval ratings. We forget that the Democratic Party had every chance in the world to oust the man they detest so much. We forget that they could have chosen practically anybody, and they would have won. But they chose an elitist from Massachusetts who had nothing concrete to say. Now, we hardly remember his name. But we remember every detail of the election from four years before.
How easily we forget.
We remember how many soldiers have died in Iraq, but we forget that both men and women are participating in democratic elections as a result of their battles.
We remember the 9/11 Commission Report that stated that they found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but we forget that Saddam Hussein used them on his own people.
We remember how afraid we were on September 11, 2001, but we forget who it was that took action so we did not have to continue to fear.
How easily we forget.
The Bush Administration is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. George W. Bush is not even close to being the best president that we have ever had.
But he is far better than we remember him. Our memories are both short and long. We remember the mistakes, but we quickly forget the triumphs.
I wonder what we will forget next.
Our memories of the Bush Administration are perhaps skewed because of this nation's strange memory. We remember things the way they are not. We remember things the way we want to remember them, though I cannot imagine why anyone would want to remember the last six years in the way that this country has chosen to remember them. But it goes something like this.
We remember a disaster when September 11 occurred. We remember a president who sat idly by reading to children as innocent people were dying in New York and Washington. We remember not knowing where our president was or what he was doing in a time when we were terrified.
But on that day nearly five years ago, the story was painted much differently. We praised our president. We understood that his main objective was to not allow the country to panic. He landed all planes immediately to avoid further attacks. He made his decisions from his own plane flying somewhere unknown high in the air to make sure the terrorists could not get to our head of state and commander in chief. He took action immediately and intensely. We saw a strong leader. His approval rating in the ensuing months was through the roof, because citizens of all parties agreed that the situation was handled well.
How easily we forget.
We remember the 2000 election. We remember the crisis of it. We remember how close it was. We remember that George W. Bush "stole" the presidency from the saintly Vice President Gore. We remember chads and recounts and the Supreme Court. We remember wondering whether or not we would decide on a president before inauguration day. Here in Florida, we remember being humiliated. We remember that slightly more than half the country was extremely disappointed with the outcome.
We remember six years ago, but a year and a half ago is fuzzy. We have forgotten that there has been another election since then. We have forgotten that we have, no matter how one chooses to look at it, a controversial president in office with low approval ratings. We forget that the Democratic Party had every chance in the world to oust the man they detest so much. We forget that they could have chosen practically anybody, and they would have won. But they chose an elitist from Massachusetts who had nothing concrete to say. Now, we hardly remember his name. But we remember every detail of the election from four years before.
How easily we forget.
We remember how many soldiers have died in Iraq, but we forget that both men and women are participating in democratic elections as a result of their battles.
We remember the 9/11 Commission Report that stated that they found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but we forget that Saddam Hussein used them on his own people.
We remember how afraid we were on September 11, 2001, but we forget who it was that took action so we did not have to continue to fear.
How easily we forget.
The Bush Administration is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. George W. Bush is not even close to being the best president that we have ever had.
But he is far better than we remember him. Our memories are both short and long. We remember the mistakes, but we quickly forget the triumphs.
I wonder what we will forget next.