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Slacker!  

The always in the know Mike Allen reports former President George W. Bush has settled on a format for his upcoming memoirs.  Allen reports that:

“…his book will revolve around 12 tough decisions he made as president. Planners for his presidential library in Dallas are considering a similar format.”

Making Richard Nixon’s Six Crises look like nothin!

Bush spoke in Canada, giving us a little taste of the torture apologetics to come:

“I want people to understand what it was like to sit in the Oval Office and have them come in and say, ‘We have captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’ — this mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, the alleged killer of a guy named Danny Pearl [who died] because he was simply Jewish — ‘and we think he has information on further attacks on the United States.’ I want to draw people in to that environment and let them determine what they would have done if their most important job was to protect the country.”

In the same appearance Bush claimed he’d be quiet about the Obama administration, but apparently “drawing comparisons” does not count as criticism.

Mission Critical  

The fate of the Republican Party lies in the hand of a novice museum head, but John Heubusch does not lack confidence. “I’m about to rescue the cause of Reaganism from the jaws of Obamaism,” he vows to the tattered on-line remains of US News & World Report.

Heubusch is the dynamic new honcho of the Reagan Library Foundation. He’s the caretaker of what he calls the “most important Republican brand.”

His sacred cause? “We want to take the principles that Reagan searched for and make them relevant today.”

There’s a new sheriff in town, or the old one is back, Reagan lives…something.

“Ronald Reagan is walking back into town. We want to be the ones who answer the question: What would Reagan do?”

Silent Service 

The mischievous youngsters at thinkprogress.org point out that War Time President George W. Bush hasn’t a single mention of Iraq in his Library biography, this in the wake of mysterious Library gnomes letting it be known that Iraq was off the table.

“The president’s advisers are still chewing over what topics to emphasize. Iraq is unlikely to be one of them.”

This fits in with Bush’s conduct throughout the war – blowing off the 9/11 warning,  cracking wise about his own invented Iraq nuke claims, and the famous pledge to not golf till the boys come home.

The usefulness or accuracy of any Bush Iraq presentation might be questionable.  On one domestic crisis that comes to mind, Bush Foundation President Mark Langdale is already taking what might be called the Jindal-ian line, blaming some “government” of unknown nature for a famous Bush disaster.

“There’s an interesting lesson about Katrina and the limitations of government assistance to respond to big natural disasters…They are acts of God, and they are tough. It’s definitely a story line I would not shy away from addressing somehow in the museum.”

But it won’t all be stern lessons.  Bush is already assuring SMU coeds that the Library “should be a really cool place.”

Nothing Says Policy Like Something From Our Oven 

The George W. Bush Presidential Library shock and awe media tour continues, with Politico the latest recipient of  access to the former President’s minions.  There we learn that the Definitely-Not-To-Be-Named-Freedom Institute attached to the Library will be so much more than the usual presidential scholar holding tank.

In the Bush Institute’s search for something to do, the latest scheme floated is for it to become the George W. Bush Test Kitchen, “to run demonstration tests or pilot projects based on ideas generated from there. ”

George W. Bush Foundation President Mark Langdale explains its thrust into the future:

“That’s a little bit different than what other presidential libraries have done, and it’s a little bit different than defending the record…By the time the Institute is focusing on a problem, there’ll be new information and new perspectives shaping the policy debate, beyond what happened in the Bush administration.”

Why-ever we should turn for fresh ideas to these has-bins is unclear.

Distant Learning  

The Ronald Reagan Library’s swanky new “Air Force One Discovery Center” recreating Reagan’s Island hopping holiday in Grenada has received the super glamorous  THEA Award for Learning Experience from industry titans of the Themed Entertainment Association.

  The TEA-ists love how it draws in the youngsters.

“Here each plays a role in responding to a rapidly unfolding crisis that seems all too real. The result is an innovative, involving and highly personal experience of presidential decision making that achieves a highly successful educational experience with the enthusiasm of compelling role playing entertainment. The kids are completely engaged.“

The kids do get some learnin’, but while it “seems all too real” it doesn’t have much to do with reality.

The Reagan Discovery Center takes school children and plunks them down in an Oval Office recreation  [steps away from yet another replica Oval Office], Air Force One [right next to an actual plane] ,  and the command post of the USS Ronald Reagan, which did not exist at the time of the invasion.

Entirely disappeared from the exhibit is the unprecedented military censorship of the invasion, which allowed the Reagan Administration freedom to tell the story first their way. Also missing are the plucky American medical students, whose mythical danger of becoming “hostages” was the lead public explanation for the invasion. Enjoy the show!