George Bush: the Left's Emmanuel Goldstein

Newsbusters.org catalogs Keith Olbermann's latest bit of nonsense. Link is here. Synopsis: Bush is to blame. It's all been "Bushed."

Granted that we're only a few day into the Obama presidency and that Bush is only a few days out, but it it strikes me as significant that the media's case of B.D.S. shows little signs of abating. Honestly, I'd be surprised if it goes away at all in the next four years. After all, the Democrats hold the clear majority in both houses of the Congress and now hold the presidency. When things don't work out-- when the economy tanks because the bailouts prove to not be the magic answer for an expected market readjustment, when European economies really start to feel the heat of America's decreased spending, when Iran starts flexing its nuclear muscles and Obama will have no idea how to respond, the Democrats will need a scapegoat. Cue old Bush clips, bash Bush, it's his fault... we're having to clean up his mess... etc.

He'll be the Emmanuel Goldstein from 1984, the lurking threat that is, contradictorily, equal parts incompetent and nefariously brilliant. The "schemes" he had put into motion during his presidency will thwart Obama's great leap forward, make wind power less efficient, drive schisms within the Democratic Congress, destroy our image overseas, ruin our economy, etc. Despite the booing and jeering and celebrations at Bush's departure, the left can't let Bush go away. They need a highly visible scapegoat.

Lenin had Trotsky. The left's media has George Bush.