They may have been the most disastrous dreamers, the most reckless gamblers, and the most vigorous imperial hucksters and grifters in our history.他們可能是最災難性的夢想，最魯莽賭徒，和最具活力的帝國hucksters和騙子在我們的歷史。 Selling was賣出 their passion他們的熱情 . 。 And they were classic American salesmen – if you’re talking about underwater land in Florida, or the Brooklyn Bridge, or three-card monte, or bizarre visions of和他們的經典美國推銷員-如果你在談論水下在佛羅里達州的土地，或布魯克林大橋，或三卡蒙特，或奇怪的願景 Iraqi unmanned aerial vehicles伊拉克的無人駕駛飛行器 armed with chemical and biological weaponry let loose over the US, or Saddam Hussein’s mushroom clouds攜帶化學和生物武器讓鬆散的美國，或薩達姆侯賽因的蘑菇雲 rising上升 over American cities, or a full-scale reordering of the Middle East to our taste, or simply eternal global dominance.在美國城市，或者一個全面的重新安排中東的味道，或只是永恆的全球主導地位。

When historians look back, it will be far clearer that the “commander in chief” of a “wartime” country and his top officials were focused, first and foremost, not on the shifting “central theaters” of the Global War on Terror, but on the theater that mattered most to them – the “home front,” where they spent inordinate amounts of time selling the American people a bill of goods.當歷史學家回頭看，這將是迄今為止明確地說， “總司令”的“戰時”的國家和他的高級官員重點，首先，而不是把“中央電影院”的全球反恐戰爭，但關於戰區最重要的是他們-的“大後方” ，他們將花費過多的時間出售美國人民的一項法案的貨物。 Of his timing in ramping up a campaign to invade Iraq in September 2002, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card infamously他的時間安排在加大一項運動，入侵伊拉克在2002年9月，白宮辦公廳主任安德魯卡德infamously explained解釋 : “From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.” ： “從營銷的角度來看，您沒有推出新產品，在8月。 ”

Indeed.確實。

From a White House where “從白宮的“ victory strategies勝利戰略 ” meant purely for domestic consumption poured out, to the Pentagon where bevies of generals, admirals, and other high officers were constantly being mustered, not to lead armies but to “是指純粹的國內消費湧出，五角大樓在bevies的將軍，海軍，和其他高級官員不斷糾集，而不是領導的軍隊，而是 lead public opinion引導輿論 , their selling focus was total. ，他們的銷售重點是總。 They were always releasing “new product.”他們總是釋放“的新產品。 ”

And don’t forget their own set of soaring inside-the-Beltway fantasies.同時不要忘記自己的一套飛漲內的的休假幻想。 After all, if a salesman is going to sell you some defective product, it always helps if he can sell himself on it first.畢竟，如果業務員會賣給你一些有缺陷的產品，它總是幫助，如果他可以出售自己的第一次。 And on this score, they were world champs.並在此評分，他們是世界冠軍。

Because events made it look so foolish, the phrase “shock and awe” that went with the initial attack on Iraq in March 2003 has now passed out of official language and (together with “mission accomplished”) into the annals of irony.由於事件看起來愚蠢，用“震懾”的去與最初的攻擊伊拉克在2003年3月已超過了官方語言，並（與“使命完成” ）進入史冊的諷刺。 Back then, though, as bombs and missiles blew up parts of Baghdad – to fabulous visual effect in that other “theater” of war, television – the phrase was constantly on official lips and in media reports everywhere.當時，雖然作為炸彈和導彈炸毀了巴格達的部分-以驚人的視覺效果，其他的“戰區”的戰爭，電視-短語不斷對官方的嘴唇，在世界各地媒體的報導。 It went hand-in-glove with another curious political phrase: regime change.它接著手在手套與另一個奇怪的政治片語：政權更替。

Given the supposed unique technological proficiency of the US military and its array of “precision” weapons, the warriors of Bushworld convinced themselves that a new era in military affairs had truly dawned.由於獨特的技術支持能力的美軍和其一系列的“精確”的武器，戰士Bushworld深信自己一個新的時代，軍事事務的真正到來了。 An enemy “regime” could now be taken out – quite literally and with surgical precision, in its bedrooms, conference rooms, and offices, thanks to those precision weapons delivered long-distance from ship or plane – without taking out a country.敵人“制度”現在可以取出-毫不誇張，並與手術精確度，在其臥室，會議室和辦公室，感謝那些提供精確武器長途從船隻或飛機-而不考慮了國家。 Poof! Poof ！ You only had to say the word and an oppressive regime would be, as it was termed, “decapitated.” Its people would then welcome with open arms relatively small numbers of American troops as liberators.你只說了兩字和壓迫制度將是，因為它被稱為“砍頭” 。及其人民歡迎然後將張開雙臂相對較小數量的美國軍隊視為解放者。

It all sounded so good, and high tech, and relatively simple, and casualty averse, and clean as a whistle.這一切聽起來那麼好，和高科技，和相對簡單，並避免人員傷亡，並作為一個乾淨的哨子。 Even better, once there had been such a demonstration, a guaranteed “更好的是，一旦出現了這樣一個演示，保證“ cakewalk步態競賽 ” – as, say, in Iraq – who would ever dare stand up to American power again? “ -因為，比如說，在伊拉克-誰將以往任何時候都不敢站出來，以美國的力量嗎？ Not only would one hated enemy dictator be dispatched to the dustbin of history, but evildoers everywhere, fearing the Bush equivalent of the wrath of Khan, would be shock-and-awed into submission or quickly dispatched in their own right.不僅將一個獨裁者痛恨的敵人派遣掃進歷史的垃圾堆，但惡人各地，他們擔心布什相當於憤怒的汗，將震驚和敬畏到提交或迅速派遣自己的權利。

In reality (ah, “reality” – what a nasty word!), the shock-and-awe attacks used on Iraq got在現實中（啊， “現實” -什麼是討厭的詞！ ） ，休克和敬畏的攻擊對伊拉克使用了 not a single leader沒有任何一個領導者 of the Saddamist regime, not one of that在薩達姆政權，而不是說 pack包 of 52 cards (including of course the ace of spades, Saddam Hussein, found in his “spiderhole” so many months later). 52卡（當然包括王牌黑桃，薩達姆侯賽因，發現在他的“ spiderhole ”這麼多個月後） 。 Iraqi civilians were the ones killed in that precise and shocking moment, while Iraqi society was set on the road to destruction, and the world was not awed.伊拉克平民被打死那些在這精確的和令人震驚的時刻，而伊拉克是社會的道路上的破壞，世界上沒有敬畏。

Strangely enough, though, the phrase, once reversed, proved applicable to the Bush administration’s seven-year post-9/11 history.奇怪的是，儘管這句話，一旦逆轉，證明適用於布什政府的7年後的歷史。 They were, in a sense, the awe-and-shock administration.他們在某種意義上說，在敬畏和休克管理。 Initially, they were awed by the supposedly singular power of the American military to dominate and transform the planet; then, they were continually shocked and disbelieving when that same military, despite its massive destructive power, turned out to be incapable of doing so, or even of handling two ragtag insurgencies in two weakened countries, one of which, Afghanistan, was among the poorest and least technologically advanced on the planet.起初，他們敬畏理應由奇異力量，美國的軍事統治和改造的星球，然後，他們不斷地感到震驚和1848相同時，軍事，儘管其龐大的破壞力，原來是不能這樣做，或即使處理兩個烏合之眾組成的叛亂在兩個削弱國家，其中之一，阿富汗，是最貧窮和最不先進的地球上。

The Theater of War該戰區

In remarkably short order, historically speaking, the administration’s soaring imperial fantasies turned into planetary nightmares.在非常短的秩序，歷史上說，布什政府的飆升帝國的幻想變成行星的惡夢。 After 9/11, of course, George W. and crew promised Americans the global equivalent – and Republicans the domestic equivalent – of a經過9 / 11 ，當然，喬治布什和機組人員答應美國的全球相當於-共和黨和國內同等-一個 36,000 stock market 36000股票市場 and we know just where the stock market is today: only about 27,000 points short of that irreality.我們知道剛剛在股市今天是：只有約27000點短期的irreality 。

Once upon a time, they really did think that, via the US armed forces, or, as George W. Bush once so breathlessly曾幾何時，他們確實認為，通過美國軍隊，或作為美國總統布什曾經這樣悶熱 put it把它 , “the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known,” they could dominate the planet without significant help from allies or international institutions of any sort.說， “最大的力量為人類的解放世界上迄今所知， ”他們可以主宰這個星球沒有重大的幫助盟國或國際機構的任何一種。 Who else had a shot at it?還有誰開槍了嗎？ In the post-Soviet world, who but a leadership backed by the full force of the US military could possibly be a contender for the leading role in this epic movie?在蘇聯解體後的世界，誰的領導，但支持的全部力量，美軍有可能成為競爭者的主導作用，這史詩電影嗎？ Who else could even turn out for a casting call?還有誰甚至可以成為一個鑄造電話嗎？ Impoverished Russia?俄羅斯貧困？ China, still rebuilding its military and back then considered to have a host of potential problems?中國，仍然重建其軍隊和當時認為有一系列潛在的問題？ A bunch of terrorists?阿一群恐怖分子？ I mean… come on!我的意思是...來吧！

As they saw it, the situation was pretty basic.正如他們認為，這種情況基本相當。 In fact, it gave the phrase “power politics” real meaning.事實上，它給的“強權政治”真正的意義。 After all, they had in their hands the reins attached to the sole superpower on this small orb.畢竟，他們已經在他們手中的韁繩重視唯一的超級大國在這個小球。 And wasn’t everyone – at least, everyone they cared to listen to, at least Charles Krauthammer and the editorial page of the Washington Post – saying no less?是不是每個人-至少，每個人都關心他們聽，至少在查爾斯克勞特哈默和社論版華盛頓郵報-不說？

I mean, what else would you do, if you suddenly, almost miraculously (after an election improbably settled by the Supreme Court), found yourself in sole command of the globe’s only “hyperpower,” the only sheriff on planet Earth, the New Rome.我的意思是，什麼你會做，如果你突然，幾乎奇蹟般地（選舉後定居improbably由最高法院） ，發現自己在指揮的唯一全球唯一的“超強” ，唯一的治安官地球上的新羅馬。 To make matters more delicious, in terms of getting just what you wanted, those hands were on those reins為了使問題變得更加美味，在獲得正是您想要的，那些雙手被那些韁繩 right after後 “the Pearl Harbor of the twenty-first century,” when Americans were shocked and awed and terrified enough that anything-goes seemed a reasonable response? “珍珠港的二十一世紀， ”當美國人感到震驚和敬畏和恐懼，任何足夠的，不用似乎是合理的回應？

It might have gone to anyone’s head in imperial Washington at that moment, but it went to their heads in such a striking way.這可能已經給任何人的頭部在華盛頓帝國在那一刻，但到他們在這樣一個引人注目的方式。 After all, theirs was a plan – labeled in 2002 the畢竟，他們是一個計劃-在2 002年標記的 Bush Doctrine布什主義 – of global domination conceptually so un-American that, in my childhood, the only place you would have heard it was in the mouths of the most evil, snickering imperial Japanese, Nazi, or Soviet on-screen villains. -對全球統治的概念，使非美國，在我的童年，唯一的地方你會聽到有人在嘴巴的最邪惡， s nickering日本帝國，納粹或蘇聯屏幕上的壞人。 And yet, in their moment of moments, it just rolled right out of their heads and off their tongues – and they were proud of it.然而，在他們的時刻時刻，它只是推出了正確的元首和關閉他們的母語-他們感到自豪。

Here’sa question for 2009 you don’t have to answer: What should the former “new Rome” be called now?以下為2009年的問題你沒有回答：應具有什麼樣的前“新羅馬”的要求呢？ That will, of course, be someone else’s problem.這當然會是別人的問題。

The Cast of Characters演員的字符

And what a debacle the Bush Doctrine proved to be.和什麼是失敗的布什主義證明。 What a legacy the legacy president and his pals are leaving behind.什麼遺留下來的遺產總統和他的朋友都留下。 A wrecked economy, deflated global stock markets, collapsing banks and financial institutions, soaring unemployment, a smashed Republican Party, a bloated Pentagon overseeing a strained, overstretched military, mired in an阿破壞經濟，癟全球股市崩潰，銀行和金融機構，失業率高漲，一個搗破共和黨，一個臃腫的五角大樓監督緊張，捉襟見肘的軍事，陷入了 incoherent set不連貫的一套 of still-expanding wars gone sour, a network of secret prisons, as well as Guantanamo, that “jewel in the crown” of Bush’s Bermuda Triangle of injustice, and all the grim practices that went with those offshore prisons, including widespread torture and abuse, kidnapping, assassination, and the disappearing of prisoners (once associated only with South America dictatorships and military juntas).仍在擴大戰爭了酸，網絡的秘密監獄，以及關塔那摩說， “寶石皇冠”布什的百慕大三角的不公正，以及所有嚴峻的做法，去與那些海外的監獄，其中包括廣泛的酷刑和性虐待，綁架，暗殺，和消失的囚犯（一次只與南美洲獨裁和軍事juntas ） 。

They headed a government that couldn’t shoot straight or plan ahead or do anything halfway effectively, an administration that emphasized “defense” – or “homeland security” as it came to be called in their years – above all else; yet they were always readying themselves for the last battle, and so were caught utterly, embarrassingly unready for 19 terrorists with box-cutters, a hurricane named Katrina, and an arcane set of Wall Street derivatives heading south.他們領導的一個政府，不能連續拍攝或提前計劃或做任何事中途有效的管理，強調“防禦” -或“國土安全” ，因為它後來被稱為其年-高於一切，但他們總是準備好自己的最後戰役，所以完全被捕，尷尬unready 19恐怖分子盒刀，一個名為卡特里娜颶風，以及神秘的華爾街衍生物向南。

As the supposed party of small government, they succeeded mainly in strangling civilian services,正如黨的支持小政府，他們成功主要是在扼殺平民服務， privatizing government operations政府業務民營化 into the hands of crony corporations, and bulking up state power in a massive way – making an already vast intelligence apparatus落入裙帶企業，膨脹了國家權力大規模地-已經作出了巨大的情報機構 yet larger但更大的 and more labyrinthine, expanding spying and surveillance of every kind, raising secrecy to a first principle, establishing a new多迷路，擴大偵察和監視的每一種，提高保密為第一原則，建立一個新的 US military command美國軍事指揮部 for North America, endorsing a在北美，贊同 massive Pentagon buildup五角大樓大規模集結 , establishing a second Defense Department labeled the Department of Homeland Security with its own mini-homeland-security-industrial complex, evading checks and powers in the Constitution whenever possible, and claiming new powers for a “ ，建立了第二個標記國防部國土安全部自己的迷你國土安全，工業園區，逃避檢查和權力，在憲法中只要有可能，並聲稱新的權力，為“ unitary executive統一執行 ” commander-in-chief presidency. “總司令主席。

No summary can quite do justice to what the administration “accomplished” in these years.沒有總結可以很公正的話管理“成就”在這些年來。 If there was, however, a single quote from the world of George W. Bush that caught the deepest nature of the president and his core followers, it was如果有，不過，單引號從世界的美國總統布什認為陷入最深切的性質，總統和他的追隨者的核心，這是 offered提供 by an “unnamed administration official” – often assumed to be Karl Rove – to journalist Ron Suskind back in October 2004:一個“不具名政府官員” -通常被假定為羅夫-向記者羅恩聚斯金德早在2 0 04年1 0月：

“He] said that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.’ I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. “他]說，像我這樣的球員是'在我們所說的現實為基礎的社會，他定義為人們誰是認為，解決辦法擺脫你的明智的研究辨別現實。 '我點點頭，喃喃地說一些有關原則和啟示經驗主義。 He cut me off.他將我趕走。 ‘That’s not the way the world really works anymore,’ he continued. '這不是讓這個世界真正的作品了， '他繼續說。 ‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. '我們現在一個帝國，當我們採取行動，我們創造我們自己的現實。 And while you’re studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out.而你研究的現實-明智的，因為你會-我們會再次採取行動，創造其他新的現實，你也可以研究，這事將如何理清。 We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.’”我們正在歷史的參與者...和你，你們大家，將留給剛剛研究我們做什麼。 “

“We create our own reality. “我們創造我們自己的現實。 … We’re history’s actors.” ...我們有歷史的行動者。 “

It must for years have seemed that way, and everything about the lives they lived only reinforced that impression.它必須多年來一直這樣看來，一切的生活，他們只能住加強這種印象。 After all, the president himself, as so many wrote, lived in a literal bubble world.畢竟，總統本人，因為這麼多寫道，住在一個字面泡沫的世界。 Those who met him were carefully vetted; audiences were screened so that no one who didn’t fawn over him got near him; and when he這些誰見過了認真審核;觀眾進行了篩選，使任何人誰不巴結他得到了他身邊，當他 traveled旅行 through foreign cities, they were cleared of life, turned into the equivalent of Potemkin villages, while he and his many armored cars and Blackhawk helicopters, his huge contingent of Secret Service agents and White House aides, his sniffer dogs and military sharpshooters, his chefs and who knows what else passed through.通過外國城市，他們被清除的生活，變成了相當於波村莊，而他和他的許多裝甲車和黑鷹直升機，其巨大的特遣隊的特工和白宮助手，他的嗅探犬和軍事神槍手，他的廚師誰知道什麼通過。

Of course, the president had been in a close race with the reality principle (which, in his case, was the principle of failure) all his life – and whenever reality nipped at his heels, his father’s boys stepped in and whisked him off stage.當然，布什總統一直在密切的種族的現實原則（其中，在他的案件，原則上是失敗的）所有他的生命-只要現實扼殺在他的高跟鞋，他父親的男孩和加強在護送他起飛階段。 He got by at his prep school, Andover, and then at Yale, a他得到了他的預備學校，安多弗，然後在耶魯大學，一個 C-level legacy student C級學生的遺產 and, appropriately enough when it came to sports, a ，並適當足夠的時候，體育，一個 cheerleader啦啦隊長 and, at Yale, a party animal as well as the ，並在耶魯大學，當事人動物以及 president總統 of the hardest-drinking fraternity on campus.最困難的飲水友愛的校園。 He was there in the first place only because of who he wasn’t (or rather who his relations were).他在那裡擺在首位不僅是因為他是誰沒有（或更確切地說誰的關係） 。

Faced with the crises of the Vietnam era, he joined the Texas Air National Guard and more or less面對危機，越戰時期，他加入了得克薩斯州空軍國民警衛隊和或多或少 went missing失踪 in action.在行動中。 Faced with life, he became a面對生活，他成為了 drunk喝醉酒 . 。 Faced with business, he failed repeatedly and yet, thanks to his dad’s friends, became a multi-millionaire in the process.面對企業，他一再失敗，但是，由於他父親的朋友，成為一個多百萬富翁的過程中。 He was supported, cosseted, encouraged, and finally – to use an omnipresent word of our moment –他的支持，嬌生慣養，鼓勵，並最終-利用一個無所不在的字我們的時刻- bailed out保釋外出 . 。 The first MBA president was a business bust.第一MBA總統是一個企業破產。 A certain well-honed, homey congeniality got him to the governorship and then to the presidency of the United States without real accomplishments.某良好的磨練，家和藹了他的州長，然後主席對美國沒有真正的成就。 If there ever was a case for not voting for the guy you’d most like to “have a beer with,” this was it.如果有任何一個案件沒有投票的人您最希望以“有啤酒， ”這是它。

On that pile of rubble at Ground Zero on Sept. 14, 2001, with a在這一堆廢墟在地面零9月14日， 2001年，與 bullhorn擴音器 in his hands and various rescuers shouting, “USA!在他的手裡和各種救援人員高喊“美國！ USA!” he genuinely found his “calling” as the country’s cheerleader in chief (as he had evidently found his religious calling earlier in life).美國！ “他真正找到了自己” ，呼籲“作為國家的啦啦隊長在長（因為他顯然找到了自己先前的宗教要求的生活） 。 He not only took the job seriously, he visibly loved it.他不僅在工作認真，他明顯地喜歡上了它。 He took a childlike pleasure in being in the “theater” of war.他接受了孩子正在高興地在“戰區”的戰爭。 He was thrilled when some of the soldiers who captured Saddam Hussein in that “spiderhole” later他興奮時，一些士兵誰抓獲薩達姆說， “ spiderhole ”後 presented him他提出 with the dictator’s pistol.與獨裁者的手槍。 (”‘He really liked showing it off,’ says a … visitor to the White House who has seen the gun. ‘He was really proud of it.’”) He was similarly thrilled, on a trip to Baghdad in 2007, to （ “他真的很喜歡它顯示了， '說...遊客到白宮誰看到了槍。 '他真的感到自豪。 ” ） ，他也同樣激動，在前往巴格達在2007年，以 meet遇見 the American pilot “whose plane’s missiles killed Iraq’s al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi” and “returned to Washington in a buoyant mood.”美國飛行員“ ，其飛機的導彈炸死伊拉克的基地組織領導人扎卡維”和“返回華盛頓的浮力情緒。 ”

While transforming himself into the national cheerleader in chief, he even雖然自己轉化納入國家啦啦隊的首席，他甚至 kept保持 “his own personal scorecard for the war” in a desk drawer in the Oval Office – photos with brief biographies and personality sketches of leading al-Qaeda figures, whose faces could be satisfyingly crossed out when killed or captured. “他個人記分卡的戰爭”在一個抽屜在白宮橢圓形辦公室-照片與簡短的傳記和人格素描領導蓋達組織的數字，其面臨的可能是s atisfyingly劃掉時，擊斃或抓獲。 He clearly adored it when he got to dress up, whether in a他清楚地崇拜它當他穿衣服了，無論是在 flight suit飛行服 landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier in May 2003, or in front of hoo-aahing crowds of soldiers wearing a specially tailored military-style jacket with “George W. Bush, Commander In Chief”降落在甲板上的航空母艦於2003年5月，或在前面的豪- aahing人群的士兵穿著專門的軍事風格的外套與“喬治布什總司令” hand-stitched手工縫製 across the heart.整個心臟。 As earlier in life, he was supported (Karl Rove), enabled (Condoleezza Rice), cosseted (various officials), and so became “the decider,” a willing figurehead (as he had been, for instance, when he was an “owner” of the Texas Rangers), manipulated by his如前所述在生活中，他是支持（羅夫） ，啟用（康多莉扎賴斯） ，嬌生慣養（各種官員） ，因此成為“號， ”一個願意有名無實（因為他已經舉例來說，當他是一個“業主“ ，德克薩斯騎警隊） ，由他操縱 co-president Dick Cheney共同總統切尼 . 。 In these surroundings, he was able to take war play to an imperial level.在這種環境中，他能夠採取戰爭發揮了帝國主義的水平。 In the end, however, this act of his life, too, could lead nowhere but to failure.最後，然而，這種行為他的生命，也可能會導致沒有，但要失敗的。

As it happened, reality possessed its own set of shock-and-awe weaponry.事實上，現實擁有自己的一套震驚和敬畏的武器。 Above all, reality was unimpressed with history’s self-proclaimed “actors,” working so hard on the global stage to create their own reality.總之，現實與歷史不為所動的自封的“演員” ，如此艱苦的工作在全球舞台上建立自己的現實。 When it came to who really owned what, it turned out that reality owned the works and that possession was indeed nine-tenths of one law that even George Bush’s handlers and his fervent neocon followers couldn’t suspend.當它來誰真正擁有什麼，它原來是國有現實的作品，並持有確實是十分之九的一項法律，即使是布什的處理和他的熱切新保守主義的追隨者不能中止。

Exit Stage Right退出階段的權利

The results were sadly predictable.結果不幸的可預測性。 The bubble world of George W. Bush was bound to be burst.泡沫世界的美國總統布什一定會破裂。 Based on fantasies, false promises, lies, and bait-and-switch tactics, it was destined for foreclosure.基於幻想，虛假的承諾，謊言，和魚餌和切換策略，它的目的地是贖回。 At home and abroad, after all, it had been created using the equivalent of subprime mortgages, and the result, unsurprisingly, was a dismally subprime administration.在國內和國外，畢竟它創造了用相當於優抵押貸款，結果勿庸置疑，是一個令人沮喪優管理。

Now, of course, the bill collector is at the door and the property – the USA – is worth a good deal less than on Nov. 4, 2000.當然，現在該法案是收藏家在門口和財產-美國-是值得一個良好的交易不到11月4日， 2 0 00年。 George W. Bush is a discredited president; his喬治布什是一個掃地總統，他的 job approval ratings就業率 could hardly be lower; his bubble world gone bust.難以降低;他的世界了泡沫破滅。

Nonetheless, let’s remember one other theme of his previous life.然而，讓我們記住另外一個主題，他以前的生活。 Whatever his failures, Bush always walked away from disastrous dealings enriched, while others were left holding the bag.無論他的失敗，布什始終離開交往豐富了災難性的，而其他人則留下持有袋。 Don’t imagine for a second that the equivalent isn’t about to repeat itself.不要想像一個第二，相當於是不會重演。 He will leave a country functionally under the gun of foreclosure, a world他將離開一個國家職能的槍下的贖回，世界 far more aflame更為火海 and dangerous than the one he faced on entering the Oval Office.和危險比他面臨進入白宮橢圓形辦公室。 But he won’t suffer.但是，他不會受到影響。

He will have his他將他的 new house新房子 in Dallas (not to speak of the “ranch” in Crawford) and his more than $200 million presidential “在達拉斯（不說話的“牧場”在克勞福德農場）和他的2億多美元總統“ library圖書館 ” and “freedom institute” at Southern Methodist University; and then there’s always that 20 percent of America – they know who they are – who think his presidency was the greatest thing since sliced bread. “與”自由研究所“在南方衛理公會大學，然後永遠有百分之二十的美國-他們知道他們是誰-誰認為他擔任主席的最棒的事，因為土司。 Believe me, 20 percent of America is more than enough to pony up spectacular sums, once Bush takes to the talk circuit.請相信我，百分之二十的美國是綽綽有餘從腰包裡掏出壯觀的款項，一旦布什的通話電路。 As the president himself正如總統本人 put it把它 enthusiastically,”‘I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.’ With assets that have been estimated as high as nearly $21 million, Mr. Bush added, ‘I don’t know what my dad gets – it’s more than 50-75′ thousand dollars a speech, and ‘Clinton’s making a lot of money.’”熱情， “我會給一些講話，只是為了補充醇'國庫。資產已估計高達近2100萬美元，布什先生說， '我不知道我的爸爸得到-這氏超過50-75 '幾千美元的講話，和'克林頓總統作出了很多錢。 “

This is how a legacy-student-turned-president fails upward.這是怎樣的遺產學生出身的總統沒有上升。 Every disaster leaves him better off.每一個災難留下他更好地趕走。

The same can’t be said for the country or the world, saddled with his “legacy.”同樣不能說的國家或世界，背負著他的“遺產” 。

Still, his administration has been foreclosed.儘管如此，他的政府已經排除。 Perhaps there’s ignominy in that.也許有這個恥辱。 Now, the rest of us need to get out the brooms and start sweeping the stables.現在，我們其餘的需要得到了掃帚，開始清掃馬厩。

Copyright 2008版權所有2008年 Tom Engelhardt湯姆恩格爾哈特