Farewells

Bush’s New Self-Awareness

On his farewell tour.

President Bush has embarked on an unofficial farewell tour, displaying a characteristic that the he has seemingly only recently discovered: introspection. Having settled on what he believes to be his successes, regularly praising the fight against AIDS in Africa, the prevention of another terrorist attack in America, and a “freer, more hopeful and more promising” Middle East, Bush has also started acknowledging his defeats. These include a failure of intelligence leading up to the Iraq War and an admission that he’s “sorry” for the economic crisis. Then again, don’t expect too much contrition. "Bush was a punching bag because he wasn't going to do anything to disrupt McCain during the election," says former aide Pete Wehner. "There wasn't any punching back. I'm sure they are eager to make their case now that the election is past."