24 hours to go. One more day. And then ... the nightmare that has been the George W. Bush administration comes to its end in shame and ignominy. Bush and his grisly gang of thugs may escape the bar of justice, but at least we can take some small comfort in sensing histories harsh verdict: these men were a criminal conspiracy more than a government. Others will write the books about this time. Others will offer sophisticated theories to explain the rise and fall of Mr Bush's Reich. Others will no doubt find some quirk or flaw in the American character to explain how anyone as utterly unqualified for high office as George W. Bush ever convinced a single voter to trust the country to his tender care.
I have a simple explanation for the success of 'Bushisim" in America. It's Thomas Kinkades fault. That's right, the "Painter of Light" almost destroyed the worlds greatest democracy. But Mr Kinkade is merely a harmless hack who has bamboozled thousands upon thousands of Americans to shell out big bucks for bad art you say. What's wrong with that? What's wrong is that Mr Kinkade aligned himself to some ersatz version of ' Christianity" that flourishes in this country, aligned himself so tightly that any home displaying a Kinkade painting could be reliably counted on to attend an evangelical church, and vote republican up and down the ticket. I believe this phenomenon offers insight into the core of our problem. Our culture has so devalued education that millions can no longer tell the difference between art and mass marketed schlock. Our people are so theologically illiterate that it seems normal to idolize a man made Jesus who demands blood rather than offers mercy. We have so hypnotized the populace with flickering images and dreams of avarice that at least half the people can't tell the difference between a leader and a thief; and that I think as much as anything explains the last eight years.
Tomorrow, we begin to paint a new picture.
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