George W. Bush is out on the campaign trail stumping for Jeb, a development that definitely does not give us chilling flashbacks and stress diarrhea. Last night they went on Fox News together, where Sean Hannity beamed at them with delight and W. joyfully mangled the English language as though not a single day had passed since his moment in the sun.
W. told Hannity that he’s supporting his brother because he knows about being president and he knows what it takes:
“I love America and I know we face enormous problems, but I know we can deal with them. I know we can handle them. I’m not an expert in a lot of things, but I’m pretty knowledgeable about what it take to be President, since ‘I were one’. And he’s got what it takes. He’s got character, backbone, philosophy, vision, and he’d make a really good President.”
In fairness: yeah, he were.
Nothing could be as enthusiastic as Barbara Bush noting that her son “seems to be” the best candidate, but this is pretty good.
The Bushes in North Charleston, South Carolina, February 15, 2016. Photo via AP Images
DISCUSSION
There are times when I almost feel bad for Jeb!: he designed this whole “Shock and Awe” primary strategy specifically to clear the field early and avoid having to bring in Bush II and his bewildering 70-80% GOP approval rating. That would have set him up nicely to further distance himself from Bush II in the general and make a strong run at moderate voters. But now, thanks to Jeb!’s own shitty campaign, he is desperately hoping that this simple shit—a man he was purposefully hoping to sideline—can come in and save his sorry ass.
And you know Dubya gets all (eh, most...) of this. I hope he just starts misremembering shit left and right in his speeches just to fuck with Jeb! Actually, now that I think about it I guess I don’t really feel bad for Jeb! at all.