[White House]

Bush Accomplishments 2005.

President Bush trundled out a dubious list of "accomplishments" today to celebrate a bank up year. The full list is here (propagandistically called a "fact sheet"). It's broken down into three categories. Tell me if you think these were stellar examples of achievement:

Achievement: Winning the war on terror
Thoughts: Going so badly at one point that the White House toyed with changing the name to Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. The war to change the name has not gone any better than the war itself. On the upside, the earthquake in Pakistan may have done what Bush never could--take out Osama.

Achievement: Improved economy.
Thoughts: You know that things are bad when you look at the titles of his accomplishments. This one is actually "President Bush Is Advancing His Agenda To Maintain A Strong And Vibrant Economy." [cough] gas prices [cough]. [cough] deficits [cough].

Achievement: Supreme Court Nominees
Thoughts: Hey, two out of three ain't bad.

Achievement: Working with Congress to pass legislation
Thoughts: It occurs to me as I type this achievement that both it and the previous one are actually just bullet points on the job description. And this time he's even fudging it--Congress started really not working with him. [cough] McCain torture provision, Patriot Act [cough].

Achievement: "Acting To Help The Gulf Coast Recover From Natural Disaster"
Thoughts: A heckuva job.

It's been such a gold standard of a year that he didn't even have to bother to point out his stunning victories in making Iraq a safer, more Democratic place. Or Terri Schiavo!

Kudos all around: may next year be just as successful.