Bush for Congress? Just Say No!

Steve Coronella at the Christian Science Monitor thinks he has hit on a great idea for George W. Bush's next career -- Congressman. He suggests W look to the example of John Quincy Adams, another legacy president, who served in the House of Representatives after losing a re-election bid in 1828.

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Despite this downgrading of his job description, Adams was delighted. "No election or appointment conferred upon me ever gave me so much pleasure," he wrote in his diary.

In his 17 years in the House, Adams cried out against the Mexican War, battled the infamous Gag Rule, which prevented any discussion of petitions against slavery, and championed the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution.

Bush should do the same. That is, he should return to Texas and run for Congress. Surely, he'd get elected – even though he has one of the lowest approval ratings a sitting president has had – due to his years as governor back in the 1990s.

Yeah, I'm sure Bush could count on his family connections and perhaps some help from Karl Rove to get himself a seat in Congress, but I don't see him becoming an outspoken advocate for peace or free speech. He might push for an equivalent to the Smithsonian -- if he could put his name on it. Coronella continues:

But Bush should also make it conditional, as Adams did when he ran for Congress in 1831. Adams allowed his name to be put forward on two conditions that present-day candidates would probably find hard to contemplate: That he would never solicit the votes of his constituents and that he would speak his mind at all times.

This should come pretty easily to Bush. Okay, so he's not a natural orator, able to deliver memorable phrases off the cuff. Who is these days? But he has shown that he's well able to do the vision thing, and with a few smart Congressional aides on his team he can continue that tradition in the House.

Wait! Bush "has shown that he's well able to do the vision thing"? When was that? Was it when he envisioned capturing Osama bin Laden, or when he envisioned punishing al-Qaeda but invaded Iraq instead?

I think Bush should fade into well-earned obscurity once he leaves office. The only value to keeping him in the public eye is as a reminder that we should never again elect a President who is an arrogant, incurious, entitled jerk.