Addicted To Bush 2 | Confirmed ◆ |

George W. Bush is now painting portraits of immigrants and baking cookies with Michelle Obama. He has gone to rehab. But have we?

We developed tolerance. A disastrous press conference wasn't a failure of governance; it was entertainment. The signing of the Patriot Act wasn't a legal shift; it was a plot point. The economic collapse of 2008 wasn't a tragedy; it was the season finale. addicted to bush 2

The late-night comics became our dealers. The "Bush-isms"— "Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again." —were our drug of choice. Every malapropism, every awkward smirk, every quizzical head-tilt was a dopamine hit for the left and a rallying cry for the right. George W

When everything is a crisis, nothing is a crisis. We forgot how to live at a baseline level of political sobriety. Then came November 4, 2008. The drug was gone. The "W." era ended. And the nation went into immediate withdrawal. But have we

Until we learn to tolerate the boredom of normal politics, we will never truly be sober. We will simply be waiting for the next cowboy to come riding over the hill, ready to give us another fix.