In light of the return of W. tonight on the campaign trail in South Carolina, I have made a list of all the things we suffered through in the Bush years:

White Identity Politics

More than anything else, I hated how W. exploited White identity politics … you know, the whole evangelical cowboy act on the Crawford ranch, sitting on the back of a pickup truck, clearing brush with his chainsaw, etc. None of it was real. As soon as W. left the White House, he decamped for a mansion in the Dallas suburbs.

Taxes

It might seem strange that I would list the Bush tax cuts. It is no coincidence that W.’s first legislative accomplishment after ascending to the White House was cutting the top marginal income tax rate for the wealthy. That’s the whole point of “conservatism.” Everything else including the Bubba act is about getting to 50 percent + 1 so that the economic agenda of the donor class can be implemented.

Neocons

The W. years were the glory days when the neocons were in the saddle in Washington. If you are feeling nostalgic, John Podhoretz published Bush Country: How George W. Bush Became the First Great Leader of the 21st Century—While Driving Liberals Insane and Bill Kristol and Lawrence Kaplan published The War Over Iraq: Saddam’s Tyranny and America’s Mission, which are both available on Amazon for bargain prices.

Iraq

Nothing dominated the George W. Bush presidency like the Iraq War. Justin Raimondo reminds us how the neocons cooked the intelligence and made up the lies that embroiled us in Iraq and destabilized the entire Middle East leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead, Christianity almost wiped out, thousands of American soldiers maimed for life, and the country trillions of dollars in debt. It was part of the neocon roadmap for regime change called the Project for the New American Century.

Affirmative Action

W. stacked his cabinet with affirmative action nominees in order to be able to boast about his commitment to diversity: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Norman Mineta, Alberto Gonzalez, Elaine Chao, Carlos Gutierrez, Mel Martinez, etc.

John Roberts

W. gave us Chief Justice John Roberts who cast the key swing vote in Arizona v. United States which struck down Arizona’s immigration law. He cast the deciding vote that saved Obamacare. Roberts also gave us Citizens United and McCutcheon in an effort to allow billionaires to debauch elections with SuperPACs.

Multiculturalism

Who can forget George W. Bush celebrating Black History Month, Asian-Pacific Islander Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, etc. He even created Jewish American Heritage Month and celebrated the fake holiday Kwanzaa.

Amnesty

W. spent his second term pushing for “comprehensive immigration reform” in two big fights which he ultimately lost due to overwhelming grassroots opposition. He also ignored the millions of illegal aliens pouring over the border and used enforcing the existing immigration laws as a bargaining chip to dramatically expand legal immigration for the US Chamber of Commerce and Republican big donors.

Gay Marriage

W. was only reelected president in 2004 by stirring up a phony culture war fight over gay marriage with the Federal Marriage Amendment. He needed a big evangelical turnout to win Ohio. After W. left office, Laura Bush came out in support of gay marriage and W. himself reportedly offered to officiate a gay marriage. W.’s opposition to gay marriage was as fake and calculated as his cowboy act.

No Child Left Behind

Remember the time W. reformed our education system in order to fight “the soft bigotry of low expectations”? It was premised on the assumption that the schools were failing blacks, not that blacks were failing in school.

Social Security

W. spent significant political capital on his failed effort to partially privatize Social Security for the benefit of Wall Street.

The Housing Bubble

The whole economy under George W. Bush was based on the housing bubble.

National Debt

George W. Bush added $5.849 trillion dollars to the national debt. Most of this was due to his adventure in Iraq.

Free Trade

George W. Bush signed free trade agreements with Jordan, Peru, Singapore, Morocco, Australia, Bahrain, Chile, and negotiated the ones with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia. W.’s major contribution to the expansion of free trade though was CAFTA and supporting China’s bid to join the WTO.

Student Loans

W. signed a 2005 bankruptcy law that prevented students from discharging their student loans by declaring bankruptcy.

Economic Collapse

The rotten economy under W., which was presided over by Alan “The Maestro” Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and Hank Paulson, was loaded with exotic financial instruments which ultimately dynamited Wall Street and the world economy, requiring the Wall Street bailout to prevent a Second Great Depression.