And Here's a Bridge to Sell You, Too

One thing you can say about George W. Bush is that he knows how to spin a line of complete and total bull and hope like hell no one notices. Of course, people always notice, but he hasn't yet figured that part out.

Last Saturday, the president gave the commencement address at Furman University in South Carolina. Just once, he refrained from his usual fear-and-loathing rhetoric to give a pep talk, telling the students and faculty about "volunteerism," "the spirit of service," and "a resurgence of personal responsibility."

It was, of course, a complete crock. He has never expected "volunteerism" from Halliburton, KBR or other well-paid war profiteers. And with his endless ducking of any accountability for what may very well be the most disastrous presidency in American history, he has no place talking about personal responsibility.

But that was not even the most laugh-out-loud moment in his speech. No, that came when he lectured the new graduates about fiscal responsibility:

You can strengthen our country by showing fiscal discipline in your lives... In the next few years, you may find it tempting to amass more debt, particularly from credit cards, on expenses that bring little long-term benefit. My advice to you is not to dig a financial hole that you can't get out of. Live within your means.

Did he really think he was fooling anyone? Since 2000, his continual borrow-and-spend orgy has increased the national debt by nearly $4 trillion. That's more than $30,000 for each and every person - man, woman and child - in America.

He has refused to raise taxes or even roll back his own tax cuts to pay for the endless maw of the Iraq War. He has generally financed government operations by borrowing, primarily from other countries. But he doesn't care about any of it because (a) he's personally rich, and (b) he'll be out of office in seven months anyway.

For him to say anything about financial discipline is just pathetic.