The kind of venomously indiscriminate government bashing that George W. Bush exemplifies has long mystified other advanced nations--including our closest neighbor, Canada.

Canadians, like most citizens of Western democracies, expect their government to do useful things for them.  If the government fails to meet their expectations, their approach is to vote out those who botched the assignment, and bring a new group in.

How did we get so far away from such a simple, pragmatic approach?

Maybe it is because until now, we have not been forced to look squarely into the face of over-the-top government bashing, and meaningfully consider its origins.

Bush has finally put the systemic breakdowns this approach leads to so plainly in front of us that we have little choice but to come to grips with it.

While there will always be room for people to be honestly concerned about limiting government to its proper (and affordable) role, it is becoming increasingly hard to ignore how often the kind of bashing that Bush exemplifies is merely a cover for the privileged to squander the public treasury for their own private ends.  He and his ilk are simply creating a social environment where it "doesn't matter" what they do to government, because government is such a dweeb.

This sort of behavior is particularly repellent when it comes from someone as ultra-fortunate in his origins as George W. Bush.

In the long run, providing us with such an execrably bad example to shun may at least teach us something--albeit at great cost, which will be paid for years to come.

I suspect this will turn out to be the most significant accomplishment of George W. Bush's Presidency.