Me and My English Degree

This morning, I awake to NPR's Weekend Edition, and during a segue they replay the last few words of George Bush's State of the Union Address, which prior to the obligatory, and usually untroubling but when Bush says it vaguely sinister God Bless America, closes with this:

And so we move forward — optimistic about our country, faithful to its cause and confident of victories to come.

I read this in the advance copy a few moments before I listened to Bush read it aloud, unable even to avoid flubbing his last, supposedly rousing paragraph. And I understand that reading doesnt appear to be a big priority in the White House. Furhermore, I understand that historic myopia appears to be the order of the day. But you'd think that one of his speechwriters or advisors would remember his high school literature class, in which he or she surely read this famous last line:

And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly to the past.

That lament, with which F. Scott Fitzgerald closes The Great Gatsby, probably would have been a more apt selection for this administration, as perceived by its critics. You'd think someone would have been astute enough to avoid the association by a greater margin.

But then this administration specializes, above all, in disappointment. So I don't suppose I'm surprised.