Let Me Sum Up

Why do I have to wait for history to tell me what the Bush Center is full of?

I don’t have a problem that we’re dedicating the George W. Bush Presidential Center today. SMU benefits. We get a cool new library, museum and archive. Who is against such things?

My problem is with — gee, who can give voice to the attitude that is causing this gnawing pain in my gut?

Oh, hello, Steve Blow:

May I make a suggestion? Instead of escalating emotions, the debut of the George W. Bush Presidential Center makes an awfully good day for both friends and foes of the former president to let them go. I’m not saying anyone has to change opinions on Bush. It’s just time to let both the vilification and the defensiveness pass. History has begun its inexorable work in rendering a judgment. Let’s trust that process.

[Takes long, deep breath. Tries not to seek out puppies to punch.]

Right. Let’s trust that process. Let’s not, more than a decade after going to war and more than four years after his presidency ended, ask a newspaper to be a part of that process.

Let me try to take that advice. [Closes eyes.] Kumbaya, my Lord! Kum-ba-ya!

Sorry, just doesn’t feel right. There’s something about the disparity here between how we treat someone like Jimmy Carter — a failed president who nevertheless is a man of great works of compassion post-presidency — and Neighbor George, a man whose obvious compassion should for some reason blind me to the horrific choices he made as president.

According to this editorial, today marks the next chapter of our love affair with the Bushes. According to this story, experts tell me that, don’t you worry, eventually we’ll get to talking more openly and honestly about Iraq. In, say, 50 years or so.

So I am instead to take at face value the Bush Center’s postscript on the Iraq war:

Iraq has a functioning democracy and security has improved. No stockpiles of WMD were found. Post-invasion inspections confirmed that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to resume production of WMD. Iraq has foresworn WMD and is an ally in the War on Terror.”

Weird! Because just a few weeks ago I read a portrait of Iraq today that painted a far different picture, from someone who was there when the invasion began a decade ago and who recently returned:

Today, not to put too fine a point on it, Iraq is a failed state, teetering on the brink of another sectarian bloodbath, and beset by chronic political deadlock and economic disaster. Its social fabric has been all but shredded by nearly a decade of brutal occupation by the US military and now by the rule of an Iraqi government rife with sectarian infighting.

But … takin’ out terrorism? Trust the process? Twirling toward freedom? No? It continues:

The death toll of March 11th [2013] was one of the worst of late and provides a snapshot of the increasing levels of violence countrywide. Overall, 27 people were killed and many more injured in attacks across the country. A suicide car bomb detonated in a town near Kirkuk, killing eight and wounding 166 (65 of whom were students at a Kurdish secondary school for girls). In Baghdad, gunmen stormed a home where they murdered a man and woman. A shop owner was shot dead and a policeman was killed in a drive-by shooting in Ghazaliya. A civilian was killed in the Saidiya district, while a Sahwa member was gunned down in Amil. Three government ministry employees in the city were also killed.

This is not a unique occurrence. Dozens were killed this week too. Six bombs went off last week, killing 42.

So, go ahead and celebrate the pretty building. Post your photos on Instagram. Just don’t give me this bullshit about how we need to hurry and have fun before the History Grump visits in 50 years and declares the Bush legacy to be one of destroying a fragile nation to further his cabinet’s pathological right-wing paranoia. That history is being written daily, in the blood of innocents.

Retweets

Too late!

Historians, WH Reporters: Press Shouldn't "Whitewash" Bush Record In Library Reports mm4a.org/14S28ix

— JoeStrupp (@JoeStrupp) April 25, 2013

Now, this is the sort of Bush Center reporting I can get behind.

Troy Aikman with unidentified, pocket-size hottie #XPresidents @ George W. Bush Presidential Center instagram.com/p/Yh5BQEBoIy/

— Tim Rogers (@timmytyper) April 25, 2013

We have pulled out of Iraq, but the idea our invasion didn't destroy the country is being proven wrong every day.

Photo by Sgt. Luis Lazzara, U.S. Army

We have pulled out of Iraq, but the idea our invasion didn't destroy the country is being proven wrong every day.

unspecified

Money news

Dallas ranks as No. 1 city with smallest inflation problem in U.S.

Photo by Erin Hervey on Unsplash

Dallas' inflation has cooled off after it was last saddled with the highest inflation rate nationally in January 2024.

Inflation has been one of the biggest hot-button issues in the country in 2025, but a new study says inflation not impacting Dallas nearly as much as it is other U.S. cities.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ranked as the metro with the smallest inflation problem in the U.S. in WalletHub's new report, "Changes in Inflation by City."

The report analyzed the impact of inflation across 23 major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) using Consumer Price Index data from the latest month available and compared to data from two months prior. The analysis also factored in inflation data from last year to better track both short- and long-term inflation changes.

Dallas saw only a 0.10 percent increase in its local inflation rate when compared to two months prior, and the rate is only 0.60 percent higher than it was this time last year.

Dallas residents may be feeling the sting a lot less than they did in January 2024, when WalletHub said the city had the No. 1 highest inflation rate in the U.S. In April 2023, Dallas-Fort Worth had the 10th highest inflation rate nationwide.

The study found Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire is the MSA that is currently being rattled by the highest inflation rate in the nation. The northeastern metro saw a 1.10 percent uptick in inflation when compared to two months ago, and it's 3 percent higher than it was a year ago.

Inflation has continued to fluctuate throughout the year in different areas, but WalletHub said the national inflation rate has significantly lowered since it last hit a 40-year high during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The year-over-year inflation rate sits at 2.4 percent as of May 2025, which is still above the target rate of 2 percent," the report said. "Various factors, such as the war in Ukraine, labor shortages and recent tariffs, drive this higher than average inflation. Despite the country not meeting its target yet, the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at the level set in December 2024."

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land experienced the 13th highest inflation rate in the U.S., the report found. Inflation in the region increased 0.90 percent over the last two months, and it is currently 1.2 percent higher than it was one year ago.

The top 10 metros where inflation has risen the most are:

No. 1 – Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire
No. 2 – St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois
No. 3 – Baltimore-Columbia-Townson, Maryland
No. 4 – San Diego-Carlsbad, California
No. 5 – Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado
No. 6 – Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
No. 7 – Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
No. 8 – Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin
No. 9 – Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
No. 10 – New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania

arlington dallas economy fort worth inflation report wallethub