Poor George W!

Apparently aware that he hasn’t done the best job over the past few years, the outgoing president instructed his White House team to send out a memo urging staff to remember him fondly. Ignoring the financial collapse and the lies leading up to the Iraq War, the two-page memo — entitled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record" — asks insiders to highlight that the president "kept the American people safe" after 9/11, helped keep the economy afloat after those attacks and helped fight AIDS in Africa. (That last one, we think, does deserve to be mentioned, for Bush pumped millions and millions of dollars into that international battle.)

In addition to those points, the spin-centric document concludes, "Above all, George W. Bush promised to uphold the honor and the dignity of his office. And through all the challenges and trials of his time in office, that is a charge that our president has kept." Obviously not everyone’s in agreement, for an anonymous tipster sent the memo to the Los Angeles Times, which, in turn, asked the White House for an explanation. Pointing out that people aren’t required to stick to the official word, spokesman Carlton Carroll explained the talking points: "What we have in mind with these documents is we feel the president’s many accomplishments haven’t been given the attention they deserve and in some cases have been purposely ignored."

Hmmm, we’re going to have to contest "ignored" and replace it with "overshadowed." But, you know, that’s just us.