Hugh's Scroll



A progressive named Hugh, started making a list of Bush scandals late last summer. It got distributed in its infancy at the blog firedoglake. People in that community love challenges, so Hugh didn't even have to ask for help. Initially, the list entries were very brief. Most were only long enough so that the people at firedoglake, who are very familiar with Bush's shortcomings, crimes, misdemeanors - and worse - could easily understand the entries. But Hugh edited each entry by adding enough information so that even a mainstream media reporter would understand what event or action the entry implied or recognized. All of these entries - there are now 281 - are worse than a president getting a hummer from another adult under the Oval Office desk. Most are breaches of the public trust, many violations of Bush's Oath of Office. The rest are crimes and War Crimes.
I decided to make Hugh's List into a scroll. Set in 10-point Helvetica, with no upper or lower page margins, it is about 60 feet long. I unfurled it this afternoon in the lobby of the Arts Building at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Just trying to get the students here closer to the reality of politics.