Bush in Spanish 101

Back in 1977, George W. Bush and some of his buddies founded Arbusto Oil in Midland, Texas. (The company became better known after 9/11 when people learned that one of the group, James Bath, had invested $50,000 as a representative of Salem bin Laden, half-brother of Osama bin Laden.) ARBUSTO in Spanish means "shrub"--I presume nobody misses the connection.

Well, class, in today's Spanish lesson, we learn a more defining word for the former oilman who has inhabited the White House for the last seven years. The word is EMBUSTERO. It is both an adjective and a noun.

EMBUSTERO (adjective): Lying

EMBUSTERO (noun): Liar

An example: Last October 17, from the mouth of George W. Bush: " As I've said before, the United States does not torture. It's against our laws and it's against our values. ''

Another example: On November 30, from the mouth of Mr. Bush's creepy spokesperson, Dana Perino, responding to journalist Helen Thomas: "To suggest that we, the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive."

The US does not torture? The whole world recognizes the superabundant, irrefutable evidence to the contrary. (And now we learn that in 2005 the CIA destroyed video evidence of torture they carried out in 2002.)

The US does not kill innocent people? Scientific studies by The Lancet (updated by using Iraq Body Count) and the UK's Opinion Research Business put the number of killed Iraqis at over 1,000,000. In any case, it is impossible to deny that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since March 19, 2003.

But there is no shame in this White House. Embustero. Completo, constante. desgraciado.

There is not a precise word in Spanish for American impeachment. But the English word comes through loud and clear. Morality and the law demand that the word become deed.