Dan Froomkin reports that Bush is on a legacy tour and trying to find the right epitaph for his administration. That's easy:

Worst President Ever

And I'm being generous. That's the epitaph history will use if the world manages to get handle on global warming before it does too much damage, if the U.S. can rebuild its economic system and its government into something that works, and if the international community can come together to deal with both terrorism and the incredible injustices that give birth to it -- just to hit the highlights of the challenges facing the human race these days. 

If we don't make some progress, a Bush epitaph might read:

The New Nero: He Fiddled While the World Burned

or at the very least

The Man Who Destroyed the United States

Bush lives in a bubble, so apparently he believes that even though he's unpopular now, he'll be vindicated by history. Not a chance. Leaders who make tough but unpopular choices in difficult times are often vindicated by history, but ones who start unnecessary wars, refuse to deal with the important issues of the day, and undermine the basic workings of their own government are condemned by history. (Robert Mugabe may believe he's going to be vindicated by history, too, but that's not going to happen either.)

The current question on Doonesbury's Straw Poll is "Who would you like to throw your shoes at?" and the choices are Blagojevich, Madoff, and Bush. Blagojevich may be the poster boy for political corruption and Madoff will go down in history for outdoing Ponzi, but Bush is still winning by a landside.

I'd like to think Bush would recognize the damage he's done before he dies and goes to Hell (I don't believe in Hell, but he does), and experience true remorse. But nothing he's done so far indicates he has enough intelligence or self awareness to figure it out. We'll have to settle for the harsh words of history.