It goes to "state of mind," your honor. The day after the November 2nd, 2004 U.S. election, CityPages.com published an article by Greil Marcus that had nothing to do with music (thanks to Rich for the tip). It was his fantasy obituary for George W. Bush, dated "October 5th, 2018," and it has to be read to be believed.

He looks back on Bush’s second term and details accomplishments including "the dismantling of Social Security and Medicare," the effective abolition of free speech in America, and a war conducted by hired private contractors (U.S. forces being hopelessly tied down in Iraq) on both Iran and North Korea. The end result is a global mess that sees the deaths of 12 million people and "the displacement of millions more."

The constitution is changed by 2008 to allow Bush to run for a third term – but he is instead soundly beaten by Bill Clinton. The post-presidential Dubya is rumored to have begun drinking again. His daughters Barbara and Jenna are killed in a drunk driving accident that also causes the deaths of seven others. Laura Bush dies of Parkinson’s disease.

On the plus side (at least for conservatively inclined readers), the Democratic Party has been so marginalized that it has "ceased to function in many states," and the Weekly Standard is now a daily!

By all means read it all. I leave it to you then to speculate whether Marcus initially decided to speak about “Masters Of War” at Columbia and then just couldn’t help himself from sniping at Bush … or whether he decided to snipe at Bush and figured “Masters Of War” was as good an entrée as any.