Mother Jones‘ September/October issue, “Exit Strategy: How to Fix a Post-Bush Nation,” offers a comprehensive breakdown of Bush-era bungling. Exploring topics ranging from executive power to domestic priorities, the magazine examines what went wrong (at no small length) and offers a primer on how the next President can recover from Bush administration misconduct and incompetence.

A few stories stood out as particularly relevant:

Jack Hitt’s “Pursuit of Habeas” outlines the origins of habeus corpus and details why the Bush detainment policy was counterproductive as well as illegal.

James K. Gailbraith’s “How to Burn the Speculators” shows how increasing deregulation of the financial industry, stretching back to Reagan, is tied to today’s financial meltdown. (McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm plays a leading role, but the blame is widely spread.)

Finally, “Bush’s Reign of Error: A Timeline,” provides a quick-hit summary of the 43rd President’s many lowlights. Looking back, the scope of his malfeasance is pretty breathtaking. Among other things, I’d forgotten that Henry Kissinger was initially selected to head the 9/11 commission.