What has George Bush done wrong?

[Ride the Lightning]

No, I didn't take the list with me and I'm not going to offer any rebuttal to any of it. I was just curious what would come up because when I asked that question to people around here the only answers they can some up with start with the phrase "I heard on the news" and that's not a reason.

I actually though the list would be much larger than it is, but there seems to be some confusion over what Bush has done and what Bush has supported. He is not solely responsible for the Patriot Act/4th Ammendment (sorry, you don't get points for both). He did sign it, but the vote was pretty close to the 2/3 required to overturn his veto anyway. Even beloved Senator Clinton voted for it. Same for the Military Commissions Act/suspension of habeus corpus (again, no point points for both), which I don't agree with in general, but realize that it might be appropriate in some cases.

I think we can all agree that another AWB would be useless, but there are few politicians out there that wouldn't support one. The public (aka votes) loves the illusion of safety and that is what this would provide.

Economic stimulus checks are a stupid waste of time and resources as I have said in other threads. For that matter, the IRS is a stupid waste of time and resources. Can we blame Bush for that as well?

If you want to blame someone for open borders it should be our founding fathers. They are the ones that set the system up this way and the voters are the ones that have said time and time again that this is how it should be. This should have been taken care of decades ago when it became evident that this would lead to problems.

Overall the reasons are about what I expected with a few exceptions. Most are related to a circumstance that just happened to be during his time in office and that he was forced to deal with. Most were widely supported by the majority of Americans and their representatives at the time and those same people have since turned on him.

I don't really know why I even care, but it seems to me that the success or failure of a presidency tends to be placed on the circumstances present during that presidency. We could play what if all year, but if 9-11 hadn't happened we likely would not be discussing any of these things. If Bush had ignored 9-11 the way Clinton ignored acts of terrorism how would we feel about him? He'd still be a punk for not standing up to terrorism. He was/is in a no win situation, so since you're going to be hammered anyway why not do your best to do the right thing? This is his legacy and there's nothing to change it. The highlight of his time in office might be that we haven't had an attack on our home turf in almost 7 years and the things listed above as undesirable probably had a little bit to do with that. If we'd had the Patriot Act in the early 90's the government might have been able to stop the Oklahoma City bombing if they had chosen to.

Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the greatest Presidents of all time. Would he be regarded the same way if it hadn't been for the Civil War, which he basically started by becoming President? His legacy was a great one because of the circumstances. If the South had won he would have been one of the worst presidents ever even if he did everything else the exact same. I feel like Bush is in the same boat, he's just at the stern instead of the bow.

[bigpov]

Originally Posted by Ride the Lightning

......Most are related to a circumstance that just happened to be during his time in office and that he was forced to deal with. Most were widely supported by the majority of Americans and their representatives at the time and those same people have since turned on him.

.....If Bush had ignored 9-11 the way Clinton ignored acts of terrorism how would we feel about him? He'd still be a punk for not standing up to terrorism. He was/is in a no win situation, so since you're going to be hammered anyway why not do your best to do the right thing? This is his legacy and there's nothing to change it. The highlight of his time in office might be that we haven't had an attack on our home turf in almost 7 years and the things listed above as undesirable probably had a little bit to do with that. If we'd had the Patriot Act in the early 90's the government might have been able to stop the Oklahoma City bombing if they had chosen to.

Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the greatest Presidents of all time. Would he be regarded the same way if it hadn't been for the Civil War, which he basically started by becoming President? His legacy was a great one because of the circumstances. If the South had won he would have been one of the worst presidents ever even if he did everything else the exact same. I feel like Bush is in the same boat, he's just at the stern instead of the bow.

Those are my feelings exactly. I actually wrote just about the same thing on my family's website. Bush was damned if he did and damned if he didn't go after the terrorists. People that were behind him are now against him. The American people that once supported him, in my opinion, have been influenced by both, decisions that he's made and partially because the main stream media has a way of turning public opinion one way or another. I personally don't think President Bush has been the best, most influential, or up front President we've had. But compared to what came just before him and what we almost ended up with instead of him, we should count our blessings.

[bountyhunter]

Originally Posted by Ride the Lightning

In my relatively short time here I've noticed that there are a lot of people that really hate George W Bush and feel he is the worst POTUS we've had in a very long time. I would like to know specific reasons why. Not things like "He destroyed the economy" or "He led us to way". I want specifics like "He supported and signed xxxxx legislation to do xxxxxxxx". Anybody got anything, or does everyone just hate because the media tells them to?

His worst traits are what make him the worst president:

1) he has 'dry drunk syndrome". Look that one up if you are curious.

2) he is an angry little man..... and carries that attutude through his life. He sneers (both literally and figuratively) at anyone or anything that disagrees with him. That's a BAD personality trait for a leader.

3) He came into office with a grudge against Saddam Hussein. Bush 41 lost a terrible election defeat when Hussein survived and retained power in Iraq. Dubya never forgot and never forgave. Hussein was a dead man walking when Dubya was elected.

4) Bush allowed himself to be manipulated by other lying fools like Condi, Rummy and worst of all: Cheney. Deadeye Dick Cheney was SECDEF under the first Gulf War when Hussein was supposed to die.... and Cheney was obsessed with getting him ever since. He and Dubya were both set on doing that job regardless of reality.

5) Dubya is oblivious to reality. I honestly don't think he even knows reality exists. he always said Uraq was going great, and he still denies we are in a recession. It's not good when your president is living on another planet.

6) Bush also believes the world is divided into only two parts: what he thinks is right and what is WRONG. He honestly thinks Americans who don't support him are traitors and he thinks everybody who disagrees with him is wrong.

[bountyhunter]

Originally Posted by Ride the Lightning

If Bush had ignored 9-11 the way Clinton ignored acts of terrorism how would we feel about him? He'd still be a punk for not standing up to terrorism.

Well:

1) You repeat a myth: Clinton did not ignore terrorism, he used our law and international law to bring them to justice. The first WTC bombers were sent to prison.

Did you notice: when England had a terror attack, they did exactly the same thing Clinton did (used their laws)? They also made a point of saying they would not sacrifice their own laws to fight terrorists, they would use their laws against them. So, even after 9-11, some nations won't tear up their Bills of Rights and declare martial law.

Clinton did what EVERY president before him did: used law and also used the CIA. Clinton authroized three CIA hits on Bin laden, all of which they bungled. Clinton did not call out the Marines, who would we have invaded?

As for why "Bush is a punk", it's because he was too stupid to kill our real enemy (Bin laden) when we had him cornered in Afghnaistan. With all the whining about Clinton not getting Bin laden BEFORE HE ATTACKED US ON 9-11..... never a comment about Bush simply letting him ride off to pakistan and set up the Al Qaeda network that now threatens the whole world?

Funny how the Bush supporters stay away from that fact.


Here's what Bush said about the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks:

Bush says bin Laden no threat / Options open against rogue states … including nuclear weapons Bush says bin Laden no Threat

Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Washington -- President Bush declared Osama bin Laden all but vanquished yesterday, saying the al Qaeda leader -- dead or alive -- no longer poses a serious threat to America.
"We haven't heard from him in a long time," Bush told reporters at the White House. "I truly am not that concerned about him."
//////
Bush's dismissive comments on bin Laden stand in stark contrast to his declaration in the first days after the Sept. 11 that he wanted the al Qaeda leader "dead or alive."
BIN LADEN 'MARGINALIZED'
Yesterday, Bush said the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan has effectively "marginalized" bin Laden and "destroyed" his terrorist network.
"I was concerned about him when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban," Bush said. But now, "we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore."

You want to know why Bush is the worst president in history? I couldn't have said it any better than he already did.

[Delija]

"What has George Bush done wrong?"

Answer: He did not pull out in November of 1945

Oh, wait....you mean the OTHER George Bush? "W"?

Never mind then!

[one-eyed-fatman]

Geez nobody even mentioned G.W. has taken more vacations then any other president in American history. Also during his time in office all of Washington does a three day work week.

[cucamelsmd15]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

Geez nobody even mentioned G.W. has taken more vacations then any other president in American history. Also during his time in office all of Washington does a three day work week.

Holy mother of God, its OEFM

[Delija]

Originally Posted by cucamelsmd15

Holy mother of God, its OEFM

The Ghost has come back as a zombie.

With close to 9K posts!

[one-eyed-fatman]

CRAP, I thought I was a holy ghost...

[Delija]

Originally Posted by one-eyed-fatman

CRAP, I thought I was a holy ghost...

OK...I'll go with that. Just semantics.