the worst President of our lifetimes is walking

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by Tex

Why?



You have a lot of angry words, but not a lot of substance. It doesn't take much genius to say, "I hate _______" over and over and over.

You have demonstrated it clearly doesn't take any genius to say "I love Bush" over and over.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Bush was a terrible president Tex, from a conservative's point of view. I believe it is arguable who was worse, Carter or Bush, and I come down on Carter, but people certainly can reasonably disagree on that one. Bush along with Taft and some of the early 20th century presidents were terrible Republicans, excepting TR of course.

"Terrible" is a bit strong. Cueing off the Barnes article, Bush made several conservative achievements, including the rejection of Kyoto, the removal of institutional barriers to fighting terrorism, and his emphasis on promoting democracy abroad. I also don't think it's possible to have gotten two better conservative picks than Roberts and Alito.

That said, Bush ended up being far more like his father than we all recognized. He comes from that "country club" Republican establishment, rather than being a movement conservative. Barnes lists NCLB and the prescription drug program expansion among his accomplishments, both of which are not my favorites. I also hated his "abandoning capitalism to save it" approach to the recent financial crisis.

I've said this before: I think Bush will be catalogued as a very average president. I think he will get lots of credit in the end for keeping the country safe, an assessment that will be tempered by how Iraq eventually turns out.

To the fair minded observer, he hasn't been a terrible president, certainly not with the likes of Jimmy Carter. The suggestion is truly ridiculous.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Tex

"Terrible" is a bit strong. Cueing off the Barnes article, Bush made several conservative achievements, including the rejection of Kyoto, the removal of institutional barriers to fighting terrorism, and his emphasis on promoting democracy abroad. I also don't think it's possible to have gotten two better conservative picks than Roberts and Alito.

That said, Bush ended up being far more like his father than we all recognized. He comes from that "country club" Republican establishment, rather than being a movement conservative. Barnes lists NCLB and the prescription drug program expansion among his accomplishments, both of which are not my favorites. I also hated his "abandoning capitalism to save it" approach to the recent financial crisis.

I've said this before: I think Bush will be catalogued as a very average president. I think he will get lots of credit in the end for keeping the country safe, an assessment that will be tempered by how Iraq eventually turns out.

To the fair minded observer, he hasn't been a terrible president, certainly not with the likes of Jimmy Carter. The suggestion is truly ridiculous.

I don't particularly fee safe, so that concept is ephemeral.

He abandoned fiscal policies resembling anything Republican, he eliminated civil liberties, and he was a PR nightmare. I don't hate him as a person, but I despise how he dismantled the Republican Party, as many conservatives sat idly by.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

It will- if Obama tries to exert the same expansion of powers. The conservative argument in favor of a strengthened executive has been remarkably short-sighted and naive.

That's not a conservative argument but a statist argument.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by Archaea

I don't particularly fee safe, so that concept is ephemeral.

It's not ephemeral. It's an indisputable fact that the country has not been attacked again, which no person on Sept 12, 2001, would've thought likely. We can debate the degree to which Bush is responsible for that, but the fact remains it occurred on his watch.

Whether or not you personally feel safe is completely irrelevant. Perhaps you are psychotic.

Originally Posted by Archaea

He abandoned fiscal policies resembling anything Republican, he eliminated civil liberties, and he was a PR nightmare. I don't hate him as a person, but I despise how he dismantled the Republican Party, as many conservatives sat idly by.

I agree his fiscal policies have been troubling, and that with the exception of the brilliant Tony Snow, his PR was lacking. I disagree that he has "eliminated" civil liberties--hyperbole of the grandest and silliest sort.

As for the Republican party, the short term domestic impact of his foreign policy has been to turn the government completely over to Democrats, much to my chagrin. But, the pendulum always swings. Ho hum.

Whether they can keep it will be an interesting show.

[MikeWaters]

1. Didn't get OBL.
2. Certainly didn't prevent massive terrorist attacks against our Western allies.
3. The number of American GI deaths in Iraq surpasses the number of deaths on 9/11, by a substantial amount. So we need to believe that the deaths in Iraq prevented even greater number of deaths from an attack worse than 9/11. Not to mention all the maimed and disabled and brain-injured. Not to mention all the civilian deaths. We are to believe that Iraq is somehow related to no terrorist attack in the USA.

How many Americans were murdered while Bush was president? Let's compare that to the number of people who died on 9/11. Unrelated? Plenty of Americans are being terrorized RIGHT NOW by rampant crime. War on terror my ass. War on terror=chance for $ and power.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

How many Americans were murdered while Bush was president? Let's compare that to the number of people who died on 9/11. Unrelated? Plenty of Americans are being terrorized RIGHT NOW by rampant crime. War on terror my ass. War on terror=chance for $ and power.

Excellent point.

And now, Obama the anti-2nd amendment President is getting ready to take charge.

I'd rather take my chances with terrorist strikes.

[NorCal Cat]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

into the sunset.

And yes I was alive during the Carter administration.

He diminished America in every way possible. Good riddance. Even Republicans are cheering his passage.

Blah, blah, blah...nothing to see here folks (as usual), please move along.

[NorCal Cat]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

No president could have taken 9/11 and turned the entire Western world against us. That's a stunning achievement.

Thank you Captain Hyperbole.

The entire Western world is against us, eh? Besides, the Euro-weeny, socialists disliking us is probably a sign that we are doing something RIGHT.

[NorCal Cat]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

God willing, one day George W. Bush will stand in front of a tribunal to answer for his crimes.

Are you for real? LMAO! What "crimes?"