Ed Morrissey notes that many who spent 8+ years detesting Bush as the worst moron-nazi-terrorist ever born of woman are now looking for him to break his post-presidential silence in the cause of aiding President Obama and the unpopular dont-call-it-a-Ground-Zero-mosque construction planned in New York City.
It’s certainly a delicious irony to savor. Of course all of those pundits clamoring for Bush’s assistance are careful to point out that he is still an idiotchimp on every other issue but this one, but I have heard similar “I miss Bush” musings from others–those who always hated Bush, those who grew to hate him, those who piled on because the pile was a safe place to be.
One of my husband’s friends–hated Bush, loved Obama and defended him vociferously for the first year, less passionately the second–told him over lunch this week that he’s done with Obama and “I never thought I’d say this but I miss Bush. We knew that he said what he meant, even if we didn’t want to hear it. We knew who he was, even if we didn’t like him. And we never had to wonder whether he liked us. He always did.”
And that is it, in a nutshell. Bush is missable, because we miss having a president whose affection for his country and its people–even the ones who hated him–was never in doubt.
We miss Bush because he never lectured us or harangued us, and when people disagreed with him, they were not immediately called names in an attempt to simply shut up debate.
Were President Bush faced with this precise Cordoba Group situation during his presidency, I have no idea what his response to it would have been. It is conceivable that he would have made a point of encouraging his citizenry to look at the proposed construction as a great reflection of America’s steadfast commitment to liberty. Had he done so, he likely would have faced opposition from his base, and from the center, and quite possibly from the very folks on the left who are now pining for him – because recall that during his presidency, nothing coming form the mouth of Bush was permitted to be deemed credible, reasonable or intelligent.
I am absolutely certain however that in the face of angry, hurt opposition President Bush would not have permitted or encouraged his party to charge 60% of the nation with bigotry and xenophobia, because Bush never hated his opponents, and he never believed the worst of his countrymen; he believed the best.
Believing the worst of his countrymen sometimes seems to be President Obama’s default mode.
We miss Bush because he believed that Americans are inherently decent and heroic people who would–even in strained situations–bring thoroughly decent and heroic responses to bear.
It is a much better message for a president to send to his people than, “Don’t be evil. Like you usually are.”
Rick at Brutally Honest has more
UPDATE: And then there’s this
And the 50,000-plus U.S. troops still in Iraq are perfectly capable of combat operations.
And, as the Nation notes (that’s right, The Nation, that far-left magazine):
Obama’s Plan for Iraq Is the Petraeus-Bush Iraq Plan –
“As a guest on today’s Democracy Now!, The Nation’s Jeremy Scahill says Obama is ‘implementing the policy that was on the desk of George W. Bush when he left the White House.’”
So, yes, thank you President Obama . . . for following the plan of President Bush.
If God really does work in history, I think that Obama is our punishment for the way a good man like Bush was slandered by so many people for so long.
God is asying to Obama voters: You want a bad person? Here’s your bad person. Now live with the rotten things he’ll do.
It is not unChristian to pray that Obama voters are hurt first and most. They are only getting what they asked for. It is simple justice, and a kind of mercy. If they did not suffer the fruits of their own maliciousness, they’d never learn the real difference betweeen a good man and a bad one.
Now everyone is learning.
[I disagree. I pray for Obama every day, and I do not pray that he gets hurt. I pray for his salvation, which is the best prayer we can make for each other, I think. -admin]
Admin,
I do not pray O gets hurt. It’s the O voters that are the problem. They need to feel the effects of their gross irresponsibility or America will never be anywhere near a united, prosperous, free country again.
The entire rest of the nation, outside the 25% of American-hating leftists in the MSM and in Obama’s world, are indeed looking with fondness back on the calm and respectful leadership of George W. Bush.
You can easily tell the indoctrinated idiots who get their “news” from the lunatics at Daily Kos and WashPost, raving about someone supposed level of intellect.
A million to one that when Obama Ivy League grades are FINALLY ACTUALLY seen, he will be way behind George W. Bush. There is no way that a man could be intelligent and be a repeatedly stupid as Obama. And finally, the truth is in the pudding as they say….
It takes a special level of stupid and ignorance to turn an Ivy League education into conducting ACORN seminars in the backwaters of Chicago and being a Chicago machine toady with 90K in credit card debt as was Obama’s life in 2003.
Barry Obama is the biggest conjob in American political history and a testament to the power of propaganda and an unscruplous press spreading lies and fantasies. An ugly episode in our nation.
I’ve worked with many REFORMED alcoholics and drug addicts, and two things they are not is weak and childish. They wrestle with temptation every day of their sober lives.
Childish is continually whining about the “mess” you “inherited,” when you didn’t inherit a darn thing, but spent endless months and a billion or so dollars campaigning for a job.
I think we should all pray for everyone and our country. Who was it that said we were to love our enemy?
Why does not liking one imply that someone likes the other? I detested each and every day of the Bush era and I continually pray to let go of the many negative feelings that I regrettably continue to feel about him, Cheney and most of his people.
That said, even if grace relieves me of those feelings, I will likely (never say never) continue to think that he was one of the worst presidents ever.
I voted for Obama but I was never an Obama worshipper; I simply thought he was the better choice. As a result of not worshipping hims – a mistake made by many – I am less inclined to disappointment. This does not make me a cynic; perhaps a realist. Frankly, my worship is for God and God alone… a role no man or woman can occupy.
Despite some of his missteps – and there have been many, I do not regret my vote for him and I am always glad that McCain and Palin did not make it into the White House.
The constant vilification of one party or person versus another seems to imply a kind of superiority. Perhaps the more childlike way of saying it might be “nyah-nyah told ya so.” We can never go backwards, so what is the point?
And must one person or party be wrong so that the other is right? Such thinking seems to lack nuance, insight, grace. Which is why I am almost always appalled (but rarely say so in order to be respectful) to see this kinds of words here. I see you as capable of so much more.
The tenor of such conversations online are always popular but that doesn’t meant that they contribute to the conversation and then to transformation at large.
As a scolding device – well I suppose in that case they work just fine.
[Oh, yes, the internet works very well for scolding - gently or otherwise - we're stuck with it because so few of us have the president's Bully Pulpit from which to scold the whole nation ad nauseam. But that that was sort of the point of the piece, that we miss having a president who does not feel the constant need to scold.
As I have often said, if Obama would simply have governed as he had campaigned, he might have been the most popular and effective president in recent times. He chose to govern very differently from his campaign. Or maybe people just weren't hearing all the scolding, back then. admin]
Lest you think that I am being uncharitable or just a complete idiot, I do think and pray about what I write. I did so before the comment and after. I found this quotation just now and it struck me in relation to this conversation.
“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ.
When I read this I wonder why people were willing to blindly follow Obama in the first place. Why was he the Saviour? How do you go from detesting one man to worshipping another without asking a few questions. Is it that Obama lied or they weren’t really listening. I would ventur to say Obama is not much different than during the election. Thoughts?
Joe, Pat,
The punchbowl is gone. The party is over. Look around you.
With all due respect, I can tell you that I frequently felt scolded and insulted by Bush, but that is in the past and that is where I leave it.
That said, with all due respect, while I do not think that is what you were saying, I feel like what I read was that you need a bully pulpit of your own. In any event, I’d say you have a pretty effective reach of your own.
Sometimes all the anti anything – of either side to either side – strikes me as adding gasoline to existing fires that create heat in abundance so lack light. And once again, I will simply reiterate that someone of your depth, intelligence, writing prowess and your great influence seems oddly placed voicing all this anger and against energy.
We can certainly agree to disagree on this but I always am struck by the fact that you and I have more in common than our faith and a number of friends. Perhaps I am missing something and you can enlighten me. I am not being a smart aleck. Trust me… I typically do not comment, as you know.
[Fran, I get the "with all due respect," no need to go there twice. I meant to place my smiley emoticon after the bully pulpit line, because it was meant to be a joke, and that's all. And I am not particularly influential.
As to helping you to "understand"...you wrote below: I detested each and every day of the Bush era and I continually pray to let go of the many negative feelings that I regrettably continue to feel about him, Cheney and most of his people.
Having written that, what is it you don't understand? It seems to me you should understand very well.
I did not vote for Obama; initially intrigued, the more I listened to him the less impressed I became, but I did try to be hopeful about his presidency. You might say, though, that he lost me at "I won," which was not the sort of statement we were led to expect from a "post-partisan" leader. Pushing through legislation clearly against the will of the people he was elected to serve? Well...under Bush that was called "arrogance." (See: Surge) Under Obama, we're basically told to shut up and like it. That's the double-standard I cannot abide, and so I'll keep speaking up about it. As soon as it abates, why, I'll probably never post about politics again!
My blog, btw, is not about making everyone love each other; that's a job for God and the saints - I am far too much the sinner for it. The blog is whatever is in my head of a day; trying to figure out what I think about a thing. As Flannery O' Connor wrote, sometimes writing is all about finding out what you think. Perhaps that's why I write so much!
I have no idea if that helps you to "understand," Fran but as I am up against a pressing deadline, it's about all I will be able to manage, today. As George Carlin said: peace! -admin]
I really don’t know, Julie.
There are times I think that, by adulating Obama so blindly, and refusing to ask any questions about him—well, we ended up with the government we deserved! (This is only in my more gloomy moments.)
I am hoping all voters learn—well, at least some voters—learn a lesson from this, and, in the future, vote for leaders rather than “messiahs’ who promise everything, and give us nothing.
I often wonder if people like Zachriel, locked into their hateful prisons of divisive identity politics, will ever realize that “Muslim” is not a “race”. That would require thinking rather than just the blind regurgitation of invective, so I’m not betting anything I can’t afford to lose on the prospect.
[Can I suggest that everyone needs to take a breath? This thread is getting too hot. -admin]
Fran, if we were to check the archived comments from 2003-2008 would we find you upbraiding those who screamed such things as “Bushitler!” or called for him to be tried and hung? I hope that you did, because the fanatical bashing of our last president should have bothered anyone with a conscience.
Zachriel at #30: Bush: “the Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people.”
Bush: “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.”
What is so wrong with these 2 statements. The first one is as true today as it was when GW Bush said it. And the 2nd was said in the aftermath of 9/11 – which is what we needed at that time. A decisive President willing to take the hits to his popularity in order to preserve the security of this country.
I hardly see how these indicate that GW Bush harangued anyone, called anyone names or shut down those who disagreed with him.
For goodness’ sake, the country was at war when he said those things.
I also posted about Bush on Sunday. It was because I found a video of him greeting returning troops as they came home to DFW last week. As I watched the video I noticed something that perhaps only a former service member would notice. He was “coining” the incoming troops.
That is, he slipped a coin…usually a personally minted one…into his right hand and as he shook the hand of the incoming troop he would slip it into their hand.
It’s special moment between a commander and his troops when this happens. It’s hard to explain to someone who has never served. But he did it perfectly, and the troops were clearly thrilled.
I don’t think that President Obama, despite his charm and charisma, could pull it off.
We miss him, because President Bush was a real American, a patriot and Obama is not. I voted for President Bush, because I was never fooled by the ‘empty suit’ that Obama is. A lazy, indecisive man, who voted “present” multi-times instead of studying the petition and making a firm decision, he would not change. A tiger can not change his stripes. He waffles back and forth lacking the courage to decide for the right thing and doing it. His early childhood up-bringing sticks. He has a thin veneer of Christianity but underneath is a solid Muslim. I very much doubt he was born in America, because he doesn’t love it or its people. He goes for photo-ops of minutes. He bows to foreign heads as an American does not and embarrasses us. He has no understanding or inner caring for what is really going on. The growing army of the unemployed. The huge debt hanging over us. Neither does his wife who over-spends in a time of recession and in a foreign land. How many vacations does this insensitive family have to spent, when others are hungry, losing jobs and home?
He supports something the majority of Americans do not – a huge Muslim temple two blocks from where so many Americans were murdered. Such poor taste. Then he waffles and tries to show that he is not for it. Who would believe him? The first is the truth and the second is cowardice.
Who is he? The lazy student? The friend and worshiper of the Black Panthers? The lazy senator? The lazy church member of a Jewish hating and blaming, and America hating pastor? Who sat there for years listening, brought his children to listen to hatred and did nothing. The bad president? Who is he?
Next time let’s look for a good businessman for president who knows how to help America. Not an empty charming talker. The snakeskin oil salesman.
Let’s not stray from the point of the post. Fact is that many people have regretted voting for Barak Obama and it has made them reevaluate their opinion of George Bush.
It has made them re-evaluate their opinion of many former presidents. I never thought anyone could be a worse president than Jimmy. The most I will say about the O is he is the worst president we have had so far. I shudder to think we can have worse down the line, but experience has shown the possibility cannot be ruled out.
@TheAnchoress – thank you and peace to you as well. I won’t belabor any of this but I will say that I think that you are influential. Your dismissal of that is a sign of your humility and that is a good thing.
@Dagwood – I was not reading this blog in 2008. I was also not saying Bushitler on the blogs I *was* reading or writing then. What happened to me in 2008 was that I started to reconcile with the fact that no one has to be wrong for someone else to be right. I also realized my own tendency towards criticism and began efforts to curb such behavior.
If you did not read my comments thoroughly, I will simply restate that I struggle with my feelings because of my conscience. I would no more call any president names, whether it was someone I liked or not. All the name calling – whether it is to cry “Bushitler” or to paint Hitler moustaches on Obama photos, whether it is “progressives” bashing “the orthodox” or the “conservatives” trumping themselves over “liberals” makes me sick. Even simple descriptors have become large, blunt weapons in the war of words.
All of which, dismembers, not remembers the Body of Christ.
Following up on Quilly Mammoth: I was struck with the fact that Bush43 greeted the troops at DFW AFTER he was President. He didn’t have to do this; there was no political benefit; it wasn’t a photo-op. He did it anyway.
What is the probability that ex-President Barack Obama will do anything like this? I respectfully submit that it is vanishingly small.
I’m sorry — you’re seriously sentimentalizing Bush. He would have supported the mosque, and he would have depreciated those who objected. He would have also waffled and, finally, beaten a safe retreat like he did with Harriet Myers and with amnesty.
Unite, Americans…
It’s going to take every one of us to get the Obamas, unions and parasite “social justice” Democrats off of our backs and out of our wallets.
Vote. Democrats. Out. ALL OF THEM.
I voted for Obama motivated partially out of disgust with Bush and his tribe. The behavior of the Republicans and, especially, the Tea Party today gives me no reason to regret that vote.
What a great article. Even towards the end of his presidency when he basically got pretty liberal I still liked him personally and knew he had good intentions. obama is totally different. I do no t believe he has good intentions for most Americans, nor do I believe he even likes being an American. In my 38 years I have never seen the American spirit so downtrodden, obama has been like a pestulance on the nation…..so sad.
Thank you for the column. My Obama friends have similar reactions after the Obama speech wrt the Ground Zero Mosque. Most didn’t go as far as to say they miss GWB (maybe they couldn’t after 8 years of attacking him as some sort of demon spawn), but many in the group say they know where GWB stands on cultural, military issues, but with Obama, who knows, you have to dissect his words 5,6,7, 8 times before you get that – oh, that’s what he meant – answer. There is no doubt with GWB’s personal faith, his faith of this country, and the faith of his fellow citizens (despite the action of some against him). But with Obama, let’s skip this whole Christian vs Muslim personal thing (I for one has no clue what he believes, maybe himself), but let me be clear (ha!), Obama seems to think America is flawed country and has to apologize to the likes of the Chinese communists, the Isalmic countries, or bow to the Japanese Emperor. He also thinks whoever disagrees with him is not because of real concerns with his policies but rather the work of some wackjobs, racists, or bigots. People are deeply offended by the Obama attack dogs labelling them as wackjobs, racists or bigots whenever there is a disagreement. These people are ready for their say on Nov 2nd. To many, that day couldn’t come fast enough.
I have friends who couldn’t stand President Bush. They said, “I can’t stand the sound of that man’s voice!” And I never could understand such a visceral reaction to a person they had never met. Then President Obama was elected and I found myself in their shoes – having a visceral dislike of the man based on his actions, his speeches and his interactions with everyone from foreign dignitaries to the Supreme Court during the State of the Union address.
I try to remind myself that I don’t *know* President Obama except for what I am exposed to through the media and I remind myself that my reaction is a very base one. But I do react differently to him than I did to President Bush and I think it is because I feel Bush was flawed, but genuine, while Obama is flawed, but arrogant and a political chameleon.
Regardless of my personal emotions, I do pray for President Obama as I did for President Bush.
This whole mosque would never have come up during the Bush Administration–they knew better.
I agree that the greatest mistake Bush made was in turning the other cheek–now we have to live with the excesses of the left and their lies told with straight faces.
mosque “thing” OOPS
I miss Bush if for no other reason than he was a man I could respect. Yes, I disagreed with him on several policies. I was frequently frustrated by him. However, he was someone in authority that deserved respect, earned it and tried to be a good President.
I can’t say the same for the man in office now. I respect his office, but not the man himself. He’s so arrogant and self-centered. It’s not good character.
Lawrence represents the fashion we see in society.
There is and was no basis for the ‘disgust’.
GW Bush and his Administration led the USA out of the 2000 Recession with needed tax relief. He was classy, but his policies were sound.
GW Bush led the Free World to liberate Iraq from a Monster, the Democrats who almost in total voted for this Mission, unethically used the admirable endeavor for their own personal gain later.
The Bush Administration led the World to remove the horrid Taliban from power in Afghanistan, liberating millions, they helped liberate Haiti, Liberia, etc.
The Bush Administration’s successful program to stem the tide of AIDS in Africa was incredible. A serious historic effort of great accomplishment.
The problem was the fashion. Democratic Partisans for years grew insecure after the Carter Malaise and the Clinton Malfeasance. They have grown in politics over the years, by pushing an ugly, vicious, baseless stereotype of their opposition. They have become the ultimate form of bigotry, and their hatred is overt and destructive. It is no longer about sound policy, but about destroying those they deem as unacceptable.
Democrats still seem to have not learned from the recall of Gray Davis. They are stuck on a disastrous Political Machine effort, peddling influence via the Government – bribing many for votes, like the various Union Labor elements. Their policies continue to make everyone, especially the least fortunate miserable. They simply don’t seem to be honest, or studied, on why millions risk their lives to come to the USA to experience FREEDOM, especially sincere economic freedom. The overt taxation, spending, regulations, etc., are a perfect recipe for disaster, as Democrats have destroyed NJ, NY, CA, MI, LA, etc.
GW Bush suffered from a very delusional, emotive, reactionary movement from Conservatives as well, who lost their cool after 2004, especially over fears regarding Iraq.
They did the same with Reagan in the Second Term, only this foolish abandonment, losing all forms of objectivity, was so overt, it helped enable the very worst with the Democrats.
The spending claims from both sides were simply distorted, and many should apologize for their sophistry. See here:
link
GW Bush will go down as a GREAT PRESIDENT, if the historical review is objective – honest. Even in regards to responding to Katrina, we know full well the Democrats in the local area, the State and City, were irresponsible and actually blocked Federal Intervention for some time.
Thanks to the Anchoress for a fine post, regarding a fine President.
Yes, history will be much kinder to Bush than his disgusting opponents were and are. I died laughing when I heard Jonathan Alter, a man whose lips are firmly planted on Pres. Zero’s tush, say that he wishes that Bush would speak out on the mosque. Ditto for the dopey Peter Beinart. But let’s get it straight: the Alters and Beinarts of the world hate America because they, like Zero, “know best” – and don’t you dare disagree!
I definitely miss Bush in juxtaposition to Obama, but there were plenty of things during his eight years that drove me crazy. Off the top of my head are the Medicare drug bill, ‘big government conservatism,’ the K-Street / Tom Delay project, steel tariffs, L. Paul Bremer, the Condi Rice disaster as Secretary of State, Norm Minetta’s idiotic, politically correct ineptitude, the passivity in defending his policies against slanderous attacks. I could go on but you get the picture.
These are all policy differences I had with Bush, but I always knew where he stood, knew that his love of America was deep and abiding, and that his heart was in the right place. Moreover, Bush was a mensch and knew how to take a punch–or an insult–like a man. Obama is lying sack of snakesh*t, places himself above America, and is a pussy’s pussy–demonstrating repeatedly his emotional glass jaw, false bravado, and immaturity.
I plan to fly to Washington D.C. to watch Obama leave in January 2013. He is an absolute disgrace that 53% of my countrymen have as a black mark on their ledgers.
“rrpjr” is completely misguided…
GW BUSH never ‘depreciated’ those with opposing views. He often would say “I respect your opinion, but I disagree…”
The fashion amongst us Conservatives has become so silly, it has lost basis. For example, TEXAS is now promoted as the ultimate Conservative Ideal, and GW Bush was a primary force behind the success with see in the Lone Star State. He was a great CEO, and was indeed a fine Conservative.
Soon Democrats will want to let his TAX CUTS expire, and the Nation will suffer more. We have so much to thank for the Bush Presidency and his Administration.
Some are just too jaded, frustrated, lost in fashion, to be fair and reasoned about it.
Even the manipulation of the proposal of an 11 year process for someone to “possibly” gain US Citizenship, with fees, study, tests, etc., is not something one can call generically “amnesty”. That simply is not Conservatism. It is not based on facts, but manipulates the reality for political purpose. The point of Immigration Reform, was to address the problems with the Laws. The difficulty in deportation, created via groups like the ACLU are enormous. We need a better way. The Bush Administration learned quickly prior to 9-11, fighting in the Courts to finish the Border Fence south of San Diego. They understood the problems with the current legal challenges, the Democratic Partisans would use to exploit, to aid illegal immigration. The Plan GW Bush and his Administration offered wasn’t perfect, but many Conservatives adopted a fashionable sophistry in analyzing the offering. It simply wasn’t CONSERVATIVE in the approach, far from being reasoned, fair, honest, objective.
In the end, we will hopefully secure the Entry in the USA, but many aspects of the Bush Proposal will probably be enacted, merely because many of the elements suggested will prove to be the most sound in dealing with the problems.
PD Quig makes a nice statement, but the beginning of it, is filled with some of the fashion amongst us Conservatives which simply lacked fairness and objectivity.
For instance, the Drug Bill was offered to address a growing crisis, with numerous free market solutions. The entire effort was designed as a ‘preventative’ measure to lower costs of other programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, etc. They had hoped after passing the Prescription Drug Bill, to reform the other entitlements to cut costs. At the time, the rush to buy cheap drugs from Canada was enormous. Also, the push for the Democrats Socialized Medicine more potent in the wake of the growing Prescription Drug Crisis. Conservatives simply cannot ignore problems.
The offering was far from perfect, and I am not certain I would have supported it, if I were in some Office. But I can objectively review the effort, and it is was far from the nasty negative some Pundits project now. In fact, Gore and Democrats at the time were exploiting the Prescription Drug Problem, as a vice to push for Socialized Health Care – the Public Option. The Republican effort has been so successful, it may have helped debase support for Obamacare. I don’t suggest everything is perfect, but fellow Conservatives lost a healthy perspective on a number of these issues, and it hurt us in the long run.
Americans wanted Health Care reform, not what Democrats provided, but they did want reform before Obamacare. GW Bush was admirable to try to reform Social Security with sincere Free Market principles, as some vitriolic, reactionary Conservative Pundits were screaming about ‘PORK’. He was after the big fish for good reason, they instead offered poor judgment. Even the mighty GIPPER never tried to reform this entitlement. Conservatives lost by not backing up their own interest, who was doing great things for all. Even the Educational Reforms, snookered out of T. Kennedy are commendable, as the Teachers Union despise the effort to provide standards, testing, competition, etc. We already spent an enormous amount of funds for Public Education, but GW Bush got so much out of this exchange, and was right on target with ‘vouchers’.
Conservatives foolishly embraced a fashion, which ignored basis after 2004. The emotive nonsense was embarrassing and cost us dearly. They should know better, especially, that no Political offering will ever be perfect, and to remain reasoned – constructive in encouraging their own.
GW Bush and his Administration deserve Our thanks, and did a very admirable job, especially in the very challenging post 9-11 Era.
Mr. Bush was not perfect but he was a man I respected. One never got the idea that he had other than respect and fraternal love for the American people. His silence since Mr. Obama came into power -despite the endless, rancid provocations – shows him to be a man with character far superior to the current president.
@Quilly Mammoth
I am not former military…but I did notice President Bush giving the challenge coins while welcoming the soldiers home. It was on my second viewing of the video that I noticed. So neat. That must be a little tricky to do, but as you said, he managed flawlessly.
“His silence since Mr. Obama came into power -despite the endless, rancid provocations – shows him to be a man with character far superior to the current president.”
@ wintoon So true that he is a man of character. Or is he just living his life the way Christ calls us to! Either way, I hope when faced with a similar situation I would react, or nit react like him
I don’t miss GW Bush. This is not to say I wouldn’t prefer him to the current abomination; this conflation with Obama is contributing to the false nostalgia. In fact, it was GWB’s insistent refusal to confront or even acknowledge the rise of the Left under his watch (a more “clear and present danger” to the domestic body politic than Islam) which produced Obama. Obama is GWB’s legacy.
And you’re wrong, brooklyn. He was deeply condescending toward conservative grassroots critics of his adamantine and misguided amnesty. Yes, he depreciated them. He was far more tolerant of the elite Left than he was of many ordinary conservatives, and the fact he sent out minions (Cheney and Chavez) to disparage conservatives and suggest the American workforce was too incapable or lazy to do the work illegal immigrants were willing to do doesn’t absolve him.
I’ve no doubt he was a decent man who endured enormous and unfair calumny at the hands of the Left. But he was another clueless elitist who we would do well to see clearly in retrospect and not romanticize. I do not understand, will not forgive and never wish to see again his sorry and idiotic “all due respect” deference to the people dedicated to his destruction and his turn-the-other-cheek acquiescance to the rampages of the Left.
History remember GWB as a strong protector of America after 911. And I was thankful and proud he was the Commander and Chief at a time when we needed a strong Commander and Chief. I shudder to think of what would have happened to our country after 911 under a “President Gore”, what emboldened terrorists such as Nidal Malik Hasan will continue to do to our country under President Obama. We were never hit after 911 under GWB. The fact we haven’t hit harder by other terrorists under Obama has been due to would be terrorist’s incompetence not the Obama administration’s competence.
baleen:
I did not say that Bush’s numbers were never that low, I said they were not that low for extended periods of time…and unlike Obama he never saw his numbers dip so far so fast.
I can remember hearing Clinton talk about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction while Bush was still the Governor of Texas. Go call him a liar.
As for New Orleans, the Bush administration at least tried which is more than can be said for the corrupt and incompetent Democrats that ran the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisianna back then. Look at the mess they made.
Abu Ghraib? Reall? Saddam Hussein killed more Muslims than the crusaders and the best you got is Abu Ghraib? Saddam used to give people who raped and killed his own citizens a pat on the back..the US military gave the men and women who did wrong at Abu Ghraib courts martial.
You are just a petty partisan little Bush basher. You do not even care about the truth.
“Believing the worst of his countrymen sometimes seems to be President Obama’s default mode.”
I’d appreciate some evidence for this assertion. Otherwise, it comes pretty damn close to slander.
I lean to the left on most issues (though not the “non-negotiables” like abortion and marriage), but I had always considered The Anchoress to be one of the more reasonable voices on the right…until recently. This post, and particularly the statement I just referenced, is more worthy of Rush Limbaugh.
By the way:
-Torture
-Preemptive war
-Gitmo
-Wiretapping
-Extraordinary rendition
-Halliburton
-Abramoff scandal
-Enron
-Corporate welfare
For all of these reasons listed above, my answer to, “Miss me yet?” is, “Hell no!” Obama’s failure to reverse most of Bush’s policies has been disappointing, to say the least, but they were still Bush’s policies. I won’t be voting for Obama in 2012, but neither will I vote for anyone who tries to tell me that the Bush years were just dandy.
So what does Bush specifically take credit/blame for? It seems that he gets magical he protected us vague credit, but every single thing that went wrong in his 8 years was magically someone else’s fault. But Obama is supposed to take blame for every single thing that happens from the minute he walked in the door of the white house? Somehow everything bad is either Clinton’s fault (9/11) or Obama’s fault (bailouts that happened in October 2008, before the election)
Even the war is somehow now Obama’s fault even though Bush pushed for the invasion to the point of knowingly lying and firing anyone who opposed him. Shouldn’t Bush be PROUD of his never ending war and the deficits it caused while killing hundreds of thousands of people who had nothing to do with 9/11?
The only pertinent thing I can say is that I think you are right about Bush and, certainly, how I felt about him. My main disappointment is that he left those who trusted him without much enthusiasm or confidence when the next election came. I don’t really understand what happened. Was he unable to communicate his ideals? In any event, he might have opened the door for what we have now, which I do not think was his intention at all. Many Americans never understood that this man seemed to want the best for our country.
May I add that I live in New Orleans and that I lived here when Katrina hit and, really, for most of my life and I never blamed anyone for, what I saw, as the force of nature. Sure, things could have been handled differently and it was a terrible experience but I do not feel that he really changed the effects of the storm for better or worse. In fact, after the level of devastation became clear, I believe that he made a sincere effort to save the city. Out of towners would yell at me when I would tell them that Bush didn’t cause the storm, it was a force of nature for which we truly were not prepared. If it brings you solace. blame someone. I did not.
“I can remember hearing Clinton talk about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction while Bush was still the Governor of Texas. Go call him a liar.”
But Clinton didn’t invade Iraq.
I don’t think Bush made any effort to verify the claim Saddam had WMD even though that info came from incredibly dubious sources (drunkards and mental patients, etc.).
Funny, isn’t it, Mickey, how so many of those reasons you give are still in place, despite the promises of our current president to end them. Or did you miss the blurb that Gitmo is still operating, that rendition is still being practiced, that practically every security measure which Democrats railed at as so intrusive is still in place, and that now the “welfare” doled out for corporations dwarfs the amounts given during the prior administration.
Oh, and Enron? Seems I remember those guilty being tried and sentenced – something I guess we won’t see in the case of the New Black Panthers voting intimidation.
Baleen: No, but Clinton did manage to bomb an aspirin factory, didn’t he? And in light of the 9/11 attacks and intel reports, how do you honestly think a Clinton or Gore would have responded? I mean, since both are on record in the late 90′s claiming that Hussein constituted an ongoing threat to us and must be removed from power?
“And in light of the 9/11 attacks and intel reports, how do you honestly think a Clinton or Gore would have responded?”
I don’t claim to be psychic like many of my Republican friends claim to be.,
All we know is what happened…Bush made no effort to confirm rumors from drunks, crazies and forged documents before squandering American lives and money in Iraq.
baleen – who are these drunks and mental patients you keep yammering on about?
And unless you are, in fact, psychic, how the hell do you know what Mr. Bush did?
Cheers!