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Well, he wasn't great, and he certainly wasn't the greatest (Lincoln, Teddy, Reagan, Eisenhower), but since this side is only held by someone being sarcastic, i'll post here.
Economically, he really was just fucked over. Employment had actually been at an all time low during his first 6 years. It wasn't until the Democrats were elected into Congress and Senate when everything turned to shit. Really, the economy should be blamed more on corrupt CEOs and morons like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who let these CEOs do w/e the fuck they want.
As for the War on Terror. Your views on Iraq don't change the fact that since he applied his anti-terror methods, we have not been attacked by terrorists since 9/11. In fact, American interest overseas hasn't even been attacked.
Bush has done more for the country of Africa than any other human being on the planet, living or dead. So he can also be considered a great humanitarian.
so please people, pull the rods out of your assholes and focus on shit that's actually important. Like evil dictators who kill millions of innocent people (we've already killed one of them cause of Bush).
I'll grant you that Saddam was responsible for his fair share of deaths, but how many millions have died as a result of the chaos that ensued after we toppled his government?
Well the U.S. is not responsible for the terrorists killing people. It is there own fault they [the terrorists] hate what the U.S. stands for. It can not be blamed on Bush for what has happened. Nixon is blamed for Vietnam when it was the fault of JFK and LBJ.
Would you say the same thing if the U.S. went into Germany in the 1930's to stop Hitler from killing 6 million Jews and 4 million others? Because that is what we did in Iraq.
No, it isn't. The vast majority of the ethnic attacks against the Kurds happened not only with the USA's complicity but with our assistance as well. Where do you think Iraq got all the materials to make those chemical weapons?? From the West!
BTW, how many people have died or been displaced since we wrongfully invaded Iraq??
Your views on Iraq don't change the fact that since he applied his anti-terror methods, we have not been attacked by terrorists since 9/11. In fact, American interest overseas hasn't even been attacked.
Jesus, how many times are you people gonna use that to support him? CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION. Oh, and the Bin Laden family had close fucking ties with the Bushes. Get your goddamn head out of the sand.
UR RIGHt, guys! I think he went through soooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we haven't been attacked since, so he MUST have done a GR8 JOB!!!!! I just love living in a morally and monetarily bankrupt country.
The Bush family name is forever tainted by their actions. From the moment George W. Bush pulled the rug out from under Al Gore with his brother Jeb's help, he ran with it and never looked back. Al Gore won the popular vote! Eight months later we were attacked by terrorists on our own soil. Within minutes, it seemed, we invaded Afghanistan and were at war with Iraq by 2003. Everyone knew Saddam Hussein had no ties whatsoever with Osama bin Laden and that Saddam hated him. This war was blamed on the WMD that never existed and the American people bought it hook, line and sinker.
Saddam himself was not a popular figure in the Middle East at that time and GWB took full advantage of that instead of taking the time to investigate the information he had. We wanted someone's head and if it couldn't be bin Laden's it might just as well have been Hussein's! This travesty of justice in Iraq goes on today while our brave young men and women die for naught. Afghanistan is where the fight is and it always was.
This president inherited a surplus of money and squandered every dime plus billions more. He put us in the position of being morally and monetarily bankrupt as well as ruining our reputation in the world for years to come. History will tell the tale of this man and I can only hope they do it honestly. I tire of the constant reference to not being attacked since 2001! What happened on September 11 was a one shot deal that cannot be repeated lest this country annihilate the Middle East altogether. It may happen in yet another way but this jig is up folks! Our arrogance and lack of watchfulness allowed this to happen plus the fact that almost everything went right for them on that day. We've had our warning and I thank God that Bush is no longer at the helm of this country. It happened on his watch and that is the most telling fact of all.
The thing about Obama's administration is that it seems to differ from Bush in a lot of important ways that suddenly become tokens when you look at them in terms of grabbing power for the presidency. In said terms, he's no different, from what I've read. Makes me suspect that they're really going for the same goals; let's say there is the proverbial Smoke Filled Room, and they own both. Obama would be a brilliant way to continue the same policies heading towards totalitarianism, while "opposing" Bush and buying himself a ton of cred to be later redeemed for further infringement on our rights. :C
Al Gore pulled the rug from under himself. If he would have been against gun control he would not have lost his home state of Tennessee and would not have lost the election. As for the WMD's that was not the fault of Bush but of Colin Powell. Someone needed to stop Saddam's genocide of the Kurds and it happened to be Bush. If Bill Clinton would have allowed predator drones to have weapons Bin Laden would have been killed in the mid-nineties. The surplus of money is a joke, the United Staes of America has been in debt ever since we first borrowed money and weapons from France and Spain during the American Revolution.
By reading the restof the sentence you will see what I mean. The only time the US was not in debt was for a few years during the Jackson Adminstration. Otherwise the US has been in debt.
"You mean he would have become president. He did win the election."
Gore lost the electoral votes, which are the ones that matter. What I'm saying is that Gore lost because he was an idiot.
Had Florida counted the rest of the votes, Gore would have won the electoral vote as well. But the Supreme Court ruined that. Bottom line is more people wanted Gore to be president than Bush.
And how is he an idiot because he didn't take a specific stance on a policy to win?
But I think Bush did a pretty respectable job as President. A lot of stuff happened that would have made others resign. His Presidency was by no means easy, or even average. It was insane. Some of the most meaningful eight years of the country's - and the world's - history were under his command, and he took all the beatings that people unleashed on him. With a sense of humor.
Some of the most meaningful eight years?! I guess that it depends on how you define meaningful...You mean one of the quickest movements towards totalitarianism? Let me also add that when Clinton finished his presidency unemployment rates where at there lowest since Truman and Eisenhower. http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp
The Iraqi war? The financial cost to the U.S. will eventually reach $3 trillion or more, according to the Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. New Orleans?!!! The increasing degradation of environmental policy. (the last 2 months in office he approved to have gray wolves shot on site and take them off the endangered species list even though they should still be on it. Read the work it took to get them to the levels they were ate) Our foreign policy sucked. We had one of the worst foreign policies to hit this nation. Not to add the bull on tax returns and the continued collapse of the economy. The patriot act? (to mention one of many) I could go on and on....
This debate is ridiculous in its entirety and I won't go kissing anyone's ass here to get your up votes. Down vote the heck out of this comment for all I care.
Exactly I give him the worst president ever award. The only thing he did correct was keeping America terrorist free for the rest of his time in office. Just because a tragic event falls upon a presidents lap does not make him a great president. After all he was a bumbling idiot that made up more words than he cannot count to. I wouldn't put him up there with the greats for keeping America terrorist free and inventing the word strategery.
I think everyone also fails to understand that America/US has been terrorist free for decades prior to 9/11. And let me also add that it depends on your label of terrorism. Through the bush administration and 9/11 terrorism changed it's target. Now when we think of terrorist, a middle eastern face always arises.
What about the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 or the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. All of those were during the Clinton Administration. Oklahoma City was done by Tomothy McVeigh. That is a real Middle Eastern name.
Very good point. I blabbed my mouth without thinking. ( sometimes passion gets the best of me) My point is that terrorism after 9/11 was never the same and the face assigned to is was very much Middle Eastern/Muslim if you will. What's different about 9/11 was the results.
"Now when we think of terrorist, a middle eastern face always arises"
...except for the OK City Bombing, the KKK, the Army of God (anti-abortion radicals), the Jewish Defense League, the Unabomber, the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, the 2001 anthrax attacks, the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting, etc., etc., etc....please...
Yes, meaningful. Meaningful != best. There were problems. Lots of problems. But a lot of things happened that were important to the country. I'm not ass kissing here, I never said he was the BEST President, and I'm not kissing anyone's ass. I'm saying what I think.
Ok, so what happened that the Bush administration put through that benefited this country? Important things happen all the time, it just matters who says
When Truman and Eisenhower were President evryone was in the Military. The current Economic Crisis has its roots in the Clinton Adminsitration. Clinton's administration encouraged banks to give loans to those who had no way of paying the loans back. The Sub Prime Mortgage Market Collapse can be attributed to the Clinton Administration.
Are you joking? Bush spent 8 years fighting against increased government regulation that would have prevented this collapse. His administration was even warned of it by many people, and he explicitly turned a blind-eye because he had blind-faith in a free-market economy.
It was the government encouraging sub prime loans. The free market economy cannot be to blame for stupid people loaning money to people who cannot afford to pay them back. Do you know who the warnings came from? The current administration is trying to regulate the economy by taking over banks and firing everyone which is beyond its power.
I heard about a brothel/liquor store in Nevada (I think) the government took it over and ran it into the ground. If the government can't sell sex and booze to Americans how can it do anything else.
It started during the Clinton Administration!!! The Economy started going down the toilet after the democrats won in 2006. Bush can't be to blame for everything bad that happens.
They can be when they've been in charge for the last 8 years. How long would Bush have to be in office driving the economy into the ground before you'd admit the maybe, just maybe, everything isn't Clinton's fault?
"It was the government encouraging sub prime loans. The free market economy cannot be to blame for stupid people loaning money to people who cannot afford to pay them back."
Wrong again. The root cause of the sub-prime meltdown that cascaded through the global economy was the repeal of key New Deal-era regulations of the financial markets, most notably the Glass-Steagall Act. Its explicit intent was to prevent a "repeat of the 1920's era scams in which banks made speculative investments, turned the debts into securities, and sold them off to unsuspecting investors with the blessing of the bank." Sound familiar?? And guess what law repealed that Glass-Steagall Act?? It was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. Yes, that is the same Phil Gramm that said that we've become "a nation of whiners", and the same Phil Gramm whose legislation led to the Enron scandal.
"100 Year Crash: McCain advisor spurred $62 trillion derivatives market that will swamp global markets"
"The Bubble Economy: The sub-prime mess, the huge risks taken by hedge funds, and the conflicts of interest that led to Enron are all the consequences of serial bouts of financial deregulation."
I'm calling BS on this one. Bush had 8 years to "fix" Clinton's "mistake", but chose to not only NOT fix it but deregulate the industry to the point where they COULD NOT fix it.
"The current Economic Crisis has its roots in the Clinton Adminsitration. Clinton's administration encouraged banks to give loans to those who had no way of paying the loans back. The Sub Prime Mortgage Market Collapse can be attributed to the Clinton Administration."
Wrong on all counts. The real cause of the recent economic meltdown is directly attributed to the deregulation that was pushed in the late 1990s by the GOP Congress and by the Bush Regime & Greenspan's push for ARMs in the early 2000s.
I completely agree. Not many people could have handled the things Bush has had to handle. And he survived! :) But the most important thing is that a president keeps the nation safe from terror and enemies, which is exactly what Bush did, so kudos to him for that.
Seriously, why are the two choices so leading? Almost everyone that voted Great President did so because it was the worse of the two and not because they truly believe the statement.
No other president has damaged America's image and diplomatic power more than George did, seriously, how can anybody think this guy was EVEN CLOSE to being a great president?????
A great president is one that makes your dreams come true. A bad president is one that claims he's gonna save you from your nightmares. That's Bush right there.
President Bush was not the greatest president ever. Great, yes. Greatest, not quite.
But he is not the monster people make him out to be. He put up with a lot, and in my opinion did a pretty good job. I thought it was cool when he left the states without telling anybody to go have thanksgiving dinner with the troops. He was a great president.
Oh and I also liked when he helped to keep our country safe from terrorism for about eight years.
"Oh and I also liked when he helped to keep our country safe from terrorism for about eight years."
I love this line, it cracks me up. The largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred during his presidency. Just because it didn't happen more than once during his presidency doesn't mean anything. Nothing like that happened for almost every other president.
If you say he was a great president, then what distinguished him above the average president?
"The largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred during his presidency."
Oh it must have been his fault then. Just like Pearl Harbor was Roosevelt's fault. That's ridiculous, ..but it doesn't crack me up.
"Just because it didn't happen more than once during his presidency doesn't mean anything."
You don't think there might be a reason it didn't happen again?
"If you say he was a great president, then what distinguished him above the average president?"
He wasn't all that great of a president. It's just that he's not the monster that the mainstream media has created. But you follow the media religiously don't you, believing whatever they tell you?
You could not have taken that more out of context. I said that line cracks me up, not 9/11.
"Oh it must have been his fault then."
Nice strawman, but I never said it was his fault. All I said was how can you say he kept us safe for eight years, when the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred during his presidency? All culpability aside, we weren't "safe for eight years."
"You don't think there might be a reason it didn't happen again? "
There are a limitless number of possible reasons. But to say just because more than one of the worst attacks ever didn't occur, it was because of the President, is unsubstantiated by evidence. And even if his administration was responsible for thwarting other attacks, can you really call it a victory that they didn't mess up more than once?
"He wasn't all that great of a president. It's just that he's not the monster that the mainstream media has created. But you follow the media religiously don't you, believing whatever they tell you?"
I never said he was a monster. I don't think he's a bad guy at all. I just think his presidency was a failure by almost every metric you could use. And no I don't follow the mainstream media religiously, I don't watch television "news" I disdain it. Most of my news comes from public sources that don't have sensationalist incentives such as National Public Radio, Public Radio International, American Public Media, and Public Broadcasting Service. Occasionally I do read the New York Times as well. I also like to do further research on multiple sources on stories I am interested in. If there is one thing I do not do, it is "follow the media religiously." I would advise you to not assume you are smarter and more informed than every person you meet. It reflects poorly on you, and you will often be proven incorrect.
What the hell, neither did I. That's not what I was implying.
"how can you say he kept us safe for eight years, when the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred during his presidency? "
BECAUSE ITS NOT HIS FAULT
If you don't think 9/11 was Bush's fault then how can you say that he do everything in his power to keep the country safe from terrorism?
"I never said he was a monster."
Didn't say you did.
"I do read the New York Times"
That explains a lot.
"I just think his presidency was a failure by almost every metric you could use."
Go for it then. Use all of your metric units to prove his presidency a failure. That's a very bold statement. Not that I am against bold statements, but you didn't explain why.
So 9/11 wasn't his fault, but he can have credit for every attack that didn't happen. How convenient. I am saying that either he gets credit for nothing else happening, and blame for 9/11, or nothing at all. You're trying to have your cake and eat it too.
First of all I said I only read specific articles in the New York Times occasionally, but please explain what is so bad about the most respected newspaper in the country.
Measuring his success:
We may differ slightly on what makes a successful president so if you disagree then please let me know, but here are some things, in no particular order, I think are important and my judgment on his performance in that area.
World respect: Under the Bush administration the country became viewed in an increasingly negative light. Our president and our government were pretty much the laughing stock of the rest of the world. When Obama was elected people all over the world celebrated the change in leadership. Thousands of people across the world held parties celebrating an end to the Bush's presidency.
Foreign relations: The Bush administration practiced what I like to call the "La la la I can't hear you" doctrine. That being you ignore countries you dislike and pretend they don't exist. We refused to enter into talks with countries like Iran and North Korea, and by labeling them as "The Axis of Evil" we eliminate all chances of diplomacy that can lead to a better understanding, compromise, and a better situation for both parties.
Wars: Making use of questionable intelligence gleaned from illicit torture, the Bush administration convinced congress to enter us into a war we never should have entered. The original reason weapons of mass destruction was quickly abandoned when we realized the intelligence, or un-intelligence, was faulty in favor of another reason, fighting al-Qaeda. So basically the new reason was that we invaded a country with no ties to an organization that does have ties to other countries we did not invade. By the time we leave Iraq the will most likely end up cost more than $1 trillion. Over 4,000 American soldiers have given their lives for essentially nothing, since the war has most likely created more terrorists than it has killed. 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. All of this is for what?
The economy: From the time Bush has taken office the United States total debt has increased by $4.4 trillion. Continued deregulation has led to a recession. The unemployment rate almost reached 9%.
National disasters: Even with very accurate and early forecasts from the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service, the response from FEMA to Hurricane Katrina was insufficient and delayed. President Bush's state of emergency declaration failed to include any of Louisiana's coastal parishes. Even three years later thousands of displaced people are still living in trailers.
If you think there are some areas where President Bush succeeded, then feel free to address them.
Ha. George Bush as a The Greatest President. I'm hoping that i dont Offend anyone But He was Really neither nor the Greatest nor Great President in Our History. To me He was Actually the Worst President. He Said things Previously to to becoming the President of the United States that He would do and He didn't do. Right now, Were in Recession Because of Him and its going to get worst before it actually gets better. another thing 9-11 & Katrina. He waited until after it happened or at least 3 days later to come up with a plan or some excused and To me I want some one who actually knows what hes doing. And to be he didn't what he said he was going to do. so I'm sorry if i offend anyone but thats just how i Feel.
I supported Bush before I even knew who he was & what he was about.
When I was a little kid & I heard about Bush & Gore I liked Bush because his name sounded like bushes.
When I found out who he was I supported him & thought he was 1 of the best men alive. I used to be obsessed with army stuff & when the Afghan & Iraq war started I was a big supporter of him & his ideas. I also used to email his guys at the white house & ask them stuff about war & politics & I used to tell them what I think Bush should do.
Anyways I'm sure none of yall care about my life but I generally support Bush & think he is a good man but I disagree with some of the stuff he did like letting a bunch of illegal immigrants in, not doing the right things with Iraq, & the biggest thing I disagree with is signing that fucken bail out!
So bottom line is: Bush was a good man who tried his best but he was a bad president.
You have to realize He has had to lead through something No other president has. That would be 9/11. When the country was just shocked and had no idea what was going on, he was trying.
