Jan 18 2009
The Legacy of George W. Bush
As difficult as it sometimes is, I decided to watch Chris Matthews for a few minutes today, asking his panel of “top journalists” about how history will remember president Bush. Of course, the usual suspects were once again marched out in the debate, blaming Bush for everything from Katrina to acquiring a reputation for indecisiveness. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the overly obvious, extremely overplayed attempt to once again pin these issues on Bush, and here’s why:
Regarding the whole Katrina issue, the response to the hurricane gave residents ample time to evacuate, as they were mandated to do. How exactly is it Bush’s fault that so many people decided to stick around anyway to pillage the place while everyone else was gone? And who, I might ask, was responsible for forcibly disarming the only citizens left who were trying to protect themselves and their property from the looters? It certainly wasn’t Bush. How is it that ordering an immediate rescue response, which removed more than 30,000 stubborn residents despite being shot at for their effort, was anything short of fulfilling his responsibility?
Sure, FEMA royally screwed up the distribution of supplies being sent in, but I still fail to see where Bush played a role in their debacle. It kind of reminds me of the whole oil conspiracy supposedly being the reason for sending troops into Iraq. If you want to swallow thinly veiled propaganda whole and call it a nutritious meal, be my guest, but don’t try to sell me the crap. Newsflash: if Bush wanted to control the middle-eastern oil supply, the Iraqi takeover would have lasted about a month at best. Not to mention that the Bush family net worth would be a heck of a lot more than it is today. What a bunch of unsubstantiated garbage.
As far as indecisiveness goes, no American president makes decisions as big as an Iraqi war or ordering a structured relief effort without first consulting their cabinet members. That’s what the cabinet is there for. They advise the president. If Obama had acted in exactly the same way, these same cronies would be clapping their hands and pointing out how deeply he thinks and how masterfully he handled the situation. Then, when things went sour, they would point their fingers at anyone but Obama, and say “Look there, he’s the one who dared to foil our great leader’s plans!” Good Lord, aren’t these people getting just a little sick and tired of trying to make the guy look like a cross between Abraham Lincoln (who, by the way, would be rolling in his grave if he heard anyone comparing him to a socialist liberal) and the return of the Messiah?
You want to see undecisiveness? What did Clinton do when the same terrorists attacked the U.S.S. Cole? Nothing. “Defend the country? Nah, that’s too expensive. Let’s raise taxes and cut the military instead. That’ll show ‘em. Can somebody please send in the new intern?” And that’s the guy they keep raving about as a great American president. Give me a break.
Will there ever come a time when the media realizes exactly how ridiculous they look right now as they struggle so hard to achieve their political goals? Perhaps it will, but I fear that it will be far too late to help with today’s problems. And as far as the government goes, Bush included, we now live in a system that is created “of the politicians, by the politicians, and for the politicians.” And until America wakes up and smells the coffee, there is absolutely nothing that will change that. Sorry, founding fathers, and please excuse us, constitution and bill of rights, we’re just too busy right now to pay much attention.
- C-SPAN Ranks the Presidents! George W. Bush is No. 1! (Disclaimer: George W. Bush May Not Actually Be At No. 1)
- The Legacy of Bill Bavasi
- The Legacy of Conquest
- Video of the Day: George Carlin Receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
- The Legacy of Justice David Souter: A Skilled Man in a Tough Trade
Here tiger, let me put this into the simplest terms I possibly can for you regarding Katrina:
Nearly four years after Sept. 11th, the man who vowed to protect America at all costs failed to have an evacuation plan on the table for a predictable natural disaster.
The man he chose to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency had, prior to his new job at FEMA, been a judge at horse shows. That’s it. No professional experience, let alone disaster prevention/recovery training. Ever.
Have you ever been to New Orleans? Leaving on the one highway is tenuous at the best of times, let alone when 95% of the city (and tourists) are trying to evacuate on 16 hours notice.
After four years and 7,000 petitions to the Army Corps of Engineers from churches, local government, and state government pleading to shore up the levees that were supposed to protect the city from hurricanes, the Bush Administration categorized New Orleans (and its levees) as a low priority because “[New Orleans] factors little in our chances of gaining/retaining political control of the South”.
During the Clinton Era, the first counter-terrorism organization in the history of the US that dealt exclusively with al-Qaeda was created. Weeks after the bombing of the USS Cole, the Clinton White House asked a Republican-led congress for money to send Predator drones to Afghanistan to eliminate bin Laden and the terror training camps he had established there. The GOP-led congress said no. The Bush Administration said no again in August of 2001. The Bush Administration said no to 800 Army Rangers when bin Laden was pinned down in Tora Bora in 2002. Instead, Bush outsourced the job of capturing bin Laden to a sympathetic Pakistani force. They let him escape.
Taxes, overall, were 36% lower under Clinton than Bush. Government spending, as well as discretionary spending, increased under Bush by 34% and 250%, respectively. We have seen the largest amount of financial burden, coupled with the largest operating budget of any president in American history under Bush.
Who, by the way, is a socialist liberal? Because the Socialist Party of the US claims that Obama is nothing more than another shill for big business. Nader, whom I hate, but that’s beside the point, says the same thing. In fact, the only people that claim Obama is anything but another big business, dyed-in-the-wool corporate hack are the right wing(who still can’t get over losing).
Learn something before you post again.
Rhino:
I’m willing to bet you’re one of those people who religiously watches the Communist News Network (CNN) with a notepad and pencil ready to go, but doesn’t stick around for the heavily burdened retraction section at the end. Bush raised taxes? Huh. I don’t think the Hollywood airheads would bite on that one.
That being said, I would be interested, despite the snooty arrogance and condescension dripping from your comment, in learning where in the world you get your numbers from.
Please. Enlighten us poor conservatives to your line of reasoning.
(p.s., looking that far down your nose at people might cause eye strain. Just a disclaimer.)
Sorry pal, I can’t stand CNN. I get most of my TV time in watching Morning Joe and our good friends at the FNC. In fact, I’m one of those people that wish anything remotely associated with Ted Turner (with the possible exception of HBO) should go up in flames. Especially if the flames are laced with naphtha.
Check the US Tax Policy Research Center, the Pew Center, the Brookings Institute, and Open Secrets for the numbers.
While Bush himself never “raised taxes”, the amount of taxes the average American pays per year has increased during his tenure. The average American pays more and makes less per year than he/she has since 1975. Those numbers come from the National Economic Council.
Oh, and I’m of average height. 5′10″ certainly isn’t so tall that my eyes will go bad whilst I look down my nose at those responsible for wrecking my country (that I honorably served…with distinction), or those who carried the water and enabled said wreckage.
Semper freakin’ Fi.
Wow, I’m surprised that a United States Marine could hold the viewpoints you seem to. In any case, your country, especially including myself, is thankful for your service. No sarcasm there; just a great deal of respect. Semper Fi.
Getting down to the meat and potatoes now, how is it that you blame Bush for tax increases when he lowered the only taxes he could control? State tax goes up and it’s Bush’s fault? Still not seeing the logic there…
And regarding your numbers and claims…
The responsibility for a reasonable evacuation plan, including the “state highway system” lies with the state and local authorities, not the Federal ones, who built the longest stretch of highway in the U.S. just to go to the place. I have been to New Orleans, as a matter of fact, and drove across the endless elevated highways to get there.
It was the FEMA director who was responsible for naming Michael D. Brown as a Deputy Director, after which time George Bush nominated him for the same position(Brown was not the director, in case you missed that) in concurrence with the director’s recommendation. It was Brown who oversaw the Katrina relief and rescue effort, and during that time Brown selected Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen to take operational control. When it all hit the fan, Brown was forced to resign for debatable reasons, but I can agree that his public history is clouded enough to raise a few questions. Despite all of this, I still fail to see Bush’s misstep in all of this, as it wasn’t his decision to name Brown in the first place; only to confirm it at the FEMA director’s behest.
The levee repairs you complain about are equally the responsibility of the local authorities, who’s job it was to oversee any such operations. It was those authorities who regularly deemed the levees sound, or ordered repairs, and should have prepared against hurricanes on Katrina’s level, despite the fact that they only occur about once every 200 years on average.
Regarding the capture of Bin Laden before 9-11, of course Bush outsourced it. If it became publicly known that he had directly captured Bin Laden and any sort of terrorist attack followed, who do you suppose would have been blamed? That’s right, the same person you are blaming now for using the exact kind of proxy methods that have proven themselves to be effective countless times in the past without starting new wars with America, which Bush was attempting to avoid; It was exactly that war with terrorists that Bush and the republican led congress didn’t want. But Bush got it anyway as president of our country, and he appropriately responded despite his predecessor’s lack of example or American fortitude.
If you would like to speak of taxes, I hope you’ll keep in mind that Bush did not control the local tax rates that increased during his presidency. When Bush lowered taxes, it was the local politicians who saw an opportunity to raise their own taxes in the hope that their constituents wouldn’t notice the difference. Greed is a plague that runs rampant, as I am sure you already know, throughout most political areas, and that greed overcame Bush’s attempt to lessen the taxpayer’s burden.
As far as spending goes, it is common sense that spending goes up significantly during wartime. The reason spending went up so high under Bush was that he chose to fight with expensive technology rather than sacrificing a great deal more American lives, as the alternative scenario would have called for. Personally, I would rather pay the extra expense than lose a single American warrior more than the cost of freedom required. The fact that you hold a different position on the matter, frankly, seems contradictory to your history as a Marine.
Lastly, the socialist liberal I was referring to, of course, is Obama. The guy quotes Karl Marx for crying out loud! “Distribute the wealth” sound familiar at all to you? Look up the guy’s voting record. Read his books. He’s as far left as they come(meaning socialist, in case you don’t have the time to look it up), and could write the sequel to the Communist Manifesto if he wasn’t already trying to legislate it instead!!
Sorry ThreeDegrees/Rhino, but I must completely disagree with your logic altogether. It makes no sense. It doesn’t fit with the historical facts. And, in part, it is based on false information. That’s why we verify our sources before we take positions based on their information. Journalism could be such a great thing if it wasn’t for bias like that.
(P.S. Another response would be welcome. I heatedly debate your points, but probably enjoy being proved wrong more than [okay maybe almost as much as] being right).
You Love George Bushleague…..
Keep smokin the weed, Rude. It’s visibly improving your IQ with every toke. If you read a little deeper around here, you’ll see that I criticize Bush for a number of things as well. Frankly, the guy seriously disappointed me as a conservative. I just don’t see the point in trying to blame every act of God or sliding bank account balance on him like you libbies love to do.
When something goes bad, it’s gotta be Bush’s fault. When something goes good, it’s because of the democrat controlled congress and/or Barack Obama the all merciful. Do any of you take the time to think for yourselves anymore? I’m certainly no marxist, but at least Karl Marx reasoned out his own beliefs for crying out loud.
Thanks for the one-liner. And good luck with the lobotomy Rude.
I never could understand living below sea level in a place where hurricanes come by every year.
DavidRude cracks me up. That is the most elementary school one liner I have seen in a LONG time. What’s he gonna do next, start singing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song? Come on if you have something to say make it worth while!
Heh - I’ve had my own issues with david rude as well…
http://newsday.today.com/2008/12/28/hey-um-rude-dude-david-rude-yeah-you-over-there-click-this-link/