President Bush - Be specific

What specifically has he done to be a "bad president"?

We all are clear on Iraq. We are there b/c of his decision. But that hasn't been his criticism lately.

Is our "economic crisis" his fault? If so what did he do to cause it?

I'm not making a political statement here. I'm just curious why people seem to hate him.

 

If you have to ask, I'm pretty sure no amount of text could illustrate his failure in a capacity you would accept.

 

He was elected as a conservative and failed to lead as one.

The tragedy of 9/11 presented him with a once in a generation measure of goodwill towards this nation. He squandered it finishing what daddy was not allowed to.

 

That doesn't make him a bad president just a bad conservative.

 

LOL. Thta is a typical answer.

i'm not saying there is or isn't. i want to hear the policy failure part. That is all.

 

Specifics please.

 

After rereading my post - I'll add that as a President, he made a lot of tough decisions - right & wrong on myriad issues. What he did that taints his image is not defending or explaining himself thoroughly regarding those decisions. Often times he deferred to others whom the press ate alive: Dick C among others. That's not a leader - that's a dodger.

Ronald Reagan was the complete opposite. Maybe the stem cell researchers can clone him and save this Country in 30 yrs

 

I consider a conservative to be both socially and fiscally conservative. W spent like a drunken Democrat.

While I don't think world opinion should be a guiding principle for US foreign policy, it cannot be totally ignored. Following 9/11 almost all nations were supportive becuase of the attack. W could have gone directly after Osama, pretty much with impunity and most of the world would have applauded. Had he been successful, his stature would have grown. Instead, he chose to go after Hussein. Yes, he needed to go, but the focus should have been on Bin Laden.

 

He and Congress sat on their collective asses focused on Iraq and let everything else fall apart then came up with a bullshit bailout plan that shouldn't have been needed in the first place.

The Iraq War was a fuckup in the way it was presented before hand. It really hasn't been that bad in its execution and even now units are being brought home early because they are ahead of their respective goals/schedules. Certainly not a perfect war but considering the conditions and new "type" of warfare not too bad actually(speaking militarily).

That has nothing to do with the rest of the Iraqi situation and the contractors over there. That seems to have a lot of fuckups associated with it.

Most of the BS is Congress' fault but Bush is the President so it's his responsibility especially since the Repubs had control most of his time there. Granted their approval rating and work has declined even farther(which is amazing) since the Dems took over. Quite pathetic actually.

 

Hey, we don't need to be drunk to spend. It comes naturally.

Right there with you. I remember sitting with my coworkers during our Union negotiated break and discussing how we didn't need to go into Iraq until we resolved the current conflict in Afghanistan. It appeared that "eyes were not kept on the prize", and focus was lost on the true intention of resolution with regard to any issues resulting from September 11th, 2001.

 

I think of the scenario as happening like this. When 9/11 occurred Bush stood up and condemned the attacks and swore to do something about it. Not only were the people of the US on board with that, but most of the rest of the world was on board also. When we went into Afghanistan it was obvious that Bush was serious. That's when the lip service of some of our own people started showing up, and some of the other countries started backing up also. Iraq started up the real wailing and gnashing of teeth. Nobody counted on that!!

"Whoa, we weren't counting on ACTUALLY smacking someone around over this. We just wanted to yell and rant for awhile." What we end up seeing is a large part of the world that isn't willing to actually act on anything. Just keep the usual status quo because that's what we need. Rattle sabers, lob a couple of missiles, threaten a little then go back to our usual life. After all, that's the way it's been done for several decades. Right?

Bush made some mistakes. That doesn't make him a "bad" President, just a human President that can make mistakes. I would be willing to bet someone a steak dinner that he wouldn't make the same mistakes again. I wonder if that would redeem him in the eyes of his detractors? Naa. Probably not.

 

I voted for Bush twice. He may not make the exact same mistakes again, but they would be similar. I cannot recall any President in my life less likely to learn from his mistakes than W and that includes Nixon and Carter.

I like Outback for the dinner.

 

BTW, W did more to damage the Republican party specifically and conservatism in general that any Democrat ever could have.

 

It certainly wasnt what daddy wasnt allowed to do,but what Daddy chose not to do. GHWB knew what kind of a mess Iraq would be if Saddam went away, in fact it's the mess were in now with all the different factions in conflict with each other. Had he been re-elected or had Clinton kept the situation more in hand after the first Gulf war, I think we could have lived with Saddam in a weakened country. Instead we let Saddam rebuild, and filled him with even more hate then he had, we had to kill him in the second war and hope for the best.

 

Stem cell controversy laid to rest

 

Anyone want to buy an 06 CBR1000RR?

 

IIRC, Daddy did not have consensus of the international coalition to take Saddam out. Clinton certainly could have been more insistent on compliance with the terms set for at the conclusion of hostilities. It didn't help that, as is typical in a dictatorship, anyone capable of leading the country in another direction had probably been executed by Saddam.

 

Good stuff.

i'll add in that he isn't the kind of leader that we can rally behind. He was know in Texas for being a quiet, almost behind the scenes, administrator. That has what he's done as president.

I'm hearing that as his biggest downfall. Plus prioritization post 9/11 and washington-insider-esque spending. I like the stem cell point.

So far nothing on our "economic crisis"?

 

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