Jan 19 2009
Farewell To One Of America’s Greatest Presidents
I know my support for Bush is derided by numerous small minded extremists on the left and right. But that puts me right where I want to be when it comes to getting any nod of respect. Those egomaniacs who have a network TV grasp of what it takes to wield power in this nation regularly display a level of ignorance that is not a testament to their brain power but to how far our education system has rotted out. Sorry for the negative start to this, but years of baseless Bush bashing has left a sour taste with me.
President Bush has been, by any objective measurement, a huge success. From his first small test with China capturing one of our spy plains to his Herculean challenge from fanatical Islamo Fascism, President Bush has been a success. No success is perfect, and the double-digit IQ geniuses who point to irrelevant imperfections in our endeavors, so they ignore or deny the larger results, really don’t diminish the results. They simply diminish themselves.
For example, Iraq was never going to be won easily or perfectly. That fact it was ‘won’ prior to Bush leaving office is example of how tenacity and determination wins out over laziness and weak spines. Perfection is a myth, today’s democratic Iraq is not a myth.
On the most recent anniversary of 9-11 I began the long ‘good-bye’ to this great man. Today, on President Bush’s last full day in office, we complete the ceremony. Since my last post the nation has renewed itself again. While a lot of wannabes rejoice the fact that the man who made them look small and confused is finally not going to be able to prove them wrong again from the White House, his core supporters in the center wish him well and give him thanks for all he did. Those of us not blinded by the extremist fringes see the end of a great administration.
Many people are out reminding the world of President Bush’s accomplishments, since those small strange creatures in the liberal news media are loath to acknowledge all the times Bush was right and they were wrong. I especially liked these observations:
In the avalanche of abuse and ridicule that we are witnessing in the media assessments of President Bush’s legacy, there are factors that need to be borne in mind if we are to come to a judgment that is not warped by the kind of partisan hysteria that has characterised this issue on both sides of the Atlantic.
Emphasis Mine. Right here we see a key and important victory of George Bush. In the battle between President Bush and the news media, the news media is the one bruised, beaten and on the verge of collapse. So many ‘news’ organizations sacrificed their reputations on the alters of their liberal partisan egos that their companies are bankrupt. The only thing of value – their objectivity required to produce information (their product) – is gone. In terms of fiducial responsibility to their shareholders and employees, these fanatics committed political suicide in trying to take down President Bush. Today the liberal news media no longer speaks with unquestioned authority. Today we are amazed when these wannabes can get a story half accurate with no major mistakes.
But I digress, back to my point:
At the time of 9/11, which will forever rightly be regarded as the defining moment of the presidency, history will look in vain for anyone predicting that the Americans murdered that day would be the very last ones to die at the hands of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists in the US from that day to this.
The decisions taken by Mr Bush in the immediate aftermath of that ghastly moment will be pored over by historians for the rest of our lifetimes. One thing they will doubtless conclude is that the measures he took to lock down America’s borders, scrutinise travellers to and from the United States, eavesdrop upon terrorist suspects, work closely with international intelligence agencies and take the war to the enemy has foiled dozens, perhaps scores of would-be murderous attacks on America.
It has become crystal clear President Bush refuses to toot his own horn. In a world of self absorbed politicos who seem to find little of interests outside their own grandeur, President Bush has been a refreshing anomaly. Something Obama better deal with soon if he doesn’t want to turn into a caricature. When compared to Bush Obama looks a bit bloated, especially when you consider what Bush was able to do.
President Bush was noteworthy for being honest and blunt about the challenges facing us. No magic wands, no ridiculous promises, no smoke and mirrors. Sadly for Obama, America assumes that these things exist. Sounds like too much TV to me, along with hyped expectations in a campaign that worried more about winning, than what could be done if they won. When Obama comes up human, he will be rejected for all these hyped and false promises. He needs to prepare now for being human, or else he will be seen as a failure. President Bush never tried to be superhuman.
Read the entire article I linked above, it is very insightful. It stresses the crowning achievement of the President Bush’s two terms in office since 9-11. And that has been the changing of hearts and minds in a region of the world not only foreign to us, but brain-washed into believing all their ills are the fault of America. To say we faced an uphill battle is a gross understatement.
America suffered attack after attack from Islamo Fascists under Bill Clinton. Each anemic and powerless response to those attacks engendered more outrageous ideas and more deadly attacks. By the time Clinton was leaving office in 2001 (an anniversary we are repeating today) Bin Laden was in the final stages of his 9-11 plans on America.
The key players were already here in the US, maybe unbeknownst to Clinton’s security team. The out of date laws that disallowed the NSA from passing tips to the FBI on who in the US might be part of these plans where in full blinder mode. I firmly believe the post 9-11 analysis of the NSA intercepts, and the information they were forced to conceal from the rest of the government, have shown we had the 9-11 high jackers on wire taps back to their controllers in Yemen well before the attack happened. And I am confident those intercepts where under both Presidents Bush and Clinton. We know the CIA tracked many of the pilots to the US under Clinton’s watch. I am certain that if one wants to point fingers, there may have been more information known to the Clinton administration than they admit publicly.
A noteworthy victory for Bush was the changes he put into the FISA statutes that tore down the walls between anti-terrorism and law enforcement. President Bush was recently vindicated on these actions, and as many point out, the proof is in the fact we have not been attacked again since 9-11. While the left railed against mythical conspiracies, Bush stood firm and quietly did what any sane person would do. Now, when a tip comes in there are possible terrorists here in the US communicating with terrorists leaders in Pakistan – they get investigated. Thank you President Bush!
As I said, since 9-11 Bush had to face an enemy that was popular, growing more popular, and growing more deadly. On 9-12-01 Bin Laden and al Qaeda had ascended to the pinnacle of the Muslim world. On that day al Qaeda was the future of Islam and there appeared to be no way to stop that. They had won the lottery. They had done something even Nazi Germany could not do – they attacked us with extreme force and success on our homeland. They nearly crippled our economy and we mourned for months, as the fires under the World Trade Center burned.
But from those ashes a leader emerged. From those dark days a man decided to use his precious time for something few politicians dare do any more. President Bush decided to use all his will and energies to change the world. Seven years later, anyone with an ounce of objectivity can see the results. There are two fledgling democracies now growing where there once was horrific evil and plotting. In Afghanistan the Taliban have been removed from power and now cower in two isolated provinces inside the FATA region of Pakistan. They are not dominating Islam, they are simply trying to not go extinct.
In Iraq we have seen al Qaeda throw everything it has at us, only to come out of the entire event the enemy of the Iraqi Muslim Street. So horrific were their atrocities against fellow Muslims they went from being the future of Islam to becoming the sworn enemy of Islam. al Qaeda, along with their cousin organizations like the Mahdi Army, are now reviled on the Muslim Street. In Iraq al Qaeda destroyed itself within the Muslim Community. In Iraq the tide began to turn. It washed out from Anbar Province and swept across borders. It was the turning point that has yet to subside.
And that is the key testament to George W Bush’s efforts. That is his legacy which no amount of Orwellian history twisting can change. The left fought Bush and sided on doom and gloom. They claimed what was done could not be done, primarily because (as Obama so artfully showed) they did not have the insight or imagination to solve the problem. The only ones surprised with the turn around in Iraq were those clueless in the first place as to how to create a turn around. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. And years of polling prove out the success of George Bush:
Opinions about Osama bin Laden have followed a similar trend. For instance, only three years ago, about six-in-ten (61%) Jordanian Muslims voiced at least some confidence in the al Qaeda leader; today, just 19% express a positive view. In 2003, 20% of Lebanese Muslims and 15% of Turkish Muslims had positive views of bin Laden. Today, seven years after the September 11 attacks, bin Laden’s ratings have plummeted to the low single digits in both countries (Turkey 3%, Lebanon 2%).
As the chart shows the tactics of al Qaeda, Hamas and other violence driven Islamo Fascist movements is falling out of favor. In fact, the more war-torn the region the more dramatic the drop off. We are not done yet, but compared to the Clinton years, where al Qaeda was ascending, the Bush years have been completely the opposite. The signature success for George Bush is turning this dangerous and sick thinking around. It is no longer vogue to support violent extremists – even Hollywood is starting to wake up to that fact.
Though I suspect the love of terrorists will yet be the undoing of the UN and many liberal movements. They are so clueless to the repulsion people have to these animals. To the lefties they are just showing how brave they are by being able to be used by terrorists as propaganda props. I am sure the pay is awesome as well!
President Bush did so many other things during his tenure it will take years, and maybe decades, to understand the imprint he has left on America. He fixed a horrifically expensive gap in Medicare and Medicaid by creating a purely market based prescription drug benefit which is free to the needy and simply a good drug plan for those who can afford to pay their own medical insurance. It is, to this day, an excellent model of how to integrate social net services with private sector products to create a cost effective solution for those who pay their way while supporting those in need.
The fact the right never understood how to market this success as clear proof they have the better solutions to government is one of those enigmas of stupidity brought on by ego. The extremist right claimed if Bush had liberals buy-in on the plan then it could not be progress! I doubt it really even takes two IQ digits to think that one up (most could do that with just one).
This incredible model of fiscal conservatism while providing a needed service was pilloried by the far right, undermining their president and giving the opening to bleeding heart liberal with no real solutions. President Bush probably refers to this kind of thinking as reverse strategery. I see it as one of a number of missteps by the far right as they attempted to remain relevant in comparison. And it is these missteps that has left the right in a shambles. Anyone missing how the President’s prescription drug coup was an avenue to destroy liberal policies of government handouts without any responsibility surely is not ready for prime time. We had a market solution working, and the response was to pillory our leader. Smooth moves there.
President Bush was able to reduce taxes 3 times, most of those with a Democrat Senate in place. It is not his fault endless GOP Congresses had no fiscal restraint. Yet the far right love to blame the President for Congressional greed. Another shining example of an education system that cannot educate.
President Bush also stood firm on one subject that should be the epitome of the Right to Life movement: Embryonic Stem Cell Research. I have posted for years on the snake oil salesman lies about the potential of embryonic stem cell research, and how the US government can never authorize an industry to be built upon the creation of human beings so that they can be harvested for spare parts. One would think masses of human beings being created for spare parts would awaken humanity. But no, we are still obsessed by the decisions of a mother over her pregnancy. Which one has the potential to slaughter more human beings? Which one is the policy of a government verses a personal decision?
To me there is no comparison of which is the greater evil. A government sanctioned and funded industry to create human beings (and yes, a human embryo is a human being and this can be proven today in any court of law) just to sacrifice them for spare parts, when the science cannot produce one single therapy, just endless cancers and tumors, is the greater evil. A hard decision by a young mother pales in comparison.
President Bush’s stand against government subsidized growing and killing human beings was a start. He stood alone and shocked many. It was an amazing moment. He took on an issue out of right field, one critical to our moral standing, but one way below the public’s radar. Not anymore, now everyone is aware of the issues.
But President Bush never obtained the level of thanks and support from the right to life movement he deserved. The right to life movement has become and industry of egos. It is now more like the money changers at the temple than an act of salvation. There should have been an army rising up beside President Bush to end the legal manufacturing of humans for spare parts. But because Bush changed the focus of the right to life battle (to the more important front), too many felt he had destroyed their power base. So they pushed to hold onto power instead of rise to the real challenge. They began to undermine him and claim he was not fervent enough in the cause. Hypocrisy knows no limits it seems.
The way the far right has reacted to Bush is telling. He superseded their agendas by taking the battles to new levels. He made them look like they were standing still as he found alliances with democrats to make strides to the right. But the far right did not want strides, they wanted dominance. They demanded ‘all or nothing’, most knowing this would destroy any efforts at progress. Too many not knowing that is the oldest political trick in the book to hold onto power. We halted progress to the myth of ‘perfection’. Bush was to be undermined at all costs.
But this led to something else President Bush did in his 8 years. He destroyed the concept of fringe politics. As much as the far left thinks they won (just as the news media gleefully celebrates a Pyrrhic victory over a retiring President Bush), the fact is the fringes are frowned upon. President Obama won because the nation wanted to hear about some fantasy solutions to hard times. He won on touting moderation and centrist platitudes (where Bush has been pilloried for actually making them happen on various fronts). Apparently Ameruica wanted a nice fiction wrapped up in a made for TV media spin. After years of having to minimally sacrifice the nation wants to run back to their fictional existences where all is well. They neglected to note Bush won many of his scars by being able to bridge the partisan gap.
Obama’s fiction won’t last. Our problems are very tough and still growing. Obama and the Dems have very little in their arsenal, and none of their ideas will do anything but makes matters worse. And their fringe will rise up just like the far right did under Bush. It will be interesting to watch them scream “Global Warming!” as we chatter our way through the next four years of cooling (this is predicted even by experts inside the global warming camp).
But for me, I will remember a more poignant image of America. That of George Bush holding a devastated young girl after 9-11. President Bush was not lavishing us with ridiculous promises of ‘no worries!’ He was not promising an easy road. He simply promised we would get through it all and succeed. And we did.
Sadly, most of us our too petty to give the man his due for making good on his promises. If you want to see America succeed, just look back to the Bush years. We took on a world war on two fronts, we rose like a phoenix out of the ashes of 9-11, we changed the world’s view of America from a complacent easy target to an ally that can be as dangerous as it is generous.
We took steps to integrate the private market and federal programs to make our elders’ final years a lot better. We reduced the tax burden on families and businesses so they could afford to go after their vision of the American dream. And we avoided becoming the funding source for the massive industrial murder of human embryos for profits. We succeeded, and we screwed up. But in the end we came out ahead.
Are we better off 8 years later? Is al Qaeda fading as a power in the world? Is Islamo Fascism the future of Islam or the enemy if Islam? Anyone can focus on what was not done. All those zero-sum captains of incompetence can cheer their efforts to destroy even modest progress on the false promise of perfection. But I dare anyone to achieve as much in as short a time as President Bush. Kennedy, Clinton, Carter didn’t. Neither did Reaqan or Nixon.
I have a simple example of how easy it is to destroy verses create. Anyone who thinks they are hot stuff can play along. First, grab a tissue and firmly and with great force tear it up. That is destruction. People spent years perfecting the product, it takes a second to destroy. However, to show superiority requires not destruction – it requires creation. To prove to me they are superior all those who tore up the tissue now need to produce one, from scratch, of the same quality as the one they destroyed. No buying a new one.
That is the difference between true success and false success. All the naysayers have not achieved anything. President Bush has accomplished an incredible amount of tangible change. Naysayers have not produced anything. Obama has not won a thing yet, because he has not done anything of value yet. If his first act is to free the terrorists in GITMO, then that is a sign his administration will be a failure. It will be a failure because the man has no vision, no principles and no backbone. It is a sign Obama acts out of a need to be liked or supported, not out of principles. Bush was just the opposite. He infuriated people because if they were in opposition to his goals they couldn’t deter him. It drove many to madness. Which is not a sign of something wrong with Bush!
President-Elect Obama, if you want to know how to succeed, study President Bush. Study how he was able to rack up an incredible number of challenging changes to a massive bureaucracy which has powerful inherent antibodies to any change. You need to study how he did it. You have incredible clout coming into office, don’t waste it placating the fringes. Bush never did.
And to President Bush, you have my thanks and my admiration. It will take a long time for those massive egos to understand their impotence and your accomplishments. It will take a long time for the Democrats to learn that having power doesn’t mean you know how to use it. You used your time in office well. You enacted long lasting and fundamental changes to our fabric of society. You set examples that will take years to appreciate, before they begin to be used as models to make changes we can be proud of (and believe in). You kept us safe, made us feared and respected, and you kept your word. So few politicians can even come close to making similar claims.
Update: Gateway Pundit has some impressive statistics on how well American fighting forces did under President Bush. Another lesson to be learned by Democrats
51 Responses to “Farewell To One Of America’s Greatest Presidents”
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When old people were eating dog food because they couldn’t pay for medication our President found a way to help them live better lives. When children were pushed along through an educational system that didn’t seem to care if they succeeded or not he asked for accountability. When terrorists attacked his country he punished them and put tools into place to make it harder to do it again. When those who wanted to make it constitutionally possible to kill children for what ever reason or grow them for their parts he said I will make it tougher for you to do. When Africans dying needlessly of diseases we can control or have the tools to eradicate, our President, this President, said enough! He found a way to work around the institutions that have done little and helped Africa save her children. Knowing Social Security will present a train wreck for us, he proposed a way to fix it. People say he was arrogant, single minded and stubborn. He was arrogant because he could not afford to listen to the snipping enemies in the liberal MSM. He was single minded because the job demanded that he save American lives. He was stubborn because we need not loose a war that we promised to win. I love this President. I thank his President. I honor this President. God Bless him.
Very well said. I’m not going to critique what you said because I agree with almost everything you said. Now is the time, as you did, to thank President Bush for being the excellent leader he has been. History will judge him well. We also should be very thankful to God that he helped us to have such a man in the position he did at such a crucial time in the events of the world.
The far lefties started screaming before he took office and have only increased in shrillness over his tenure.
I fully expect Obama to be a complete flop and actually hope that he will be in most ways because practically everything he stands for and seems to be advocating will not be beneficial to this country and will be much more helpful to our enemies throughout the world.
I can only hope he flops bad enough that he will doom the Democrats to more oblivion. While that may not be good for the country short term, the country is much too strong for one man to do too much damage in only 4 years.
So, many thanks to President Bush. I hope he lives to enjoy many years of a well earned retirement.
Redteam:
“I can only hope he flops bad enough that he will doom the Democrats to more oblivion. While that may not be good for the country short term”
Ahh – so you would rather see things improve for the GOP, than for the USA. What happened to “Country First”?
Let’s honor President Bush on his last full day.
And I agree: President Bush will eventually get far better treatment from historians than he’s getting now from the shrieking lunatics who want to brand him, now and forever, as the worst president in American history. The “worst president in American history” could never have brought freedom and free elections to an Islamic country in the middle of the Middle East, as President Bush has done.
And I also strongly suspect that Obama will be a flop. He’s the most wildly popular fad since Pac-Man and the Cabbage Patch Kids, but as far as I’ve been able to tell, he really hasn’t done anything in his life where he’s had actual responsibilities to other people, much less anything with any kind of executive experience. You want to talk about Sarah Palin being “inexperienced” because of a couple of bad TV interviews (which were designed to make her look bad from the get-go)? She, at least, has actually run a few things — she was a town mayor, and then a state governor. What has The One done besides get elected? What has he done, other than campaigning for the next rung up the ladder? What do you suppose he is going to do, other than campaign for re-election?
President Bush has commuted the sentences of Ramos and Compean.
Thank you for doing the right thing President Bush!
Great post, AJ. I enjoyed reading it.
This was a beautiful tribute AJ. I second the Dalai Lama’s “I love President George W Bush”.
I have touted him as my favorite president. You were able to list so many of the things that I observed that placed him as my #1.
It is a dirty, dirty shame that the GOP pundits could not have given him the respect he deserved and stood at his back. If the GOP Grand Overseers in Congress had really stood with Bush, they would still have their jobs. If certain lawyer pundits would have given him credit for trying harder than any for their ’cause’………if certain hairshirt wearing sailors could have gotten off their crusades against ‘flavor of the day’ Gonzales, etc, etc………….if certain elite pundits could have got their collective noses out of their elevated air…………certain blonde queens of the airwaves could have wondered if they really were that much smarter…………..and the QueenBEE and leader of the Pundit Pack could have shut the hell up over everything from ‘fry Brownie to illegals’. The above list elected Obama as surely as they caused McCain to be the candidate by splitting the party. And all because they thought they were smarter than President George W Bush.
Thank you Mr VP and thank you to their families that have been subjected to this crap. No one deserves such. Thank you President George W Bush. I loved Reagan best………until you.
There are many of us still out here but the MSM and our own pundits have made it difficult to hear us.
I have thanked God every day since Sept 11 that a Democrat was not in the White House that day and am both amazed and encouraged by President Bush’s success while battling foreign and domestic terrorists (i.e. the MSM and extremists in both parties). As we stand and observe the love fest for the most unqualified and undeserving candidate in American history, I fear not for the future of this country as I am confident that the real people of the USA will eventually undo the bad that will come with the ensuing pandering and political paybacks. Even the return of the Clintonistas (and those with the irrational man-love of Bill Clinton that infected the populace with BDS) doesn’t scare me as we survived their first failed attempt at socialism.
President George W. Bush helped shine the light of day on those who would look out for themselves before their country—useful information when the bills come do.
AJ, I couldn’t have said it better! We are going to miss this president greatly.
And what is con/guy going to say about the Dalai Lama’s comments: “I LOVE GEORGE BUSH”!
AND (from gatewaypunditblogspot.com): “The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence on Saturday candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed.
“It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here.
He also termed terrorism as the worst kind of violence which is not carried by a few mad people but by those who are very brilliant and educated.
“They (terrorists) are very brilliant and educated…but a strong ill feeling is bred in them. Their minds are closed,” the Dalai Lama said.
He said that the only way to tackle terrorism is through prevention.”
P.R.E.V.E.N.T.I.O.N! Ah, that would be GEORGE’S WAY!!!
The Dalai Lama sees the Divine in George W. Bush. So do we.
Bye George! WE LOVE YOU! Rest up and we’ll see you in Texas!
“Well done, thy good and faithful servant”.
Wow. Gateway Pundit has no respect for the intelligence of his readers whatsoever. He compares *ALL* military deaths (including those of illness, accident, suicide, etc.) during the Clinton years, vs. just military combats deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, and assumes that no one will be smart enough to look up those numbers themselves?
That’s some chutzpah.
GuyF
What happened to “Country First”?
dunno. you’ll have to check with the libbies that are still calling for the arrest of George Bush. They started screaming before he was inaugurated and haven’t stopped yet. So, country first?
I didn’t say I want the ‘country’ to flop, I want it to do well, in spite of, the libs.
[...] about two quick round-ups – the first in praise of, and not burying George W. Bush – and the second looking at the inaugural in all its splendor and excess? Yeah, I knew you’d [...]
Guy:
Well when they talk about how many men and women died in Iraq they use all deaths as well. About one quarter of the deaths in Iraq have been due to noncombat related energies.
This is a good source of information on military casualties.
Needless to say however, if we had not gone into Iraq when we did it would be a land of frolicking unicorns and lollipop trees today. Saddam and his psycho offspring would have stopped starving and murdering their own people. That 550 metric tons of enriched uranium Canada bought from the Iraqis recently would never have been put to any use other than humanitarian and Saddam would never have started up those not so secret weapons programs.
Etc. And yes I am being sarcastic. For all you know we would have ended in a worse war with more dead on both sides.
Yeah right country first. We should be happy that this kind of opposition did not exist when FDR was president. If Republicans had followed the same tactics as a lot of major Democrats today they would have been rooting for the Nazis. But they did not.
AJ,
That was a good post and I agree with you.
As I watch the bizarre Orwellian lovefest that the media is having with Obama I wonder if they have any idea what a parody they have become.
Yesterday Tom Brokaw compared Obama’s hanging in there after he lost a primary to Lincoln’s steadfastness in the Civil War. I hear something like that and I am amazed that I ever believed a word these people said.
Just look at the way they treat Obama and then compare it to Bush. They either completely missed Obama’s relationship with Wright until after Super Tuesday, or they hid it to protect him. Neither of which inspires confidence. The major networks did a great job of not talking about his relationship with Hot Rod as well as his nonexistent record.
Bush deserved better.
Owl:
I agree with you all the way. The other day I actually had a legal exchange with Malkin when I accused her of working for Soros. She was running her mouth about what a socialist Bush was and I told her that Stalkin Malkin was no help. I think that people like her are out for themselves.
I saw this oped and thought you might find it interesting, here is an excerpt:
George Bush as president was a brutal war-monger who cared not a whit about the poor, it’s said by some, and you wonder what they are going to do with a fact that shines so large and bright that to ignore it is to admit their own ugly bias.
It is simply this – that Bush did more humanitarian good for the world’s poorest, most diseased people than any of his predecessors as much as dreamed of. The instruments were, first off, the Global Fund, an international group fighting AIDS, malaria and TB that he helped start, and then the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that does its work in Africa, where people absolutely cheer him loudly. Here’s the lowdown on why. It has saved millions of lives.
Look around, and you can find a few critics who quarrel with this, that or the other aspect of this achievement, but not Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, two Democrats who praise it, and certainly not Jay Lefkowitz, who worked with Bush as a policy adviser on the project. He has written that Bush’s efforts reveal the character of a man “who doggedly pursued his vision through a minefield of conflicting interests, despite the absence of any tangible political benefit to himself or his party, and at the risk of a costly break with one of his core constituencies.”
AJ,
A fitting tribute to a great leader!
Guy,
Your mistake is thinking Obama’s goals are good for America.
Terrye,
How true.
The media is slobbering all over itself for its “favorite son.” Only a fool uses the popular media for information other than celebrity gossip.
Obama’s primary mission upon taking over the Presidency will be to fix the economy, and get us out of the worst recession we’ve been in since the 30’s.
To wish him to “fail”, is to wish the economy to get worse. So, you are actively rooting for people to lose their jobs, to lose their houses, to lose their 401(k)’s, to lose anything they have invested. This is what you are wishing on you, and on your fellow Americans.
And you’re proud of this?
Or I guess maybe you wish him to “fail” on his stated goal of ending the war in Iraq – because maybe you enjoy seeing our soldiers die overseas? Or you wish him to “fail” in his stated goal of capturing Bin Laden – because you love terrorists?
Or maybe you want him to “fail” on his stated goal of increasing tax cuts for the middle class? Or his stated goal of providing more healthcare for working class Americans? Or his stated goal of saving over 3 million American jobs? Or providing tax cuts for companies that don’t send jobs overseas?
Which one of those desires would you call “patriotic”, exactly?
Tell me, please – where specifically do you want him to fail?
It’s one thing to state that you didn’t vote for him – fine, we know that. But to actively be cheering for more suffering for the American people is a disgusting act.
And the fact that no one else here will call you (or others who have said the same thing) out on it says much about where the group’s true alliances lie. Because they certainly aren’t with this country.
I didn’t vote for Bush, and I didn’t agree with many of the policies he ran on. But you can bet your ass than on 9/12/01, I was cheering like a madman for him to succeed with everything he told us he was going to do. Too bad you can’t do the same for a President that has an (R) after his name.
guyf:
I was cheering like a madman for him to succeed with everything he told us he was going to do
What? You’re so full of it. You have never cheered for Pres Bush.
Most of what you stated is not worth commenting on. Give us your source for ‘worst recession since the ’30s’
Nope, what I want him to fail on is his socialism, his major ‘bailout’, his destruction of the military, his surrendering in Iraq(that’s his stated goal for Iraq, not winning), he himself has already stated that capturing bin laden is no longer a goal.
I certainly want him to fail on ‘more health care’ for anyone. Hell, I’ve always paid for mine, I don’t need to start paying for others also.
His stated goal of saving 3 million jobs is a sham, he’s planning to make sure there’s plenty of illegals to fill that slack.
I want him to fail in his plans to dismantle the military forces. I want him to fail in filling the ranks of the military with homosexuals.
I want him to fail on his plans on taking more of my money to give to others. I want him to fail on his plans to dismantle Gitmo,(unless he wants to move those terrorists to his neighborhood)
I want him to fail on his plan to reward the crooks that have looted wall street (by giving them jobs in his admin)
For Obama to succeed in his plans is for much more suffering and the socialization of America.
No, you didn’t vote for Bush and you’ve actively cheered for him to fail since day one and regardless of that, he’s succeeded much beyond your biggest nightmares, much to the betterment of the nation.
So yes, do I want an illegitimate president to fail on his personal agenda? You better believe it. Do I want the country to prosper, yes in spite of the fact we elected a socialist who received his training at the hands of communists and ‘gd America’ Wright.
and this one statement:
Which one of those desires would you call “patriotic”, exactly?
I would call all my desires for the future of America to be patriotic, I would call Obama’s stated plans to be socialist and certainly against the better good for our country. After all, I’ve always been proud of my country, unlike Obama’s family. I didn’t have to get elected president to ‘become proud’.
This is a great country and will survive all Obama’s attempts to destroy it.
If Obama’s policy is to withdraw from Iraq before it is really stabilized, then I want him to fail. If his policy is to give every tom, dick and harry a gift of my tax money to make him feel like he is important and he creates only a few new jobs, then I hope he fails. If he is going to close Gitmo to appease Old Europe’s sensibilities and try terrorists in American courts then I hope he fails. I can think of a few other things I hope he fails at as well, but then we have heard many promises and he has back tracked on many. So the point is that we have no idea what he is going to do we only knows what he says. He is a well loved mirage that the hopers and changers have invested everything in. It is a crying shame that a majority of the country fell in love with words.
Guy,
Why would you wish him “success” in implementing policies known to worsen the economy, throw away all we have achieved in the ME and increase bitterness?
Patriotism does not mean mindlessly cheering every stupid mistake of a demagogic leader.
I am and will remain a critic of some of Bush’s policies, and much of the execution.
Nevertheless, he has kept the nation safe since 11 Sep 2001. And if you had told people on the evening of that day that this would be the case, you would have been locked up…as a madman.
It’s an honorable record for an honorable man. And I fear we shall miss him more than we realize in the next few years.
I pray for the incoming President and the future of this greatest nation. I pray for the unborn whom he threatens through his promise to enact the FOCA, revoking any and all common sense restrictions on abortion(over 500 state level laws). I pray for continued freedom of speech and debate in our nation which will being threatened by the Fairness Doctrine proposed by Shumer and others. I pray for the blossoming freedoms being embraced in Iraq and Afghanistan who are threatened by early withdrawal of troops and perceived weakness on our part. I pray for the peace of Israel who is surrounded by sworn enemies who refuse to recognize its right to exist. I pray for the rule of law and integrity in government which will be a new path for some of the Clinton re-treads filling the high levels of Obama’s cabinet.
Just a few things I am placing upon the shoulders of He who is Sovereign while wishing our Presidents, both incoming and outgoing, success.
Macker:
“Why would you wish him “success” in implementing policies known to worsen the economy, throw away all we have achieved in the ME and increase bitterness? ”
First off – how are they “known” to do that? Provide a source, please?
Second – would you prefer that he just continue the policies of the last 8 years? Because, looking at the economy right now, that doesn’t seem to have worked out too well.
(And exactly how do you measure “bitterness”?)
“Patriotism does not mean mindlessly cheering every stupid mistake of a demagogic leader.”
Really? You should tell that to Redstate, Townhall, and Fox News. They seem to have missed that fact.
kathie:
“If Obama’s policy is to withdraw from Iraq before it is really stabilized, then I want him to fail.”
But wait – everybody here keeps telling me we “won” that war. If it’s “won”, doesn’t that, by definition imply that Iraq is now stabilized?
If not – then what exactly did we “win”? Who is going to destabilize the country if we leave in 16 months?
GuyF
we won the war in Viet Nam then foolishly withdrew our troops and allowed the N. vietnamese to quickly take over. so you can win a war and still end up losing if you don’t keep the situation stable. You can credit the Democrat congress with that little fiasco.
If you think for one minute that if we immediately moved all US troops out of Iraq the bad guys won’t quickly take over again then you must be eating stupid pills. Actually that’s exactly what Obama promised to do. He is now saying it might take a while to get the troops out.
While you are talking about the economy, you have to admit we had 7+ good years under Bush til the Dems got back in control of all the oversight committees in congress and let it all go to hell.
now, tell us GuyF, are you finally proud of America for the first time in your life?
Oh, don’t worry, GuyFawkes. We promise to be as fair toward Obama as you and your fellow travelers have been toward Bush. :p
Redteam:
We won the Vietnam War? Really? Can you please give me a single metric that supports that claim?
Also – which party ran the White House when we decided to withdraw our troops from that war?
“If you think for one minute that if we immediately moved all US troops out of Iraq”
No one associated with Obama has ever once pushed for an “immediate” withdrawl. From the beginning of his campaign, Obama has pushed for a 16 month planned withdrawl. On Wednesday, he’s meeting with the Joint Chiefs to discuss… wait for it… a 16 month planned withdrawl.
Find a single statement from a single member of the Obama Administration that called for an “immediate” withdrawl – or take your weak sauce straw men somewhere else.
As for the economy – who was in charge when the housing bubble happened? Who pushed for more and more deregulation, which allowed Enron, and AIG, and CitiBank to grow into the unsustainable monsters they became? Who removed any oversight on traders, so that unstable mortgages could be rated “AAA”, until everything blew up in our faces?
The answer: The GOP, from 2000-2006. Your insistence that Democrats came into power in January 2007, and caused our current recession that started in Dec 2007, proves that your ignorance of the financial market is simply staggering. The fact that you can claim Clinton was responsible for 9/11 because of his policies, but then exonerate the entire GOP for their 6+ years of economic policies, shows you for what you are: a partisan hack, “mindlessly cheering every stupid mistake of a demagogic leader”.
Guy,
•Economic sources:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122576077569495545.html
http://www.chicagogsb.edu/email/chicago_on/PaulsonsGift.pdf
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=312766781716725
•Bush tried to change the “policies” of Dodd, Frank, Pelosi and ACORN. Why would we want them perpetuated. They caused our credit meltdown.
•Abandoning Iraq would be like abandoning Vietnam.
•The “fairness doctrine” and charging Bush with crimes would generate unimaginable “bitterness.”
Macker:
Okay, it’s time to finally tamp this one down.
Please show me one Democrat who has pushed for the Fairness Doctrine in the last 4 years. Or a single one who has stated that they plan to push for it in the next 4 years.
You all made a boogeyman of something that we on the lefty side stopped thinking about 12 years ago. Why? Is your need for feelings of persecution that strong?
Guy,
Re VietNam:
The US was winning militarily, but lost diplomatically because of a weakened Nixon and traitorous Democratic congress. See reference below for the War’s success.
“The domino theory was accurate. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America’s commitment in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism.” [Westmoreland]
Guy,
“Stamp time.”
Pelosi: I Want to Bring Back ‘Fairness Doctrine’ | NewsBusters.org
From Obama press secretary, Michael Ortiz:
“That is why Sen. Obama supports media-ownership caps, network neutrality, public broadcasting, as well as increasing minority ownership of broadcasting and print outlets.”
Macker:
No URL? No link from a href? Weak.
Please take your out-of-context quotes somewhere else, or provide better HTML hereabouts.
Guy,
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2008/06/25/pelosi-i-want-bring-back-fairness-doctrine
Guy…….pleeeeeeeze…….we are still in South Korea, Japan, Germany, stabilization takes time. You are such a nit-picker, you dice and slice and make up totally unreal scenarios. No wonder you could voted for words. Winning and stabilizing are two different things. Is it possible that you don’t get that?
Ii think this link describes best GWB’s legacy:
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/bush_requiem/2009/01/19/173041.html
db,
Bush did not “turn a blind eye to banking practices.” He was blocked by an equal branch of government .
My “freedoms were not eroded.” How were yours?
Katrina was a local government failure.
newsmax- a bitter, one note, news site.
Most excellent post, AJ!
And….I also stand with the Dalai Lama.
I live in Louisiana and the Katrina failure was 100% Blanco and the mayor of New Orleans. Bush’s admin did it’s job 100%+
Guy:
You are a partisan, that is all. I keep hearing about how unprecedented Obama’s support is. It is not unprecedented. Bush won two terms and I can remember when his approval rating was approaching 90. And believe it or not most Americans always want the new president to succeed because of what it means to the country if he fails.
So this is the worse recession since the 30’s? That was not a recession back then, that was the Great Depression. My grandparents were Okies, they lost everything in the Dust Bowl and had to go pick fruit in California when my mother was just a little girl. There is no comparison. In fact the worse weather event in our history was not Katrina, it was the Dust Bowl.
But there was no CNN back then so I guess it does not count.
The unemployment rate is 7.2% right now. It averaged 8% from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s. As for “fixing” the economy, well until he stops acting some partisan parrot and claiming over and over again that it was deregulation that hurt the economy rather than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending practices I doubt he will get anywhere.
After all Obama did not come up with one single piece of legislation during his time in the Senate, why should I believe he will wave some magic wand now? Democrats have been in control for years now and all they do is blame Bush and evade responsibility. Talk about turning a blind eye, where were they?
If Obama were President and Katrina had hit and FEMA reacted the same way, the press would make Obama look like a hero. They would make sure the locals got the blame and the Messiah got the credit. We would hear about the daring rescues off of rooftops and the great job the Guard did keeping things together until the feds got there. It would be inspirational butt kissing all around. Count on it.
AJ, thanks for the wonderful post about GWB. God Bless GWB.
Happy Inauguration Day, everyone! Thanks to Bush and his team for helping this transition go so smoothly.
I’m going to enjoy today, and forget about all of this crap for a while. Enjoy.
I hope guy is noting how a true man of love acts: He did not repay his enemies with what they did to him…remember all the trash and disarray, not to mention the stonewalling and delaying that the president encountered…even up to May, 01 he was trying to get his people confirmed. May ‘01 to September 11, 2001….4 months.
Thank you George W. Bush for showing the world what class and decency and honor are.
Dubya is one of if not my favorite president. Like Reagan he was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said.
Only by being as single-minded as he was about Iraq were we able to win that war. I do question his opponents patriotism as they were wishing for a defeat.
I have no truck or respect for them.
Terrye:
I keep forgetting to respond to this quote from you:
“Obama did not come up with one single piece of legislation during his time in the Senate”
This is a complete and utter lie on your part.
Obama was the primary sponsor of 152 bills and resolutions introduced in the last Congress.
You can find them yourself in the Library of Congress’ search engine (make sure you are looking through the 110th Congress, not the 110th):
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Care to retract?
Cut the crap guy I rarely agree with Terrye but she is not lying.
Stop the childish melodrama.
She may be incorrectly repeating an incorrect statement but her intent is not too lie, unlike Liberals who are born to it.
I read the list of Bills, I doubt he did any of them more likely his staff intent on growing the government.
Chicken shit bills.
Oh but I did not read them all, may be there is a good none in there or two?
GuyF:
Surely you jest. Tell you what, pick out the one signature bill of those 152 and tell us about it. It must be good. And tell us how many of those 152 actually passed and is now law, somewhere, anywhere? Did he actually vote for any of them or did he just vote present. Let’s face facts, obama has never introduced any bill that got passed into law that does anything for anybody. If so, tell us about it. or just shut up.
Wow, check out the champions of chivalry.
“She may be incorrectly repeating an incorrect statement but her intent is not too [sic] lie, unlike Liberals who are born to it.”
So, what was her intent in “incorrectly repeating an incorrect statement”? It couldn’t possibly have been to spread a smear about Obama, right?
Terrye made a statement that was 100% indisputably false. I called her on it. She failed to respond, of course – because none of you do when I expose your bullshit and/or ignorance to the light.
If you all want to keep repeating Rush Limbaugh’s talking points, feel free to do so – just don’t have the audacity to act offended when I point out that you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Redteam:
Congratulations on knowing how to “move the goalposts”.
You were kind of amusing for a while, but you’ve turned into quite the annoying blowhard. Is it alright if I ignore you for a bit?
kthxbye
Guy,
You are the one with the tail between his legs.
You claimed no Dem has advocated for the “Fairness Doctrine” in four years. Then I quoted Pelosi, only six months ago, saying “it’s still on the table.”
Macker:
You did? Huh – I totally missed your link. And I never saw that article – I tend to avoid Newsbusters, since A) their site layout makes me nauseous, and B) I have a slight problem with their sense of “accuracy”.
I guess I could argue semantics, since Pelosi only stated that she supported it herself, and didn’t say anything about actually “pushing” for it. But eh – you’re right, she’s obviously got it somewhere on her To Do list. Why? I have no idea – but then, I have no idea why Pelosi does half the things she does.
I don’t see much chance of it happening though, since Obama has come out pretty clearly against it:
“Sen. Obama does not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters. He considers this debate to be a distraction from the conversation we should be having about opening up the airwaves and modern communications to as many diverse viewpoints as possible. That is why Sen. Obama supports media-ownership caps, network neutrality, public broadcasting, as well as increasing minority ownership of broadcasting and print outlets.”
Sounds about right to me.