George W Bush

[pete]

Only 11 days left before Obama is Inaugurated on January 20th.

Will history be kinder on Dubya? Will he go out with a bang & invade a small country so he can win one war?

[HarpoJoyce]

Only 11 days left before Obama is Inaugurated on January 20th.

Will history be kinder on Dubya? Will he go out with a bang & invade a small country so he can win one war?

Invade, not to win a war but to mess-up the next incumbent of the office.
George H. Bush sent US Marines into Somalia before Bill Clinton took office.

"George Bush, we know you,
Daddy was a killer too!"

[dahamsta]

Will history be kinder on Dubya? Will he go out with a bang & invade a small country so he can win one war?He'll go far with his current mandate.

I would have predicted that his final memorable action would be signing the most pardons of any POTUS in history, but of course he's already gotten most of his chums off...

[Billsthoughts]

Did anyone hear his statement on the Gaza situation? went along the lines of " if hamas spend all their money buying weapons instead of building schools this is the inevitable result"
ironic snigger. :)

[pete]

http://gothamist.com/attachments/NYC_Billy/2009_01_Presidents.jpg
Presidents lunch.

Comedians are going to cry at his departure. Spot the sill grin on Dubyas face :o

[dahamsta]

I though Obama looked very uncomfortable next to Bush in the video of that scene.

[Angus]

Dubya is a classic product of the 20th century and the last idiot president for some time.

A few points:

He won the 2000 nomination with some appalling and disgusting smears on McCain

Even though he did not win the 2000 election he came bloody close and got 49% of the vote

While some of that was anti Clinton / Gore he was a popular guy

His likability was very high and he ran a very good campaign -compassionate conservatism was a strong line

Karl Rove is not a genius - he is a fundamentally flawed lackey who got lucky with Gore and Florida

Dubya has that plain spoken thing which middle america likes - and he ran against an unbelievable bad candidate in Kerry in 04

Politically, Cheney was the brains

Notwithstanding the cartoons, W, was disengaged and allowed key advisors to run things

He was not responsible for 9/11 but probably knew something was coming

He was a thoroughly crap president but a skilled politician

Katrina was his worst failure

[mypost]

There will be a lot on the debit sheet, but I thought bar the odd problem with Katrina and the Wall St. crash, which he had no direct responsibility for, his second term in charge was much quieter than the first.

I backed him in his operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, only problem was that the troops stayed in Iraq too long, and should have left after the government was in place and if not then, then certainly after Saddam faced justice. As for Afghanistan, well that should not be an issue all these years later.

When Cowen goes to the White House in two months, it will be interesting to see what kind of reception Obama gives him. His economic policies could well hinder American investment here by keeping them at home instead, and who knows how he'll deal with the Irish exiles over there.

[jebus]

There will be a lot on the debit sheet, but I thought bar the odd problem with Katrina and the Wall St. crash, which he had no direct responsibility for, his second term in charge was much quieter than the first.

I backed him in his operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, only problem was that the troops stayed in Iraq too long, and should have left after the government was in place and if not then, then certainly after Saddam faced justice. As for Afghanistan, well that should not be an issue all these years later.

When Cowen goes to the White House in two months, it will be interesting to see what kind of reception Obama gives him. His economic policies could well hinder American investment here by keeping them at home instead, and who knows how he'll deal with the Irish exiles over there.

Heard a lot of Irish say this in the run up to the American election as a reason as to why none of us should back Obama (for all our support was worth anyway), and I really don't understand this.

Sure if he comes good on his promise to give extra tax breaks for American companies keeping jobs in America it won't be in our interests, but Obama doesn't owe the Irish anything. Any sensible Irish government would have envisioned such a thing happening and would have made plans to deal with it, sadly we've been stuck with Fianna Fail all these years, a party that seems to base it's long term plans on the belief that the Mayans will be right about the world ending in 2012.

[pete]

Would love to have a fly on the wall when Dubya had meetings. Have to wonder was the ultimate puppet for Cheney to manipulate or did he just delegate everything.

I am sure he is completely stupid but he probably would have been a successful Governor as opposed to being out of his depth as World leader.

[pete]

Bush press conference from Monday. Not find WMDs & Abu Ghraib were disappointing

Daily Show (http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=215905&title=Six-Days-Seven-Nights)

[eamo1]

He lied Bare Faced to my Aunt about all the help he was going to give her after her husband was killed in the WTC attacks.He ended up doing S.F.A for the families.
Katrina was a spectactuLAR FAILURE.There is PEOPLE STILL living in FEMA trailers 3 years on.
WMD,we knew this was bull dink even while he was saying it to try start the war and so its no surprise none were found.
ABu Grabi.GITMO
His failure to see the Economic signs of the crash or if he did see them then his failure to try do anything.
His bull dink attitude after 9/11 of "your either with us or against us" when trying to push for the war.
He's pro life but pro war too,glaring contradiction there.

I could go on but im gonna stop there before my blood boils anymore.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Goodbye, Wubya.
& Good Riddance to this particular cretin.

As George Galloway said,"Pity the village, that gets this idiot back!".

[strangeirish]

The end of an error at noon Eastern Standard Time today. Estimated crowds at the first Bush inauguration, 300,000. The second, a little less. Estimated crowd for Obama...2 million. Lyndon B. Johnson was the next closest, with 1.5 million in 1965. Speaks volumes for the man's popularity. Hope he does a good job and maintains it.

[Da Real Rover]

Possibly the worst president in history.
And that is no mean feet.

[Calcio Jack]

Possibly the worst president in history.
And that is no mean feet.

For me that award goes to Mary McAleese who holds first and second place... why ? because she can issue pontificating lectures from afar before Xmas about how the recession will be good for people (a sinster case of old style Catholic McQuadism that) and today she signs into law the legislation covering the nationalistion of Anglo which in effect is a charter for protecting the so called elite who have destroyed our economy for the forseeable...

[pete]

Fairly hypocritical for US people to boo Dubya given they elected him twice. They get a pass on the first election but they can't say they didn't know what the were voting for the second time. Kerry is an idiot but still excuse Bush second term.

[pineapple stu]

Fairly hypocritical for US people to boo Dubya given they elected him twice.
I'd be fairly sure 100% of people didn't vote for him. It's perfectly possible those booing him voted Kerry/Gore. In which case, they're not hypocrits at all.

[pete]

I'd be fairly sure 100% of people didn't vote for him. It's perfectly possible those booing him voted Kerry/Gore. In which case, they're not hypocrits at all.

True but a lot of extra voters this year which suggests they did not vote the lats time. Clearly some may not have been old enough I am sure a lot of them choose not to vote.

By European standards the US is very conservative which is why the 'i will fight the evil doers' tactic is a sure vote getter. They are a also a little obsessed with (Christian) religion.

[pineapple stu]

True but a lot of extra voters this year which suggests they did not vote the lats time.
How many people booed him?

How many people voted against him both times?

Do you think it's at all possible the former could be a subset of the latter?

Come on, FFS.:rolleyes:

[dahamsta]

pete, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel at the moment. I don't know if it's genuine or a desperate attempt to get a rise of of people, but either way, you're just embarassing yourself. Perhaps a break from CA is in order.

adam

[Closed Account 2]

It can only be viewed as utter failure.

Economy / National Debt = Failure

The US Economy is in dire straits, with a national debt beyond the wildest dreams of 8 years ago. Major US financial institutions have been liquidated (Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, State Street) and now other industries are heading that way too (Ford etc).

Social care (Medicare, Katrina, Unemployment, Foreclosures) = Failure

Millions of US citizens lack basic health care and there is a huge trade in semi-legal importation of medical drugs from Canada. Katrina 1,800 dead 750 missing, (approx 2550) the biggest loss of life due to a hurricane since pre WWII. Unemployment (just look here here (http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LNS14000000) ). Foreclosures have shot up in his second term 225% since 2006 (http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=5681&accnt=64847) this hides the real statistics too, many US Citizens are having to work 3 jobs just to try and stave off the bank at the front door.

International Relations (Iraq, Russia/NATO, Middle East) = Failure

He has goofed up utterly in this area. Iraq is a complete mess, ethnically its on the brink of civil war and politically it's much more volatile and prone to fundamentalism than before he took office. His relations with Russia have been an utter disaster, NATO is looking like a failed organisation now with no real power (e.g. Georgia) and no real purpose. Latin America has swung fully from right to left in his 8 years.

The bottom line is standard of living in the US has fallen for its citizens, the US is less safe, less strong (economically and militarily) and no longer predominates an unipolar world. That is his legacy, and for all the optimism about Obama I think the problems are there to stay.