# Bush: Being Called a Racist was the Worst Moment of my Presidency **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 4, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441 "2010-11-04T12:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/41 "2010-11-04T18:06:14Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > You people are fucking retarded. Thank you for making this whole thread make sense for me. I was really confused before you posted. You are indispensable. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/42 "2010-11-04T18:14:38Z")
People say that I’m a murderer, a rapist, and a puppy-kicker. Let me make this perfectly clear. I have never kicked a puppy in my life. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/43 "2010-11-04T18:15:33Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Now, functionally, what Bush did, or failed to do, hurt a whole bunch of African Americans. Kanye offered a theory as to why. I suspect that Bush’s lack of action was associated more with his callousness towards poor people than about racial differences, but I’m not sure why it’s so much more taboo to express the former belief than the latter. Actually, in the case of New Orleans, a review of events fails to support the charge that his direct actions harmed anyone. His gutting of FEMA and the replacement of a professional chief with a good record of responding to disasters by a political hack did create a situation in which people were harmed, but Bush’s direct actions were not that bad. He personally called both the mayor (who dithered around for an additional 48 hours before taking action) and governor prior to Katrina’s landfall urging them to consider an evacuation and once the levee failed it was pretty much out of Bush’s hands to do anything more than watch his FEMA clowns fail to do anything, but Bush did not withhold resources and he certainly did not steer the hurricane as it landed. His attempt to portray Lott as a victim on the same level as the elderly who were left to die in their retirment homes or the black NO citizens who were prevented from escaping their city by white cops from a neighboring town establishes Bush as a tone deaf idiot who is more concerned about his buddies than the poor, but that was an after-the-fact comment that had nothing to do with failing to help people and still provides no evidence that race–as opposed to class–drives his perceptions of the world. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/44 "2010-11-04T18:20:03Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > So being called a torturer is less disgusting than being called a racist? > > So sitting down in White House meetings and discussing how much you can beat prisoners and how close you can come to drowning them by waterboarding were not disgusting moments? Not according to the discusserator. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/45 "2010-11-04T18:21:23Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Actually, in the case of New Orleans, a review of events fails to support the charge that his direct actions harmed anyone. … If the Normandy invasion had failed, it wouldn’t have been because Ike failed to take out that bunker either. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/46 "2010-11-04T18:34:28Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > When has a President ever commented on what a rapper/singer’s I don’t know his music. But I know he’s a douche. comments have meant to them? Obama said Kanye West was a “jackass” after the Taylor Swift incident, for what that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/47 "2010-11-04T19:17:05Z")
Mr Bush, I just want you to know I don’t think you’re a racist. I think you’re an incompetent buffoon who’s stupidity had far-reaching impacts which echoed around the world, but that’s by-the-by. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/48 "2010-11-04T19:26:54Z")
I join the chorus of those who say that, for all his faults, I never thought Bush evidenced any shred of racism (or sexism, for that matter). Having said that, I would think that the morning of September 11, 2001 would have been a worse moment than being called a name by a jackass. Seeing the suffering in the Superdome after Katrina should have bothered him more than Kanye too, and I would also think that the dawning realization that Iraq had no WMD’s should have caused a sick feeling, even if he’d really believed they were there. Being called a name by a braying jackass shouldn’t even register. Obama gets called 30 worse things than that before breakfast every morning. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/49 "2010-11-04T19:38:44Z")
Yeah, I agree with most of the other people here–my reaction when I saw the video back then was the same as yours. “Sure George Bush cares about Black people. He just doesn’t care about \*poor \*people.” > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I only learned this morning, because of this Bush Comment, how to pronounce Kayne’s name. Which I promptly forgot how to pronounce it. I always thought it was Kane. It’s Kay-nah, right? Your problem is that you transposed the letters. It’s not Kayne–it’s Kanye. Imagine you’re really excited about a Star Trek TOS film: “Kahn? Yay!” > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I highly doubt Bush had any idea who Kanye West is Really? Do you think he lived in a fucking box? (Well, okay, yeah, it was Bush, you may have a point.) West is an incredibly well known musician who claimed on live TV that Bush didn’t care about Black people. If he didn’t know who West was before the incident, you bet your ass he knew afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/50 "2010-11-04T20:01:55Z")
Yeah, but coming to the conclusion, after hearing he was a rapper, that Kanye worked in the gifts department at Macy’s during the holiday season doesn’t really count as actually \*knowing \*who he is. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/51 "2010-11-04T20:18:56Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Really? Do you think he lived in a fucking box? If it weren’t for this board, I wouldn’t know who he is. Then again, I live in a fucking box. I can totally get behind the Star Trek mnemonic, though. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/52 "2010-11-04T20:25:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Link to article on HuffPo [here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/02/george-bush-kanye-racist_n_777967.html) > > That headline overportrays it - Bush says he “was most disgusted” by this accusation of racism by Kanye West - it was the lowest blow he received: Jesus Christ. he’s gone, he’s out of office and I still have to hear about him? God Dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/53 "2010-11-04T20:34:12Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Bush has always struck as one of the more racially progressive figures in the GOP. Granted, that’s not saying much, but he did promote a lot of qualified minorities in his administration, never tried playing the race card himself on the campaign trail, Yeah, he just let Karl Rove do that push poll about McCain’s “illegitimate black child” in South Carolina. He never played it himself, he just let his minions do it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/54 "2010-11-04T20:45:04Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Yeah, he just let Karl Rove do that push poll about McCain’s “illegitimate black child” in South Carolina. He never played it himself, he just let his minions do it. Stay one or more levels removed and maintain “plausible deniability”. It works. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/55 "2010-11-04T21:22:11Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I can totally get behind the Star Trek mnemonic, though. Too bad I fucked up the spelling, eh? It should be “Khan.” ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/56 "2010-11-06T05:49:40Z")
Didn’t Bush have something to do with McCain’s “Black child” robocalls during the 2000 SC primary? If so I’d say that establishes a disregard for black people not named Condi or Colin right there. ETA: BTTP by Drain Bead. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/57 "2010-11-06T14:42:04Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Yeah, he just let Karl Rove do that push poll about McCain’s “illegitimate black child” in South Carolina. He never played it himself, he just let his minions do it. Well, Rove is a slimeball of the highest order, certainly not one above pulling these sorts of dirty tricks, even if it meant going around Bush. While I’m no fan of Bush, I can easily see Rove doing this without the boss’ knowledge or approval. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/58 "2010-11-06T14:51:04Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Well, Rove is a slimeball of the highest order, certainly not one above pulling these sorts of dirty tricks, even if it meant going around Bush. Would this be technically known as “beating around the Bush”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/59 "2010-11-06T15:09:44Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Well, Rove is a slimeball of the highest order, certainly not one above pulling these sorts of dirty tricks, even if it meant going around Bush. While I’m no fan of Bush, I can easily see Rove doing this without the boss’ knowledge or approval. So, assuming Bush really does abhor racism so much, why didn’t he fire Rove for such a disgusting act? Is there even any record of him giving Rove a firm talking to? If you knowingly let slimbags continue to do slimebag things on your behalf; then guess what, you’re a slimebag too, and too chickenshit to your own dirty work. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441/60 "2010-11-06T17:32:21Z")
I agree with what many others have said. Bush had a lot of faults but I never felt he was a racist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-being-called-a-racist-was-the-worst-moment-of-my-presidency/559441.md?page=4)