A CNN/Opinion Research Survey just released shows that GW Bush has the highest disapproval rating of any president ever measured.
Is this disapproval rating deserved?
Will it make any difference to his opinion of himself, or his behaviour in the next 10 months?
Why not? Those are just opinions anyway. They don’t have to be justified.
No. (He’s been a lame duck since the 2006 midterm elections.)
It’ll really take time and the perspective of history to rank Bush in the scheme of American presidents. Not sure what an opinion poll is really worth.
That said if my opinion is worth anything I think he has to rank as one of the worst presidents ever and perhaps THE worst. I am not alone in that opinion:
**This President has done much to deserve his low approval rating. **
His presidency has seen a greatly falling dollar without the normal increases in manufacturing jobs. A weak economy for all but the rich. A war that appears unjust and that is generally considered a quagmire. A too strong VP that has publicly tried to defend the use of torture. A general loss of goodwill around the world. A failure to address environmental issues combined with record profits for oil companies that are the main business of his and his evil VP’s family and friends. Sweetheart deals to Haliburton that probably would have brought down any other politician. The debacle of cronyism that hampered Katrina response. Many verbal gaffs, more than any President I can recall and his Dad was somewhat challenged in this area. His admin has outed a CIA agent in retribution for a negative article, it made up reports about Iraq.
It has our brave Volunteer military personnel stretch to the limits. The disgrace of the lack of equipment and training for the military and of course the VA hospital problems.
I could go on, but I will stop.
Yes, I think this disapproval rating is deserved!
I emphatically agree with What Exit? and, to his all-too-accurate litany of Bush bungling/misdeeds, would add a Federal budget which has gone from record surpluses to the biggest deficit, in real dollars, in U.S. history, as well as dropping the ball in Afghanistan and letting Osama bin Laden get away.
Buchanan still has pride of place for dilly-dallying as the Civil War storm clouds gathered, and both Grant and Harding let their “friends” rob the country blind, but Bush has an excellent shot at winning the Worst President Ever trophy. Time will tell.
I would think that at least some of the 29% who did not disapprove of Bush in this survey would not give a disapproval rating to ANY sitting president at ANY time. To them, it is treasonous to show disapproval of your president. “my country, right or wrong”. If a poll were taken this time next year, it would be interesting to see what Bush’s “disapproval” rating was.
Few other presidents, simply due to technology, have had the power and presence to do as much harm as Bush. Could Andrew Johnson fight two wars on the other side of the globe and still have time to piss off Venezuela, North Korea, etc? No. By global standards Bush is indeed one of the worst or THE worst president ever.
That said, I have a creeping fear that every president from now on will have to be the WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER. just to justify the bloodlust and disdain that much of the media and a growing number of citizens have for the government. This is one of the reasons I want Obama in the White House. Way too many people hate Hillary to an irrational extent (unfortunately they’re already trumping up reasons to hate Obama such as the J. Wright bullshit but that’s beyond the scope of this discussion I think.)
I simply can’t fathom how nearly one-third of people can approve of the job he’s doing.
It can’t even be party lines, as Bush has done nearly as much to piss off righties as lefties.
Even if you think the invasion of Iraq was the correct thing to do, you can’t possibly approve of the way it’s been handled.
I think Euphonious Polemic’s point about “my county right or wrong” is dead on.
And don’t forget folks, one reason he’s the president is that the guy who played a key role in making the internet what it is today one referred to that accomplishment in such a way as to allow some jerkwad to spin it into, “he thinks he invented the internet! What a tool!”.
You might say that Bush was elected by the stupidest voters in history.
Now that is bullshit, Gore was a stiff speaker, ran a weak campaign and failed to have an evil genius puppet master like Carl Rove pulling his strings. It was a lot more than the “invented the internet” thing. 
Jesus.
In other news, the sky is blue…
I’m reminded of this quote :
Ah…another ‘Bush is the worst President in the history of the Universe!’ thread. Shocking.
Two things…first off, the title of the thread is incorrect. Not the caveat from the linked article:
I suppose it hinges on what exactly ‘modern history’ encompasses. Personally I think of ‘modern history’ as going back a bit further than CNN or Gallup polls, but that’s just me.
Note:
So, they are pretty much playing with the numbers a touch.
That said:
Oh my…certainly. I think he deserves everything he gets.
Certainly not. The man has shown that he is pretty much immune from the slings and arrows of others. Simply put he could care less what anyone thinks of what he does. He does what he want and what he thinks is right and devil hang anyone who disagrees. He’s not interested.
-XT
Stupid in America runs far deeper than Bush voters. Don’t forget that Gore might also have been president if stupid voters in Florida knew how to read a ballot correctly.
Hey everyone…a reeder sighting!
Not surprised there are other threads - see BrainGlutton’s link. I cannot search for them however… and this seemed to be a recent newsworthy item.
There is a limit to the length of the title. Next time I will try for a title like “Bush most unpopular in recent history of CNN or Gallup Poll, as referenced in CNN website, please discuss the veracity of the aforementioned document.”
Just tongue in cheek there…no worries. Have just seen a lot of these threads in the past is all. 
-XT
Does he do what he thinks is right or what he is told to do? I honestly do not know; it is easy to think of him as a puppet with Cheney pulling the strings but it is equally easy to think of him as a spoiled rotten rich kid who has to have his own way no matter how wrong that way is. Either way the man is a total disaster.