# Bush's "Good, Strong Record" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 13, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080 "2009-01-13T13:26:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/1 "2009-01-13T13:26:53Z")
Sorry if there’s already a thread about this; the Search function is, once again, non-functional. In [Bush’s last press conference](http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=1169732), he said he’s got a “good, strong record” as President. That makes me want to vomit a little, and I almost put this in the Pit, but let’s try it in GB. > [@linked article](#): > > “I strongly disagree with the assessment that our moral standing has been damaged,” he said. “It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom; that America is a country that provides such great hope.” Does anybody want to agree with President Bush about this? (And maybe explain what “the elite” means?) ---
**Author:** ![jessesheeran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@jessesheeran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessesheeran)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/2 "2009-01-13T13:32:49Z")
George W Bush embraced the idea that America’s #1 export should be violence. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/3 "2009-01-13T13:38:37Z")
> [@](#): > > That makes me want to vomit a little, and I almost put this in the Pit, but let’s try it in **GB**. Let’s try it in George Bush? God knows I’m no George Bush supporter, but at the end of one’s term anyone would surely want top burnish their record and put its best face forward. I personally find his claim (and that of others in the administration) that "our moral standing hasn’t been damaged pretty hard to take, but I really do think he believes that to be the case. Besides, what else, especially at this time, _wopuld_ he say? I think it’s pretty clear that by “people” he means the majority of the American people, with “the elite” being the media , politicians, and academics. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/4 "2009-01-13T13:59:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Let’s try it in George Bush? Oops; odd slip. Granted, any President is going to want to put a positive light on his administration. I guess I couldn’t expect something like this (from _The Onion_): [I’m Really Gonna Miss Systematically Destroying This Place](http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/im_really_gonna_miss). ETA: Only a week left, if Bush plans to try and pardon himself. Maybe he’ll do it Friday night. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/5 "2009-01-13T15:59:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Let’s try it in George Bush? > > … > > what else, especially at this time, _wopuld_ he say?. Gaudere strikes again. Maybe Bush means the media, academics, or Democrats by the elite, but at this point, I don’t think he means anything. “The Elite” are just another anonymous enemy he can blame for our problems. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/6 "2009-01-13T16:02:46Z")
Try “effrontery.” Or “denial.” Either is a good place to start. Maybe we need to combine them? Dentery. Effronial. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-good-strong-record/481080/7 "2009-01-13T20:03:04Z")
It’s obvious what Bush means: All good Americans think his actions regarding Iraq, Afghanistan, and the various detainees were either about right or too lenient, and only the Liberals (in the Rush Limbaugh sense of the word) think he did anything wrong or that it’s even possible to damage the image of America abroad. He’s playing to what little is left of his base in an attempt to go out with an approval rating somewhere above the worst ever.