# What can president bush offer us? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 13, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118 "2006-03-13T01:54:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xkoolkacix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/898d66/32.png) [@xkoolkacix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xkoolkacix)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/1 "2006-03-13T01:54:09Z")
…just a question i always have to ask people what really does bush have to offer us anymore? not that he had much of anything in the fist place. how is he helping america and the american people. it seemes to me that all he has is fear…and his war. which is his answer to everthing. it desnt matter what else is going on because we first and formost have to kill all terrorist. but lets not talk about what bush is doing wrong, i hear enough of that, but lets talk about what he is doing right? ~kaci 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/2 "2006-03-13T02:45:09Z")
> [@xkoolkacix](#): > > …just a question i always have to ask people > > what really does bush have to offer us anymore? not that he had much of anything in the fist place. > > how is he helping america and the american people. > > it seemes to me that all he has is fear…and his war. which is his answer to everthing. it desnt matter what else is going on because we first and formost have to kill all terrorist. > > but lets not talk about what bush is doing wrong, i hear enough of that, but lets talk about what he is doing right? > > ~kaci 😃 If you ask him real nicely, maybe he’ll offer you some capital letters. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/3 "2006-03-13T02:52:27Z")
I like his Supreme Court Justice nominees. In fact, I like them a lot. I don’t think they’re quite what he thinks they are, but you take what you can get. (Bush likes to call them “strict constructionists”, as if he even knows what that is.) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/4 "2006-03-13T02:53:16Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > If you ask him real nicely, maybe he’ll offer you some capital letters. Yeah, it’s hard to top Clinton sending vowels to the Balkans. But that might do it. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/5 "2006-03-13T03:45:29Z")
A big hug. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/6 "2006-03-13T03:49:19Z")
> [@](#): > > it seemes to me that all he has is fear…and his war. You ever wonder if Bush heard the line, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and totally misunderstood where FDR was going with it? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/7 "2006-03-13T05:05:18Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I like his Supreme Court Justice nominees. In fact, I like them a lot. Harriet Miers? ---
**Author:** ![ayalabmaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@ayalabmaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ayalabmaj)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/8 "2006-03-13T15:02:06Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > Harriet Miers? Too bad she failed the swimsuit competition. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/9 "2006-03-13T15:10:56Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > Harriet Miers? Yeah, I should’ve been more specific. I was thinking Roberts and Alito-- especially Roberts (not to take anything away from Alito) Miers was a bit if a clunker IMO, but not because of any of her political views. I don’t really care about that. She may have been qualified, but if she was it was only marginally so. She may have made a perfectly mediocre SCOTUS justice, but since she never made it to the confirmation process it’s hard to judge (pardon the pun). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/10 "2006-03-13T15:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > not that he had much of anything in the fist place I think he has quite a tempting fist place, actually. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/11 "2006-03-13T15:45:39Z")
> [@xkoolkacix](#): > > but lets not talk about what bush is doing wrong, i hear enough of that, but lets talk about what he is doing right? This isn’t to overlook Bush’s horrendous spending policies, or his spurious justifications for going to war in Iraq, or his repeated erosion of civil rights… but you asked… Sadly, it seems that between the Buchananites and the Democrats, Bush is about the only politican left who’s embracing free trade. He did the right thing in attempting to push through the ports deal. We lost a very key middle east ally in rejecting the ports deal and made ourselves even more of a laughingstock in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/12 "2006-03-13T15:53:11Z")
What can President Bush offer us? Uh … presidentness? Presidentitude? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/13 "2006-03-13T16:14:40Z")
Shrug. He can always offer his resignation, But I won’t hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/14 "2006-03-13T16:27:50Z")
I was coming in to say exactly what **SteveG1** said. Sigh. Day late and a dollar short. Again. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/15 "2006-03-13T16:37:53Z")
> [@dre2xl](#): > > Sadly, it seems that between the Buchananites and the Democrats, Bush is about the only politican left who’s embracing free trade. He did the right thing in attempting to push through the ports deal. We lost a very key middle east ally in rejecting the ports deal and made ourselves even more of a laughingstock in the world. I get what you’re saying, but let’s not go overboard. Bush is generally on the side of free trade, but he’s been known to pander to the protectionists with the best of them. Remember the steel tarrifs in his first term? I do agree that he was on the right side of the DPW deal, but we’re far from having “lost” a key ally. The relationship might be damaged some, but it’ll survive. What concerns me most about this whole situation is how this mood of economic isolationism seems to be sweeping thru Congress. It’s as if they woke up yesterday and found that (gasp!) foreigners own assets in the US. something like 80% of the port terminal leases are owned by foreign interests. I supsect that the value of those leases just took a nosedive-- that’s what usually happens when demand for something dries up. Hopefully, this rush to shut out foreign investors will die as any legislation that gets proposed ends up being bogged down in it’s own inernal contradictions. Some astute aids to the Congresscritters will chime in with: “do you really want to tank industry “X” with this legislation, Senator?” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/16 "2006-03-13T17:57:55Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I get what you’re saying, but let’s not go overboard. Bush is generally on the side of free trade, but he’s been known to pander to the protectionists with the best of them. Remember the steel tarrifs in his first term? > > I do agree that he was on the right side of the DPW deal, but we’re far from having “lost” a key ally. The relationship might be damaged some, but it’ll survive. What concerns me most about this whole situation is how this mood of economic isolationism seems to be sweeping thru Congress. It’s as if they woke up yesterday and found that (gasp!) foreigners own assets in the US. something like 80% of the port terminal leases are owned by foreign interests. I supsect that the value of those leases just took a nosedive-- that’s what usually happens when demand for something dries up. Hopefully, this rush to shut out foreign investors will die as any legislation that gets proposed ends up being bogged down in it’s own inernal contradictions. Some astute aids to the Congresscritters will chime in with: “do you really want to tank industry “X” with this legislation, Senator?” I see the “fun and games” in Congress as more a cynical pandering to whatever base they think they have. I doubt security even entered their minds, except as a rallying point. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/17 "2006-03-13T18:11:08Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I get what you’re saying, but let’s not go overboard. Bush is generally on the side of free trade, but he’s been known to pander to the protectionists with the best of them. Remember the steel tarrifs in his first term? And timber. And the Farm Bill. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/18 "2006-03-13T18:14:19Z")
> [@xkoolkacix](#): > > what really does bush have to offer us anymore? > > how is he helping america and the american people. “Ask Not what your president can do for you… etc…” Seriously though… What have you done for him LATELY?! What? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/19 "2006-03-13T18:18:10Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > What concerns me most about this whole situation is how this mood of economic isolationism seems to be sweeping thru Congress. This “mood” is just sweeping the U.S. Congress. There’s a story in last week’s _Economist_ about “economic nationalism” in the EU and the larger, so-called “European Economic Area.” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118/20 "2006-03-13T19:05:12Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > And timber. And the Farm Bill. And credit card companies. And health insurance companies. And drug companies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-president-bush-offer-us/348118.md?page=2)