# What is the GWB legacy among Republicans/conservatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 5, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980 "2010-04-05T03:03:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/61 "2010-04-12T20:14:30Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Yes, he was. You don’t get to disown him just because he became an embarrassment. > > None of which disqualifies him as conservative. Conservatives are fond of wars. Arrogance and an inability to learn from mistakes are hardly antithetical to conservatism; the latter is nearly a requirement. > Absolute BS-Liberals like JFK and LBJ went into the disaster called Vietnam with both eyes open. > And as for making the government bigger, small government is just a talking point. Conservatives clearly don’t actually believe in it, or if they do that’s just an example of how incoherent conservatism is. You can’t do the sorts of things conservatives want without a large and intrusive government. You can’t regulate what goes on in bedrooms, run a world hegemony, have a huge military, hand out pork to corporations, put millions in prison, spy on people right and left, and otherwise act as conservatives without a huge government,. > Absolute BS- A true conservative wants a smaller Federal government > > That’s because he was incompetent, and because conservatism is a bad idea. Not because he wasn’t a conservative. So I suppose the Saviour (Obama) is brilliant for bankrupting this nation? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/62 "2010-04-12T20:16:56Z")
Obama is not relevant to this discussion, but in any case he hasn’t “bankrupted” this or any other nation. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/63 "2010-04-12T20:31:47Z")
And now that you mention it, I’m not even sure he’s actually a saviour. I can’t say I’ve ever seen his license. I don’t think he even _has_ a license! Anyway, try to stay on point, ralph. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/64 "2010-04-12T21:28:17Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > So I suppose the Saviour (Obama) is brilliant for bankrupting this nation? He hasn’t bankrupted the nation. And I don’t even like the man, much less think he’s a savior. That “Obama is the savior” nonsense is right wing propaganda about what the left believes; it’s not what the left actually believes. The left is actually rather angry at him. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/65 "2010-04-12T21:34:13Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Absolute BS- A true conservative wants a smaller Federal government. LOL … in what universe? Sure, conservatives TALK about this goal all time, but they never actually DO anything about it when they’re in power. In my experience, TRUE conservatives don’t give a crap about how big the federal government is as long as they get tax cuts that benefit them in the short run. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/66 "2010-04-13T03:21:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > That only counts when you do unpopular things that are nevertheless necessary. A lot of of his administration was unnecessary things, and done badly, to boot. So you think the Surge was necessary? Good, considering most Democrats and a lot of Republicans did not think so in 2007. > [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > LOL … in what universe? > > Sure, conservatives TALK about this goal all time, but they never actually DO anything about it when they’re in power. In my experience, TRUE conservatives don’t give a crap about how big the federal government is as long as they get tax cuts that benefit them in the short run. Paleoconservatives (who are also isolationist) definately are for real about smaller government. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/67 "2010-04-13T21:52:24Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > So you think the Surge was necessary? What makes you think it was? We never needed to be in Iraq in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/68 "2010-04-13T21:56:31Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > … [Nixon] opened up China, which had enormous positive repercussions that linger to this day. Like, them owning us, you mean? Or the great strides in democracy and human rights? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/69 "2010-04-13T22:04:07Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Bush was NOT a conservative. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Yes, he was. I think we’re better off avoiding this word, along with “liberal.” There’s just no consensus at all, either among those who adopt the labels or those who critique them, about what they mean. Personally, I find people constantly ascribing beliefs to me which I do not hold, because some other belief or statement of mine comports, in _their mind_ with _their_ understanding of one of these words. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/70 "2010-04-13T22:18:15Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I think we’re better off avoiding this word, along with “liberal.” So rather than conservatives, we’ll just call em the ‘c’ word. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/71 "2010-04-13T22:28:10Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Bush is a strange duck. Always was. This is one of the things which made him so easy to like and hate: there was always something in his odd mannerisms and speech which offended his critics vastly more than any political, and something in his quiet, confident dignity of action which pleased his supporters. He also felt no need to apologize for the former or brag about the latter, which further encouraged both sides. These also colored the perceptions radically. I rather suspect a great many of the Left - including dozens on this very board - could not help but hate him. > > I mean _hatred_: irrational, all-devouring, unrelated to any oplicy or political consideration. He was fundamentally part of a different, somewhat more respectful and respectable, but far less socially-savvy and self-aware, subculture. Bush was familiar with the city but saw himself and presented himself as rural American, and that was merely the uppermost tip of the iceberg. What a Trihssian statment. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/72 "2010-04-14T01:01:15Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > What makes you think it was? We never needed to be in Iraq in the first place. I was asking **Bryan Ekers**. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/73 "2010-04-14T01:16:12Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > I was asking **Bryan Ekers**. Irrelevant. Your answer to him presumed that the war was necessary, which it clearly wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/74 "2010-04-15T17:01:00Z")
According to this survey, 57 percent of tea partiers still have a favorable view of him. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html?src=me&ref=us](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html?src=me&ref=us) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980/75 "2010-04-15T18:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > the addition of a conservative Supreme Court Judge on the USSC. Great legacy, a conservative appoints a couple of conservatives, big whoop. No way is it going to eclipse that he lied the nation into a war they couldn’t afford, or deregulated Wall Street till the world economy teetered on the brink of collapse, permitted torture and rolled back habeus corpus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-gwb-legacy-among-republicans-conservatives/534980.md?page=3)