I think Bush’s cronies used the political litmus test for nonpolitical jobs - like asking candidates for Iraq duty about their views on abortion. But not Bush himself. Meiers got more flack from the right than the left. This, I admit, was because the left didn’t have to say anything. Bush, since he couldn’t tell a competent person if he bit him, worked on friendship not ability. Meiers was a friend and companion, so of course she was qualified for the Supreme Court. Remember how he sent his political aide from Texas (I forget her name) to the Middle East to do pr for us? That was another joke.
'Bandit, great post. IANAC either, but I agree with most of what you’ve said.
I was pro-OEF, against OIF (especially continued) but understand why things went as they did. I have many buddies in the IC: to a man they don’t think the books were cooked, they think that everyone actually thought Saddam had WMD. We’ve all seen the quotes from the Dems on that topic, if not, here’s a quickie rundown. And as Colin said, it’s a Pottery Barn situation now, we couldn’t just call a mulligan post-invasion.
About the only domestic issue the conservatives liked, I think, was his position on federal funding of stem cell research (ie, don’t fund it). I happen to disagree with that stance, but hey, he was president, he calls the ball.
As for Iraq, I think it’s crazy to try to determine the success or failure at this point. If in 10-15 years that country looks like Turkey and is a stabilizing influence in the ME, then he’ll look like a genius (not to mention the fact that playing an ‘away game’ with Al Qaida pretty much got us 8 yrs with no successful domestic attacks… not sure what odds you could have gotten on that, on 9/12/2001, but I imagine they’d have been pretty long)
You’re not allowed to call other posters liars in Great Debates. This is a warning not to do this again.
The way a lot of Republicans viewed and now view Bush is kind of strange. I heard that while he was running, that the national leadership wasn’t too fond of him, but they figured better him than a Democrat. Once in office though, they backed him up 99% of the time, with immigration and I think raising taxes on smokers to fund SCHIP being the only two things I remember them having major disagreements over. Then, once he’s out of office there’s all this talk about how he wasn’t a real conservative, or at least a real fiscal conservative.
So, he’s grudgingly accepted, totally beloved, and then kind of thrown under the bus by most conservatives. I have a feeling in general that amongst conservatives and Republicans that he’ll have a mixed review.
As for me personally (moderately conservative, Republican but currently unhappy with the party), when he first ran for office and I didn’t know much about him, I liked what little I knew. After getting into office I was through with him before his first term was out. Pretty much every decision he made kept making me like him less and less. So I’ll remember him as a very bad president. Even worse than Clinton (that’s right, you heard me!:mad::D)
This is, without a doubt, the most astonishing post I’ve ever read here.
I wonder what the opinion would be if he had managed to hold off the crash until after he left office. Probably pretty good - after all, everyone liked Coolidge, though the Great Depression started less than a year after he left office.
I think while he was not a great President he was a President who tried his best and a President willing to do unpopular things (such as the Surge). Overall I think his legacy on the nation has been positive especially with the addition of a conservative Supreme Court Judge on the USSC.
Middle East politics have indeed been fundamentally altered, no point in denying that.
Yes, because we all know that deficits grow under Democrats and the government shrinks under Republicans (except in the reality-based world of course).
It certainly has under the latest one.
Regards,
Shodan
Two, actually – Roberts and Alito.
As Obama said: “they go out the next morning look at the seeds and say ‘see nothing yet’”.
Betting pool on when a Fox News story will include the caption “Former President George W. Bush (D)”?
There is so much wrong packed into these statements that it beggars belief that you might actually be serious.
Obama is lying about that, too - the federal debt is growing by something like $4 billion a day.
But you to be congratulated on your agility with which you flip-flop.
Regards,
Shodan
You are to be congratulated on your ability to use a completely unrelated thread to take a shot at Obama.
You would have to take that issue up with DanBlather.
Regards,
Shodan
Several conservatives I know use the No True [del]Scotsman[/del] Republican argument: yeah, he wasn’t that great of a Conservative, but just wait until we get a real Conservative in office!
Socially he may have been conservative, except on immigration, but how was fiscally conservative? The conservative ideal is to reduce spending and shrink government, and he spent like there was no tomorrow and grew the government. Except for closing all those military bases. Traditionally conservatives grow the military.
Lead insane Iraq invasion/occupation.
Failed to secure the border.
Good Supreme Court appointees.
Helped fuel subprime market by pressuring banks to lower lending criteria.
Introduced misguided No Child Left Behind Act.