I dunno. I suspect that Custer and Fetterman could be excellent (certainly not good) examples of people elevated to hero status based on the fact that they were utterly blithering idiots facing a much disliked foe.
Can I one-up you?
President Bush, responding to a question about what tribal sovereignty meant in the 21st century, said: “Tribal sovereignty means just that; it’s sovereign. You’re a – you’ve been given sovereignty, and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity.”
Even funnier on YouTube
Who can forget, “I’m the Decider”. This is a true Shakespearean gem.
Ummmmm… no
We will think back and slap ourselves in the forehead for letting such a moron be the commander-in-chief.
Fetterman??
How do you figure that GWB’s relative inaction on environmental issues will stand out head and shoulders above…every other president’s relative inaction on environmental issues? Presuming he doesn’t somehow manage to set fire to the atmosphere or something before he slips softly off into history, his environmental inaction is only moderately worse than any other president’s inaction on the subject. There have been no Green party presidents, after all.
And I agree/disagree about the notion that 9-11 will diminish in importance. On the one hand, only a few thousand people died, paling it in comparison with various other horrible historical disasters we don’t care all that much about anymore. On the other hand, we remember the Alamo. It’s bizarre and largely removed from reality which disasters get remembered as significant and which don’t. So who knows?
Captain William Fetterman. An Army officer who had served in the Civil War but who had no experience fighting indians had arrived at Fort Phil Kearney and begun disparaging his commanding officer for not being forceful enough in fighting the indians. Fetterman declared that with 80 men, he could sweep through the Sioux nation.
The fort was in a barren spot during a bitterly cold winter and foraging parties had to be sent out regularly to secure firewood. Indians frequently attacked those parties. On one occasion, hearing the gunfire from another attack, his commander ordered a patrol sent out to relieve the woodcutters. Coincidentally, the troops picked plus a couple of volunteers numbered 80. Disobeying direct orders to go directly to the woodcutters and to not engage any indians unnecessarily, Fetterman allowed himself to be lured over a hill chasing a small group of Indians–only to discover the more than 1,000 warriors on the other side of the hill.
Despite gettting his entire command wiped out by directly disobeying an order while taking the stupidest possible action, Fetterman was mourned/hailed as a hero (at the time–later judgments have been less kind).
The Sioux (and others) led by Crazy Horse (and others) 81, United States Army 0.
I think the OP is laughable. Not that it was meant that way, but…
Two things in my mind preclude Bush from even reaching mediocre status. First is the unprecedented level of secrecy in this administration and Dick Cheney’s uncomfortable proximity to the Oval Office. We are going to be learning more ugly truths about the Bush years for many years to come. Second, the nepotism and cronyism in this administration has taken the concept to a laughable level. A president with appointees like Harriet Myers, Alberto Gonzales, Mike Brown… the jokes write themselves.
Oh, Jeez, I thought you were referring to Kevin Federline and his much disliked foe Britney.
Your example is better.
I predict Bush will have a top time cracking the Presidential Top 40.
Take your pick:
Iraq
Iran
Lebanon
Israel
Palestine
… and so on and so forth
So you’re under the assumption that this hypothetical president would have attacked Iraq and intentionally pissed off Iran (and so on and so forth)? I can’t think of a lot of people who would have done the same stupid shit that Bush did, and the few I can think of are already on his team, so I don’t think you have a case.
Well maybe this hypothetical president would have taken for granted that WMD existed in Iraq and perhaps done the same stupid shit that GWB did.
Ya never know
As an outsider looking in? From an Australian viewpoint, it’s my personal position that President Bush II will ultimately be looked upon by the American people with embarassment. And yet, the American people voted him in a 2nd time. In that context alone, the American people got the President they deserved. They had a chance to vote him out - although, to be fair, John Kerry clearly was enough to scare the American people into voting for the ineptness they knew versus the ineptness they weren’t yet familiar with. In that context alone, something is REALLY wrong with American democracy when George W. Bush and John Kerry are your only two viable Presidential choices.
I reckon a better thread would be the following question…
Will the American political process ever allow a truly great President to be elected again?
My answer to that 2nd question is ironic. The answer is yes, Obama is looking good. I think that guy would make a great President. Hence, in an ironic twist, President Bush II’s greatest act was to make it easier for a guy like Obama to get elected in an environment where he might not otherwise. Forgive the thread wandering there. Back to the OP now…
But that’s not what you said. You doubted that “any” US President could have come up smelling like roses. Bush is the one who both planted and fertilized that garden, and I haven’t seen any evidence that any other US President would have done the same, with or without the existence of WMD. Plenty of Presidents could have taken the sympathy our country received post 9/11 and run with it.
No - it’s from Mrs Thatcher’s "Advisers advise, (Prime) Ministers decide.’
As for this Limey’s view of Bush on the foreign front, he started off well, but the decision to stay in Iraq was disastrous. I see why, but I disagree with him. I don’t know enough about the domestic side, save that America’s national debt continues to increase.
…and you’re the one that brought a hypothetical prez into the debate, I replied in kind.
Of course you’ve seen no evidence that any other president would have done the same, there was no other in office at the time.
FWIW I still stand by my original post, like it or lump it.
Furthermore, as quartz says, the decision to stay in Iraq was a clusterfuck of monumental proportions…but what else could the USA do…nothing.!!
GWB had made his bed and unfortunately you and your allies had to lie in it