Mostly agreed. Not so much on Obama, though I agree he was the best of the candidates that actually had a chance. Bush may have done good things during his presidency. Honestly, I don't know - if he did, they were certainly all overshadowed by his poor decision-making, disregard for laws and the Constitution, and general idiocy. I don't place all the blame on the guy, but he's certainly done more than his fair share to destroy USA and everything it once stood for. I was really too young to have much of an opinion about Clinton (or Bush Sr.), but despite his own faults he certainly never left me wanting to flee the country.
I'll remember him as a Parsnip. No one knows why they keep eating them, because no matter what you do to them, they always taste the same: Crap.
well living in the states and I voted for obama.. the republicans have no more street credibility (like they ever really did, but they did happen to get elected twice).. I like the fact we've had no attacks inside the states (which of course comes at a cost and I understand this) but I don't like the way he conducts himself in a manner that doesn't include the left I have family over in iraq so I do keep up on events in the middle east.. but how much money can we dump into the war and keep printing more money without devaluing the dollar- it's impossible and the deficit is out of control.. then we have the stupid home loans over the last few years giving option arms to poor people- oh yeah you can live in that 300k home even if you work at mcdonalds! idiots I mean bush had rumsfeld running things for so long with the stupid strategery of low troop count while colon powell and others were telling him to put boots on the ground.. he just seems to be a master of getting things wrong in a time when things need to go right
I enjoy not getting blown up as much as the next guy, but that could just as well be from a lack of anyone trying to harm us as from effective security. I don't believe the measure that have been put in place have been productive whatsoever - they may stop us from the dumbest of would-be terrorists, but I believe the threat has been wildly overstated since 9/11 and that anyone who truly wants to attack us in some way would have no problem doing so. If terrorists hate us because of our freedoms, then Bush has certainly done a great job to protect us by destroying the reason to do so. If I was religious I'd pray that Bush is arrested and lives the rest of his life in a small hole in the ground, but since I'm not I'll merely hope it happens. Vermont already has an arrest warrant for both Bush and Cheney ; I can only hope other states follow suit. If nothing else, it removes some of his freedoms.
tbh, there isn't really anything good I can think about Bush. He might have abolished large amounts of debt to the third world, but that was in conjunction with the rest of the G8 nations, not alone. In that situation, the US could not be seen to be the only G8 country that wasn't willing to help eradicate third world debt. Remember, the UK has only just finished paying off the debt incurred after the end of WW2 when America helped to fund the rebuilding of Europe. As far as bad things, well they're too numerous to mention. But here's a few, just to start with: He took one of the largest budget surpluses ever, and turned it ino the largest national debt in history. He used 9/11 as a tool achieve his own ends and to perpetrate human and civil rights abuses in the name of anti-terrorism, not to mention starting an illegal war. He showed his contempt for the constitutional process by including signing statements challenging and changing the meaning and intent of over 1100 provisions in bills that were passed. He and his team selectively edited scientific reports to change the meaning of those reports so that they would match his viewpoint. Indeed, under his presidency science has become sidelined in favour of religion. But worst of all, he always had a smirk on his face, no matter how serious the topic he was talking about - as though to him, it was always just a joke. When talking about 9/11, Adghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, New Orleans, whatever - it was always said with a smirk. Anyone who can do what he's done in the last 8 years and still smile about it deserves locking up for a very, very long time.
No, he just didn't care. There was no occupation (or indeed, an exit) strategy for Iraq. The superficial notion was that the US would come in, it would conquer, and with the overthrow of Saddam everybody would be happy, peace and democracy would ensue and grateful Iraqi would be offering up flowers and their virgin daughters to the occupying soldiers. Along with all the barrels of oil they could possibly carry. Not that it really mattered. What it really was all about was a hostile take-over of another corporation so their assets could be stripped. Once the new Iraqi government signed the contract with the four major oil companies, the mission was accomplished. The rest was just detail --and Bush is not a details man. Bankrupt governments make poor customers. But if you cancel their debts so they can resume putting themselves further in hock buying your military hardware and expired medications; loans assured against the natural assets of their countries. Ka-ching. Moreover, under the supposed carbon reduction policy the US was planning to sell Third-World countries their nuclear energy technology to substitute their high-carbon oil and coal-based economies. Seems charitable and foresightful, but it's just role-reversal: instead of the US economy being dependent on foreign oil and mineral resources, their economies would become dependent on US nuclear tech. And more oil would be left for American cars.
With the US holding the passwords. That's the Iran problem; they're trying to develop their own tech and eliminate that reliance on the USA. Can't have that. See the Opium Wars.
Lets see. Damaged economy A new War on Something A new wasted agency (DHS) Unified Agencies (FBI, CIA and NSA working together:Which should of happened anyways) An even more damaged reputation with the world The illusion of security The loss of freedoms (Patriot Act) Two years in combat (1 Justified 1 Not) Many good friends KIA A President with balls to stick with his beliefs (Not great but respectable) The formation of the United States World Police Department The further expanding gap between rich and poor I'll add more later...to much to list. @cpemma: Giving friends as well as enemies full access to state of the art technology has come back to slap us in the face before so why give up all the information. Bad business move really. IMO the JSF program shouldn't go out to foreign powers and if they do a watered down version should be sold.
Probably far more fondly than I'm anticipating the next 4. I give it two years, then I'm emigrating. Can't have made a poorer choice, in my opinion. All Obama ever said is change is coming. I can summon demons from Hell, that's a change, and it's not a good one. Bush said what he was gonna do, and he did it. Even if he didn't do it well, he did it. Obama can't even really do that for us. I'm embarrassed by the ones who voted FOR Obama. We should have just had a revolution and been done with it.
in 30 years when I think of Bush, I will have in mind the photo of his face next to a monkey's face. This is what i will remember
We caught bin Laden? I hadn't heard! Come on. Going into 2001 we had a twelve-digit budget surplus, a national debt that was actually shrinking and on course to disappear by 2012, half a right to privacy, speech, and protest, no full-scale wars, a President who could speak his own native language, etc., etc. Considering the sheer extent of things that Bush "didn't do well," you would think that what Obama means by 'change' is obvious. "We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. We have all seen this when doing arithmetic. When I have started a sum the wrong way, the sooner I admit this and go back and start again, the faster I shall get on. There is nothing progressive about being pig headed and refusing to admit a mistake." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (emphasis added) - Diosjenin -
