bush: not really such a bad president?
Oh Bush. So lame. So lame ducky.
Yesterday, George W. Bush had the 'ultimate exit interview' which normally I wouldn't care to read about especially since it comes off the heels of his 'Legacy Tour '09' (a silly attempt at spinning all the crap from the last 8 years into "Heck, I'm really not that bad after all"). However, the NY Times headlines on this story totally grabbed my attention: Mistakes, I’ve Made a Few, Bush Tells Reporters
No sh*t, Sherlock. Why stop at 'few'?
At least he admitted that the whole Mission Accomplished debacle of '03 was a mistake. Because, yeah, declaring the end of major combat operations in a war in Iraq that is still going on might've been a bit premature.
image courtesy of examiner.com
Also, he admitted to being wrong about focusing on Social Security reform when he should've been thinking about immigration reform. Granted, no lives were lost when he made this error in political strategy, so this can be considered one of those lesser mistakes (unless you belong to the Minutemen Project).
And then there's the faulty intelligence that led to the war in Iraq. WMDs? What WMDs?
But, according to the NY Times, his mistakes stop here. He spent time addressing his accomplishments instead.
Like fighting terrorism.
The most striking moment of the 47-minute question-and-answer session, by far, was Mr. Bush’s rousing defense of his record on fighting terrorism. With human rights advocates accusing his White House of condoning torture and demanding an inquiry into its counterterrorism tactics, the departing president used his platform to admonish reporters, and by extension, his successor and the nation, not to forget the lessons of Sept. 11, 2001, and the climate of fear in which his policies were forged.Yeah, let's just let the abuses from Abu Ghraib slide. Oh and whatever crap is going on at Guantanomo Bay. Torture, shmorture. Screw the Geneva Conventions.
Oh and my favorite part of the whole 'exit interview' was when he stated that he couldn't have changed anything about his handling of Hurricane Katrina. Since, you know, it's all good in New Orleans now.
"More people need to have their own home there," Bush said. "But the systems are in place to continue the reconstruction in New Orleans. You know, people said, 'Well, the federal response was slow.' Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed."Ummm...lots of people died during the hurricane. And if Bush calls the thousands of FEMA trailers that remain there a 'home' then perhaps he should retire to one instead of his ranch or that brand new mansion in Dallas. Also, clearly the lessons he learned from Hurrican Katrina were not applied to Hurricane Ike (and didn't they pause the GOP convention for this?). Maybe when Bush goes back to Texas, he can help clean up Galveston.
Of his critics, Bush had this to say
“I don’t know why they get angry,” he replied to a question about those who disagreed with his policies so vehemently that it became personal. “I don’t know why they get hostile.” He added that he had learned not to pay attention.What? You don't get that you snubbed your nose at the Constitution with your policies (warrantless wiretapping, anyone?) and that many innocent people have died in the wars you started and that women's rights have been set back under your watch and that people in other countries hate us (ummm...hello? shoe?) and that Americans are mad about that and all the other crap of the last 8 years? Clearly the man doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. Either that or we are witnessing some serious denial.
So yeah, Bush telling us he really wasn't such a bad president?
You know, this may be what he says to help him sleep at night, but I'm NOT BUYING IT. And hopefully, neither are you.
8 comments:
I agree he screwed up Katrina.
But I fully support the Patriot Act - which I am sure will go away now - which is unfortunate. His immigration reform was a bit lacking.
He did do a good job securing our country that was weakened by the Clinton Adminstration. I blame Clinton for 9/11, always have - he weakened the military and had three chances to get Bin Laden, he was too busy getting serviced under his desk then protecting the country. In my opinion, Clinton and Carter were the worst Presidents of our time.
Reagan being the best.
That's my opinion, Bush didn't do the best job, but there have been worst Presidents.
Then again, I am your Republican friend and we aren't going to agree on this :-)
zip: i did not support the patriot act and will be glad when it's gone. i don't think it's done much to make us safer and often targeted innocent people.
you can blame clinton for 9/11 but there was intel regarding an impending attack after bush had already been sworn in for which he did absolutely nothing.
"The 9/11 Commission Report states that "the 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise. Islamic extremists had given plenty of warnings that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers." The Report continued:
"During the spring and summer of 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies received a stream of warnings about an attack al Qaeda planned, as one report puts it "something very, very, very big." Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet told us "the system was blinking red."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_advanced-knowledge_debate#Intelligence_warnings
W was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2001.
reagan was one of the worst presidents of our time. i realize that I'm biased, but i will NEVER FORGET his response (or lack thereof) to the AIDS crisis.
i think it's funny that you think clinton was such a bad president. i'd rather have a president getting blow jobs from interns in the oval office yet leaving office with a budget surplus then a president who got no action yet managed to ruin the U.S.'s image worldwide in 8 years.
how do you know Bush didn't get no action hahaha
haha
That is a very good point about Clinton's surplus. We would be in so much better shape if we were facing this economic crisis without a huge debt that has been saddled on us. As for Bush's other failings, it is just too heartbreaking to think about.
One thing I wonder about -- how do we know he kept us safe? The theory about this goes that "everyone" said there would be another attack after 9-11 and it was because of Bush's policies that there wasn't. But "everyone" also said there were WMD in Iraq -and there weren't. The arrests and trials of terrorists have been duds as far as I can tell. Nothing of substance. I am not so ready to give Bush that accolade that he kept us safe. Maybe he did - but as Reagan said, trust but verify. And since there is no way to verify classified information ...
i will be so glad when he is gone.
this really says it all..
Of his critics, Bush had this to say
“I don’t know why they get angry,” he replied to a question about those who disagreed with his policies so vehemently that it became personal. “I don’t know why they get hostile.” He added that he had learned not to pay attention.
He is clearly out of touch with reality.. :(
zip: ha! well, laura looks sexually dissatisfied to me.
erika: ok, so as someone with some experience in program evaluation, there's honestly no way to effectively measure whether bush's policies have kept us safe. i mean, is there a direct correlation between the policies and safety? i don't think you can say for sure. so i'm with you on that one.
and sorry for getting all geeky on you.
michelle: i know, right? how could he not get why people would be angry? how delusional is he?
You should look up The Daily Show from yesterday (Tuesday). Stewart did a fantastic and hillarious recap of Bush's "exit interview"
I'm not gonna lie - I'm still pissed about that whole Mission Accomplished debacle. And you know, everything else! Jan. 20 I think America is going to give a collective sigh of relief that Bush is gone.
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