I can’t do it, but I know many of you probably want to. Frankly, economic and border security are part of what keeps this nation safe. He has been a complete and utter failure on both. These failures and his refusal to foster conservative talent in the Repub Party are the main reasons Hopey McChange is the president. We’re broke. Our borders are wide open. Our ports are unprotected and unchecked. Al-Qaida’s nuclear expert is generally believed to be in Mexico. Mexico itself is on the verge of collapse. And the Three Stooges of Terrorism–the tallest guy in the Middle East (OBL), the doctor with a target on his forehead (Zawahiri) and the turbaned guy with eye-patch (Omar), all of whom stand out in a crowd, and yet still wander around freely probably in Pakistan.
Thank him? Not me.
Sure, I’ll thank Bush. Thanks for what you did get right but you stopped FAR short of what was the simplest of things to do. The absolute glaring issue of: BORDER SECURITY!
Bush stuck to what he thought was right no matter what. Whether this was right or not, well, we can form our own opinions.
I do however, feel let down harshly as a conservative even though Bush wasn’t a professed staunch conservative. This is why conservatives should really look hard before we endorse a candidate. All we have to do is remember the liberal stench we smelled when we voted for MackO.
There is no unity amongst conservatives, which after yesterday’s coronation is troubling in the extreme. BO got where he is because he had a Vision (perhaps driven by pathology), and a Plan, a will of steel, a sense of entitlement, and more money than god. We need to not kid ourselves; if we are to take back this country we will need a Master Plan that is structured like a stealth bomber. We will need a tough candidate, someone who is brilliant, has a track record, is dynamic and charismatic. And lots of money. We need to look at this like war, and we need to start planning now. But, reading across conservative columns does not give one very much hope. And, I feel a palpable nausea whenever I read the next Barky-hopey-mcchange tidbit. It is as if we have just fallen into some kind of level of hell.
NavajoSierra, you forgot: Had the media in his pocket.
Unity? Hard to unite over sub sub-par choices.
Conservatives basically know what needs to be done but we can’t seem to find the candidates that are willing to stand by conservative principles.
To be in the “game”, you have to “play the game” or so it seems.
A man who flat refuses to defend himself against constant slanderous attacks from the likes of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi isn’t likely to stand up for what you believe, and George Bush didn’t. We’ve got a soft communist as President today because Bush squandered every bit of good will and political currency he had defending Rumsfeld’s post-war strategy and Mexican Presidente Fox’s domestic pressure relief valve of non-borders into America.
Besides, I’m with Tammy on where to give credit for the war on terror…Dick Cheney.
I thank him for his class, dignity, patriotism, and forbearance of the most vile slander ever. However his Presidency (at least his 2nd term) was an abysmal failure. You might say he was the grave digger of the Republican Party. He is a man who would have been right at home in the Johnson administration.
Why do I get the feeling that Bush will look better and better as we become more acquainted with BHO? Bush disappointed me, but at least I never for a moment thought he was morally bankrupt.
KWH – You are right! How could I forget the media-in-the-pocket thing, which continues, of course. If I could fantasize (in the midst of nightmare), I would fantasize some hero from those old cowboy movies, like Shane, the strong, silent gunslinger who rides into town and dispatches evil. Where are the heroes? Our candidates were indeed sub sub par. How could we expect to beat “The One?” Expect people to have good sense? Intelligence? No way. I know people who didn’t like him who voted for him. I see him as an evil narscissist, who fooled the masses. I pray they don’t let this family have a family pet in the White House!
What I am most disappointed with:
– Virtually nothing done to stem the tide of illegal immigrants into this country, the rise of sanctuary cities, and any form of meaningful immigration reform… BUT, he wasn’t alone in this matter. Seems like we had Tom Tancredo on our side, and nobody else.
– Dubai Ports deal ( what the hell was he thinking?)
– Waffling on more troops and the initiation of the surge, but, better late than never.
– Taking it on the chin about the lack of WMD, when evidence shows Hussein secreted them off to Syria.
– Most of all, leaving behind his free market principles and allowing Paulson to hand out 350 billion of unencumbered funds ( for a good read, go to Liz McDonald’s Fox News Blog for a look at what B of A did with their TARP funds).
What we really do need to thank him for ( and Laura as well):
– Bringing a strong measure of character and civility to the sacred office of the Presidency.
After 8 years of Bill and Hillary Clinton, we needed it.
– Prosecuting the war on terror on all fronts, and keeping America safe.
– Creating a proper platform for the NSA, CIA, and FBI to parse through and intercept literally thousands of cell and internet terrorist communications.
– Bringing attention to those rogue nations who threaten the stability of the planet.
Well, Democrats had Carter, now we had ours. Hopefully Republicans will shed the socialist country club Republican set, and find another Reagan. I’d actually prefer a Goldwater. After Barkey, we’ll be ready for one.
By the way, go to U-Tube and look up “How to Subvert a Country” It’s a seven segment series of videos featuring a former Soviet propogandist, lecturing in Los Angeles in 1983. It’s amazing how this exact senario is playing out today, right here, and pretty close to the time frame he lays out. It’s genuinely frightening.
Bush is confident history will vindicate him. If that happens in my lifetime, I’ll thank him then. To say he was comparatively better than x, y and z is not the point. He was worse than adequate. It is possible to make a list of mediocre accomplishments during his tenure, maybe even a few halfway decent accomplishments. They don’t outweigh the major failures which were critical.
The moving finger of history is already scribbling the name Barack Obama. The legacy of Bush made it an election for the Democrats to lose regardless of who they nominated. On top of everything else, he did not rein in a spendthrift Republican Congress undermining one of the few pluses Republicans might have touted over Democrats in 2008.
He may have kept us safe. I find it interesting that we have little direct evidence his actions are responsible for the one thing he presumably executed flawlessly while we have ample evidence of his bungling in so many other areas.
He let Iraq slide into civil war because he stubbornly held on to a plan that clearly wasn’t working. I believe that cost thousands of lives and I will never forgive him for that. He gets credit for the surge when in fact he resisted taking that step far too long. I am skeptical that Iraq will stay in one piece after our troops leave.
There’s the failure to shut down North Korean and Iranian nukes. How does that compare to having better relations with India for cryin’ out loud?
He loves to point out how he helped Africa with their HIV/AIDS epidemic. He considers that a major accomplishment. It’s difficult for me to form tears and send billions of dollars for an infected population whose males adamantly refuse to use condoms. Bush had to be the compassionate conservative.
There are the deliberately under funded and undermanned FDA, USDA and CPSC giving us an extensive menu of salmonella and e.coli foods and lead-painted toys or otherwise dangerous products.
The rabid Bush-bashers are also culpable in weakening the country, but Bush was either unwilling or unable to dispatch them. He was slow and ineffective in answering his critics which encouraged and cultivated a toxic atmosphere that undermined his credibility among the American people and the rest of the world. He basically wore a “kick me†sign on his back so he got kicked. He allowed himself to be weakened and that redounded to the detriment of the country.
There’s Russia, China, the economy and more. The world is changing. Old foes are regrouping and new ones are gaining strength militarily and economically. America is in an unfamiliar place. We are in decline and we have little time to turn things around. It is certainly not all the fault of George W. Bush. We became negligent and lazy over decades. Decadent is the proper term. The person who held the office of President at the beginning of the 21st Century was destined to set the direction at this pivotal moment. I sometimes wonder if the law of averages isn’t finally catching up with us. For all the brilliance and genius we were blessed with for so long, I see mostly dull mediocrity in our leaders today. George W. Bush’s foremost accomplishment is to be at the top of that list.
It’s true that the Milquetoast in Chief kept us safe since 9/11. Frankly that is his only accomplishment.
But Bush nationalized the banking system. Bush failed to defend the borders. Bush was gentle towards his harshest critics and harsh towards his allies. In many respects he was the perfect President – for Democrats.
Pat_S, did you mean “Republicans” instead of “Democrats” in the second sentence of your second paragraph?
Other than that, I agree with the points you made. I don’t get the sense that Bush “led” the country during his time in office. He kind of let everything happen without showing leadership. He let the Left bash him. He let North Korea expand its nuclear program. He let Iraq get out of control before the surge. He let illegal immigration run rampant when our country needed to tighten its security after 9/11. He was a lame duck President for most of his administration.
People on the Right talk about how good a person he was (especially considering who his predecessor was), but that doesn’t equal leadership ability. As much as we want someone with morals and decency in the White House, we have to choose the best leader.
Matters little to me where we Conservative’s stand two days after The One decends onto our great nation. Its where are we going to be in two years or four. Remember Barry only got 53% of the
vote running on a wish. Soon he’ll have a record and his policies are doomed to failure. RWR had to bust through the reluctant Republican party structure and forge the movement on his own. They
(the Repubs) then rode the wave for awhile but after his stint resorted back to their old (blue nose) ways. RWR’s only mistake was giving us Bush 1 who gave birth to what we had in Washington yesterday. Good bye Bush(s) (thankfully). Time for
us Conservatives to figure out how we can recapture what’s left of the GOP before it become
a G enerally O bsolete P arty. Pray people, pray.
We agree to disagree on this Tammy. Yes, I do think him for keeping us safe, and I always will. NOW, do I agree with you on border security, yes (remember our Ronald Reagan was just as bad with illegal immigration)..and also I am not happy with his lack of entering the politics of the GOP, but we knew this of him – he separated himself from that after 2004, it was evident.
I am not one that will rah rah President Bush – but also I am not going to join the blame of him either..
John–
Bush didn’t stop any spending but I did mean specifically Republicans. If you recall they lost their minds and then their Congressional seats in ’06. The wild spending spree was the reason a lot of conservatives got off the Bush bus early.