Bush failures:
The cumulative deficit doubled under his watch. He couldn’t find his veto pen. After his first year he couldn’t propose a balanced budget to Congress.
The Patriot Act and TSA gave the government vast new powers to restrict individual liberty.
Massive new social spending. Unfunded Medicare prescription drug program, huge increases in education spending, billions to fight Aids in Africa.
Failure to identify the radical Islamic movement as the source of the terrorist acts of 9/11, much less a major threat to national security. Instead he called Islam, the “religion of peace”, a complete lie.
Prosecuted a war against Iraq, which had not attacked the US. After failing to find weapons of mass destruction, which demonstrated Iraq posed no threat to the homeland, he shifted the goal to converting Iraq to democracy even though there were no cultural or political traditions to support democracy in place. The Iraq adventure destroyed the Sunni counter to Shiite Iran’s expansion thereby destroying the regional balance of power and ultimately resulting in Shiite control of Iraq. Plus he applied too few resources to the invasion, needlessly killing American soldiers and almost resulting in the disaster that would have occurred without the surge his Secretary of Defense opposed. Billions of dollars and thousand of lives waisted for an even more unstable Middle East.
Appointed Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve Chairman. Bernanke’s artificially suppressed interest rate policies destroyed the savings income of millions of Americans. His money printing is destroying the value of the dollar and threatens the dollar’s status as a reserve currency.
Tried to appoint the undistinguished Harriet Myers to the Supreme Court. Did appoint John Roberts who sided with the left wing of the court to institutionalize Obamacare.
Put Goldman Sachs Chairman Hank Paulson in charge of the Treasury at a time when Goldman and other Wall Street banks were engaged in risky speculation with the money entrusted to them by depositors. When the Wall Street casino blew up in the 2008 financial crisis he let Paulson, Bernanke, and tax cheat Timothy Geithner run the show and bail out their Wall Street buddies at the expense of the taxpayer.
He and Paulson gave us TARP which became a giant $700 billion political slush fund and gift to the Wall Street banks as well as the vehicle he and Obama used to bail out the auto industry and line the pockets of the unions. It was Bush that gave the first injection of TARP money to GM, not Obama, even though the legislation did not provide for this use,
You mention the media ate him alive everyday. The same thing happened to Reagan. He went out into the country talking to the American people and selling his ideas. Reagan didn’t have Fox News, talk radio, and conservative websites supporting him yet he was able to overcome the media bias. Bush sat in the White House and on his Crawford ranch quietly instead of using the bully pulpit to take his case to the people. He did not fight and not fighting was his choice. I hate Obama’s message and agenda but give him credit for fighting and going on the road to the people, like Reagan did. Effective leaders are not passive.
It is rare any leader draws a perfect hand. Real leaders create opportunity in the face of adversity. Lincoln guided the nation through a Civil War. He was villified by the press, his political opposition, and members of his own administration more than Bush could begin to imagine. Bush just didn’t have the leadership skills and vision to rally the people behind him and he was unable to use the powers of the office effectively. He made many bad choices and the country was much worse off when he left office than it was when he entered. He failed in his assignment. Blame others if you wish but the facts are the facts.
Some leaders rise to any challenge and some don’t. Those that do leave a positive legacy. Bush left office in the middle of an economic meltdown, with the two longest wars in American history still in process against third world countries with no end in sight. The disposable income of the average American family was lower than when he took office. He added as much to the national debt as all of his predecessors combined. The dollar declined in value 41% during his time in office.
Facts are facts. Bush will go down in history as a failed leader who made very bad decisions and set the stage for the Obama message of “change” to be embraced by the electorate. If Bush had been successful, there would not have been a need for change. If Bush had been respected by the people, he would have spoken at the Republican convention and been on the campaign trail with Romney this year. It is ironic the impeached Bill Clinton is respected by the American people while George W. tries to maintain a low profile in Texas.
“Prosecuted a war against Iraq, which had not attacked the US. After failing to find weapons of mass destruction, which demonstrated Iraq posed no threat to the homeland, he shifted the goal to converting Iraq to democracy even though there were no cultural or political traditions to support democracy in place. The Iraq adventure destroyed the Sunni counter to Shiite Iran’s expansion thereby destroying the regional balance of power and ultimately resulting in Shiite control of Iraq. Plus he applied too few resources to the invasion, needlessly killing American soldiers and almost resulting in the disaster that would have occurred without the surge his Secretary of Defense opposed. Billions of dollars and thousand of lives waisted for an even more unstable Middle East.”
And yet I remember people on this forum shouting down any rational arguments that supported caution in the run up to war.
Sadly, until conservatives find some rock solid principles, besides “sticking it to liberals” I don’t think we’ll do any better as far as elections go.
IMHO politics has become too much like a team sport. It seems to be less about what’s right and more about “did my side win”
I think we traded principles for wins and now it’s biting us in the ass.