The Blood on George W. Bush’s Hands

Substack ^ | May 19, 2022 | Pedro L. Gonzalez

[Geo81]

You're missing the point. As soon as it was politically expedient, the rats started claiming that Bush lied about wmds and people died as a result. They gave aid and comfort to our enemies to win elections. This despite every prominent rat being on record saying the same thing as Bush about wmds. Free Republic, as a prominent conservative site, was at the forefront of fighting the left's lies using facts.

Enter Trump. A leftist Democrat during Bush's presidency, he too has a record of saying the same thing as Bush about wmds. Like his fellow Democrats, he too chose to lie. Then, he switches parties to run for president. He is elected and all of a sudden, everything he says is embraced as truth. So now, I have to read "conservatives" spewing the same lies we have fought against for years. This is not limited to FR, but all over conservative media.

Leftists: Bush lied and people died!

Conservatives: You are the liars, not Bush!

Trump: Bush lied and people died!

"Conservatives": Bush lied and people died!

Everything Freepers used to fight the lies remains the truth. The facts have not changed. How can anyone credibly claim Bush lied when Trump and the Dems said the same thing Bush did, starting before Bush was ever president? They all said Saddam had wmds because he did. It wasn't until after the fact when Democrats(including Trump) started lying to hurt Bush politically, despite their earlier comments. Now this vicious blood libel is used to attack Bush from all sides, including from people who absolutely know better. I never envisioned a day when FR would go all code pink, and it makes me sick.

[Geo81]

I do understand it, and it fits. The overwhelming majority of Freepers, as well as the public at large, supported the war. Hussein went to war with us, we chose to fight back and take him out. Rightfully so.

I get it. You prefer tyrants like Putin and Hussein. Keep supporting our enemies.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Has the possibility ever occurred to you that people carried water for Bush simply because he was the ostensible opponent of the Democrats, even though many had concerns about his more liberal leanings?

I remember when Rush Limbaugh of all people admitted on his radio show that he was tired of carrying water for squishy GOP figures simply because their opponents were Democrats (I think it may have been after Republicans lost the Congress in 2006?); that sentiment was rife on Free Republic all throughout the 2000s, where those who opposed George W. Bush for whatever reason were purged on a not-infrequent basis...even if their political positions would have been 80 to 90%+ in line with traditional American values.

It’s only with the benefit of the passage of time that Freepers, in general, have allowed themselves to look at George W. Bush’s legacy and performance with a more analytical eye, and have allowed themselves to stop carrying water for a President who was disastrous for conservatism on many levels. I should know: I lived through it.

Were all the claims of the Left truthful? Of course not; but that doesn’t mean the Bush Administration was always right, either. And a lot of Freepers pretended otherwise for the sake of opposing the Democrats.

In hindsight, with all that’s been learned in the subsequent years about the Deep State, the fact that both Republicans and Democrats were united when it came to the cause of invading Iraq would now be a cause of suspicion by many on this website...and deservedly so.

What you call “conservative” foreign policy is an aberration relative to the overall history of America, rife with an interventionist spirit that is utterly foreign to the sentiments of the Founding Fathers.

What has America gotten for all of our foreign interventions over the past two decades? Has it helped or hurt the cause of American conservatism?

[combat_boots]

Same here

[Nifster]

You are delusional

You complain about FR not being what it used to be. You contribute by insulting me. Just because I’m not on your war wagon ( mainly because I’ve seen what happens when the US gets on an endless war cycle) doesn’t mean I support dictators. That’s intellectually dishonest and sloppy to boot

IF the US left after defeating Hussein ( or the Taliban) instead of trying to decmocratise the place maybe I’d agree with you

IF you are that miserable on FR…….

[Guenevere]

Dear Freeper Folks…..
……this new person has signed on just to trash Free Republic

We all would do well, imo, by not responding to its aggression, insults, and enticement to argue

Let him/ her/ it talk to itself

Just saying

[Psalm 73]

"We need to quit voting for the lesser of two evils."

Two schools of thought on that, personally:

Supported John Schmitz (AM IND) in '72 over Nixon/McGovern - gave us Nixon.
Voted for John Anderson (AM) in '76 over Ford - gave us Carter.
Voted for Ross Perot (IND) in '92 over Bush - gave us Clinton.

In reality, every vote is for the lesser of two evils ("for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God")

[Nifster]

Roger that

[jpsb]

Rehashing stuff that went bad 20 years ago is also a waste of time.

Bull, like the 2020 election we can't move on until the truth is known to all and the guilty punished. Neocons need to be jailed for all those that died needlessly. The entire Bush family is dirty.

[Geo81]

Dude, you told me to go fight for Ukraine. That's something the Putin defenders say. Was that not a nasty remark? I didn't even mention Ukraine. You also refer to "my war wagon." Again ignoring the facts of what led up to Iraq and Afghanistan. We didn't start either war. To argue we shouldn't have engaged sure sounds to me like what led to 9/11. Al queda was at war with us, but under Clinton we were not at war with them. We all know the disastrous results that followed.

We couldn't just leave. The terrorists would quickly take over. We had to provide a framework for a government, one that would not threaten and attack us. Look at what happened when Obama pulled us out of Iraq, and Biden pulled out of Afghanistan. We should have kept a certain number of troops in both countries. It was very much to our strategic and security benefit.

[jpsb]

Why did the USA invade Iraq? Allow me to explain.

Saddam tried to kill W father so W used the US military to get back at Saddam. Now W could not say he was taking care of family business so he invented reasons like “weapons of mass destruction” to get the job done.

He knew Iraq was going to be a mess after Saddam was killed. His top military adviser told him he did not have the troops to occupy Iraq. So he fired his top general and invaded anyway. He did not care, all he wanted was Saddam head. He did not give a damn about what best for the USA, for Iraq or the middle east in general. Thousands lost their lives so W could have his revenge on Saddam.

Some day ask me about the Bush family and running cocaine out of Mena Ar.

[Geo81]

George W Bush was a more conservative president than Ronald Reagan, who I love. It's clear we are never going to agree about GWB, and thats fine. It is what it is. My issue is the constant hate-filled attacks using leftist lies. Not legitimate criticism that we can debate, but the lies of America hating scumbags such as Michael Moore and code pinko. When FR sounds like DU and other commie sites from last decade, well there's a big problem.

What has the wars under Bush gotten us? Well, how many times have we been attacked on American soil after 9/11 when Bush was president? Is that not the most important thing? To prevent further attacks? Bin Laden is dead. Why? Because we caught a guy who led us to him. Where did we capture said guy? Iraq. Saddam Hussein is no longer stockpiling and developing wmds. He is no longer supporting terrorists. He is no longer attacking our planes. He is no longer threatening us. We basically wiped out Al queda because Iraq served as as a roach motel for terrorists after Saddam was removed. We fought them over there, not here. That was the plan right? America is safer because we took action.

One more note, if you were anti-Bush and against the wars all along, you are part of a very small minority of Republicans and conservatives. My remarks are mostly targeted towards those who have embraced the lies they once fought against.

[Geo81]

Last month, I posted on a sports site with a very, very left-wing user base. I got sick and tired of them insisting everyone be "vaccinated" for Covid, and constantly demonizing those who weren't. So, I attempted to educate them as the the actual efficacy of the "vaccines." I came prepared with the latest data and quoted their posts full of falsehoods. The response I received was very much like yours. Along with gaslighting, obsfucation, goalpost moving, and plenty of personal attacks. All in typical leftist fashion. Point is, don't be like them. I am here in good faith.

[Geo81]

That's some serious Bush derangement syndrome you have there. But, I'll bite. If Bush made up wmds as a pretext to attack Iraq, why was Trump using wmds as a justification for war before Bush was even president? Hmmmmmmm?

[Ultra Sonic 007]

George W Bush was a more conservative president than Ronald Reagan, who I love.

Now I know you're trolling.

[Vermont Lt]

Neither of those things are going to happen. And while you are focused on the rear view mirror, you are not preventing the same stuff from happening again.

[jpsb]

Trump was apolical in until 2015. Nothing he said prior to 2010ish should be taken serious.

You want serious Bush derangement? Google “Mena, Arkanas” + “cocane” + “bush”.

here is a tease

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adambvary/bill-clinton-george-w-bush-american-made

This used to be a hot topic on Fr back when I first joined in 99.

The Bushes are dirty, dirty, dirty. The whole damn family is dirty. But since daddy was CIA just about everyone looked the other way.

[LouAvul]

You have me confused with someone who cares what you think. You're boring, dishonest and disingenuous.

You're not fooling anyone.

[jpsb]

https://youtu.be/9FnO3igOkOk?t=43

[cuz1961]

You are making a whole lot of assumptions with that broad brush.

We have no business in Ukraine, and bushs words and that audience laughing speak for themselves.