Dubya Opens Up (GWB: "That's just the way it goes! ")

yahoo news ^ | Fri Dec 19, 1:38 pm ET | yahoo news

[sickoflibs]

President George W. Bush is leaving with one of the lowest approval ratings in the history of numbers. During his final months on the job, the controversial commander-in-chief has given several interviews that have revealed how he views his legacy. Here are some highlights...

Soul not for sale One of the president's most interesting sound bites came during his interview with FOX News. He said: "I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy." The quote is an acknowledgment that the president is well aware that he's about as popular as taxes and chicken pox. Bush went on to say that he would have liked to have been more popular, but he's proud that he didn't sacrifice his integrity. And that includes Detroit's bailout

What Bush regrets During a rather candid interview several weeks ago, folks heard something truly surprising from the president—an admission that he was wrong. Bush said that his "biggest regret" was that he and his team got the intelligence wrong in Iraq.

What he'll be thinking on his last day Anyone who has ever changed jobs knows that the mix of emotions can be quite strong. It's no different for presidents. Chief among Bush's thoughts before entering what he jokingly referred to as "forced retirement" will be well wishes for President-elect Barack Obama. Said Mr. Bush: "I'll be wishing President-elect Obama all the best, genuinely be wishing him all the best."

[Fichori]

I'm gonna miss him.

[sickoflibs]

I think you are talking about compassionate conservativism: huge spending and government, cheap printed money, affordable housing, and yet it all only bought a few votes in 2004 but backfired 2006+2008.

[F16Fighter]

"He kept the U.S. from being attacked again...Period."

Arguably, but at what cost? $2 trillion between the war in Iraq, domestic security, and a sizable loss of freedom and privacy?

Dubya and his minions of neocon-globalist elites have not only unnecessarily transformed America and all she stood for into a smoking crater of cynicism and doubt, but destroyed the Republican Party, and cratered the economy, the public's trust, the conservative movement, AND America's moral and military prestige and clout.

WORST.

PRESIDENT.

EVER.

[trickyricky]

"He kept the U.S. from being attacked again."

I hear that over and over again.
Is this because of "Fatherland Security"?
I prefer Fatherland over Homeland.
Homeland sounds so, well, homo.

Bush is and always will be a stinking New World Order Globalist, like his rotten old man.

He has sold this country out as surely as Gore or Kerry would have.
Too bad, the betrayal should have come through the democrats. They deserve the credit more.

[edge10]

Momma always said ‘Stoopid is as stoopid does’.

[F16Fighter]

"A large part of the Bush-bashing that has been and will be is designed to shift focus from Jimmy Carter as THE worst president in US history."

Uummm...How about just looking at the facts??

Dubya ran as a Conservative and reigned as a Democrat on Steroids. He's pretty much admitted his intel was BS, as are the reasons for the Iraq War.

Carter was the devil we knew; Bush was a stealth, Trojan horse RAT whose policies and decisions NOT to protect America's sovereignty and borders and usher in socialism (including the likes of Ubama) will not soon be forgotten; NOR will his policy to arrest and imprison Border Patrol agents who protect America from a Foreign Invasion, OR his appointment of Bubba Clinton as 'Ambassador' be forgotten.

[zarodinu]

I will never forgive Bush and his neocons.

After 9/11 Bush and the GOP could have done whatever they wanted. They could have abolished the welfare state, rolled back the Great Society, reformed the Judiciary, restored the constitution, closed the borders, and achieved the countless changes we want for our republic. The Democrats would not dare oppose them with the burning WTC still fresh in everyone conscientiousness, the GOP had a once in a century carte blanch to do whatever they wanted. The last time this happened was with Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor, and he made fundamental changes to our nation.

Instead of doing all the things conservatives dreamed off for many long decades, he wasted all the good will on the Iraq war and on expensive pet projects in GOP senators home states. The border was never closed, the welfare state prospered and grew under Bush (Clinton was more fiscally conservative), no fundamental changes or restorations were made to our republic.

You want Bush’s legacy? I got five letters for you OBAMA. George Bush spent eight years preparing the nation to elect its first open socialist for President.

[panaxanax]

You hit the same nail on the head three times in a row, #15, #23 and #26!

Keep up the good work.

[FFranco]

Some day, the greatness of President GW Bush will be acknowledged by all.

He prevented further terrorist attacks on the US homeland after 9/11. The attack of 9/11/2001 was Not His Fault, it was the fault of the Democrats who held the White House for 8 years before President Bush took power.

President Bush has given America almost uninterupted ecnomic prosperity. He helped overcome the Democrat caused recession of 2001, and gave us 7 years of uninterrupted job growth, until 2008. The current recession/depression is the fault of the Democrats who encouraged granting mortgages to unqualified borrowers.

All the other problems attributed to President Bush were caused by Democrats, including the New Orleans disaster, which was due to the incompetence of Democratic city and state governments in Louisiana.

President Bush is a Great President and will be recognized as one of America’s greatest presidents some day.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

So you prefer Carter to Bush?

Carter got us the Iran we are now dealing with as a possible nuclear enemy. Bush took the fight to the Islamofascists.

I'm no great fan of Bush, but give me a break. Carter sucked exponentially worse than Bush. If you disagree, you may find more friends over at DU.

[1rudeboy]

Sure, I can see that . . . I just find the lame-duck bashing humorous. Things are pretty effed-up out there, but blaming Bush for Pelosi is laughable.

[1rudeboy]

After 9/11 Bush and the GOP could have done whatever they wanted. They could have abolished the welfare state, rolled back the Great Society, reformed the Judiciary, restored the constitution, closed the borders, and achieved the countless changes we want for our republic. The Democrats would not dare oppose them with the burning WTC still fresh in everyone conscientiousness, the GOP had a once in a century carte blanch [sic] to do whatever they wanted.

And in the real world the Democrats, in an unprecedented fashion, sought to undermine the war effort from the very first minute. You think they would've allowed themselves to be pushed right over . . . LOL.

[Night Hides Not]

He kept the U.S. from being attacked again.

And Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Hitler built the Autobahns.

The implication is that only Dubya is responsible for no further terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11, and he deserves credit as the President for that success.

His party had control of Congress for six years during his presidency, and accomplished little, if nothing, in the way of reform. In fact, out of control government spending emerged during this administration.

So many of his hand-picked Cabinet officers have shown an incredible lack of competency: Gonzalez, Brown @ FEMA, and now Paulson at Treasury.

And Dubya still thinks that Harriett Miers was a great choice for SCOTUS.

There's been way too much bad with the good from Dubya for the past few years.

And to his supporters, he basically called us racists for opposing him on immigration reform. His last message as he leaves the White House is: "That's just the way it goes!", or more simply, "FU!!!"

[eclecticEel]

The attack of 9/11/2001 was Not His Fault, it was the fault of the Democrats who held the White House for 8 years before President Bush took power.

It seems you've forgotten the tenor of this site, it's a conservative forum, not a republican one. While there are no doubt many things to blame BJ Clinton and his cronies for, trying to tack on the actions of a group of suicidal thugs isn't one of them. 9/11 was caused by Al Qaeda, Bin Ladin, and the vicious ideology that leads them and their fellow Islamists to carry out terrorist attacks around the world on Christians, Jews, Secularists, and moderate Muslims alike.

You can choose to look at hings either as they are or through the tinted glasses of a partisan shill, you've chosen the later while I'll gladly choose the former. In many ways there was but little difference between the way Clinton governed and the way Bush has governed, and when it comes to the economy and foreign policy there indeed wasn't much difference - other than in their rhetoric. I could wish there was more of a distinction - at least on the economic front - but unfortunately there wasn't. Perhaps given the political realities of the day it's unrealistic to have expected anything better.

[teg_76]

I Agree:

WORST.

PRESIDENT.

EVER.

[Cheetahcat]

I am at a quandary here as to WHY I voted twice for him?? Habits like voting along party lines I guess lets see: Piss poor war management, Immigration Traitor,Border patrol in prison,Marines in Prison, Flooding the country with Muslims,Spending like a drunken sailor,

Sticking his head in the sand every single time the rats squeal,Not giving weekly Updates on TV, Not working on communication skills,Not Representing a Republican in any shape or form,the word I am looking for here is embarrassment..

[F16Fighter]

"So you prefer Carter to Bush?"

If we're keeping score, Bush has FUBARed America faaar more as a Fox in the Henhouse.

"Carter got us the Iran we are now dealing with as a possible nuclear enemy. Bush took the fight to the Islamofascists."

Why are we comparing Apples and Oranges?

Carter was a feckless, incompetent boob who at least thought he was demonstrating principle; Bush was/is also a feckless, incompetent boob who perpetrated lies to weasel his way into the war in Iraq and wasted time, money, lives, and American prestige to prove WHAT AGAIN?? "Fight Islamofascism"? NEWSFLASH: We'll be "fighting Islamofascism" and Dubya's Saudi partners till doomsday.

Question: Why has his neocon administration allowed thousand upon thousands of Muslim Saudis to infest America since 9/11? Why'd Bush refer to Islam as the "Religion of Peace"? Why wouldn't he shut down the border if indeed we're "fighting a War-on-Terror"?

"I'm no great fan of Bush, but give me a break. Carter sucked exponentially worse than Bush. If you disagree, you may find more friends over at DU."

Carter sucked, but not NEARLY to the degree of Bush's making a shambles his own Party, conservative principles, and our country; At least a Reagan was able to clean up Carter's mess. Now who will clean up Bush's?? Ubama??

Bush's neocon New World Order agenda has in eight short years transformed America into a broken down, bankrupt, invaded, paranoid police state while paving the way for a MUSLIM-Marxist to be sworn in as President. THAT shall be Dubya's 'Legacy.'

Oh - one more thing - do you Bush Worshippers EVER tire of defending the indefensible while equating non-Koolade Drinkers with DU denizen? (yawn)

[teg_76]

Great point.....really he wasted all his political capital on Iraq...and for what? No more Saddam, who had no nuclear weapons? That’s really doing a lot for us over here...(sarcasm)

[F16Fighter]

Thanks for the encouragement.