Posted on 06/08/2009 6:58:16 AM PDT by meandog
Former first lady Laura Bush said while her husband, George W. Bush, does not think it’s appropriate for a former president to criticize his successor, she understands why former Vice President Dick Cheney has.
“That’s his right as a citizen of the U.S., and I think he also feels obligated and so I understand why he wants to speak out,” Bush said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “On the other hand George feels like as a former president that he owes President Obama his silence on issues and that there’s no reason to second guess any decisions he makes.”
The former first lady also approves of Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, saying “she sounds like a very interesting and good nominee.”
“As a woman I’m proud that there might be another woman on the court,” Bush said. “So we’ll see what happens, but I wish her well.”
Asked about the infighting within the Republican Party, Bush said while she and former President Bush “talk about it a lot,” it’s “probably not that bad.”
“I think it’s just a very typical political cycle,” she said of the GOP’s shrinking status. “It’s like creative tension within a party for people to talk about what it is they – how they want to be represented
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
You probably paid attention to the politics of the day as good as you paid attention to my post. You didn’t address my point.
As I said, he could have gone around the press by several means, the easiest would have been to call National Addresses to the American people prime time in the Oval Office about every 2-3 months. He could have reminded people that the War on Terror was real and would take along time.
I give Bush credit for he policy of pre-emptive strikes on those supporting terror and realizing we were in a WOT. But, he failed miserably in the communiction and PR aspects of the job. That is why we now have a Pres. that thinks the WOT is over and the GOP is in total meltdown mode.
Agreed. And his time spent among us was too brief, but sufficient unto the Lord.
But ... let me tell you what I didn't hear, for just one example ... a good public exposition of the Global Warming Hoax ... for another, A Rational Energy Policy, stressing development of domestic resources.
Let me tell you what I didn't see: a consistent, long term, solidly professional approach to Public Relations. If POTUS is not a Ronald Reagan, with his natural flair for it, that is what is needed.
Iran-Contra was far from Ronald Reagan's greatest moment, but he survived it long enough to assure that his successor in the WH was a Republican.
My admiration for GW's character and strengths remains undiminished. That doesn't make me blind enough to his human failings to suit his more hagiographic admirers.
You are repeating yourself. (I won’t LOL since you might have an organic problem)
I'm sorry, but that is absolute bunk. The idea that because President Bush didn't follow your idea of how to deal with PR, we somehow got Barack Obama and the GOP failed is absolutely ludicrous.
You can't think that really, can you? I've seen that as an anti-Bush talking point here now and again, but I can't believe any thoughtful person willingly ignores the MSM slobbering, the weak candidacy of McCain, the Democrat-caused financial crisis, the baldfaced lies of Obama and every leftist out there, the limp-wristed behavior of our elected Republicans, and every other factor leading to Obama's win.
How hard do you have to work to blame Bush for this? And the more important question......WHY?
So, you believe Pres. Bush was an effective communicator and sold the WOT to the American people???
LOL.
Sorry, facts don’t support that view. Bush allowed the MSM to give their version of the WOT, and the American people wavered with data indicating low support for the war.
Holy Cow! His successor was his VICE PRESIDENT!
You should be blaming Dick Cheney for not running, not President Bush for McCain's loss.
This need to make Reagan perfect is really unbecoming...........and denies the historic facts of the situation.
btw, those of us who are "hagiographs" according to you, are arguing history, not rose-colored memories of a man who would absolutely hate the kind of worship so common on this forum.
Being polite does not mean “approval.” The liberal drug-addled media is offering their opinion and twisting it off as Mrs. Bush’s.
He'd have made a far better president: Courage, conviction--both demonstrated in a North Vietnamese hell hole--and, finally, the guts to use a veto pen!
You completely mischaracterized what I said. I have not even weighed in on what I think of President Bush's PR, other than to disagree that it was non-existent.
You said this.....
I give Bush credit for he policy of pre-emptive strikes on those supporting terror and realizing we were in a WOT. But, he failed miserably in the communiction and PR aspects of the job. That is why we now have a Pres. that thinks the WOT is over and the GOP is in total meltdown mode.
and it is absolute bunk.
You are ignoring all the political/historic facts that led to Obama's win in order to blame President Bush's lack of self-defense for all the ills in the world.
It's bunk.
Palpably not...or you would not have responded in the first place.
Yep, there were others factors as well.
Affirmative Action - yes there is. Government sanctioned discrimination is still discrimination.
I always believed it was Laura who was behind the Harriet Myers nom and that GWB was just listening to her about that. This confirms it for me.
I still love Laura, though. She never says anything bad about anyone.
Only in the Sunday funny papers. He would not and could not even take on Bama face to face and his best friends on God's green earth are liberal hate America first and most. Give him a medal for his 'service' but courage to survive is the most I can ever grant him. He is just as self serving as the next liberal down the line.
All those are "other factors"...........but President Bush's honorable behavior and lack of self-defense is the real cause of the Obama win.
Yeah. Right.
Deb, are you saying that the image of the office is greater than the purpose? - I don’t mean that he should become a Jimmy Carter, but there are such critical issues that need to be aired.
The purpose of the office is not to "air" anything.
Your rhetorical use of the "straw man" technique would make you a valuable asset on the Obamessiah speechwriting team.
Holy Cow! His successor was his VICE PRESIDENT!
Yeah. GHWB was his VP, and received an undeniable boost into the chair because of it. But he was a Republican successor nonetheless.
For the record, I don't consider Ronald Reagan a saint. IMO, He was simply the last best Republican President, replacing Eisenhower in that role. Both men had huge assets, and large flaws.
Also for your record, I think that GW, a good and true man, may well be treated much more kindly by history than by his present critics, among whom am I. But we're not in the period of calm reflection right now. It's more like damage control with the Ship of State on fire. And while GW is certainly no arsonist, he surely bears the responsibility for leaving the matches where Obama could find them.
“Other factors” like the Democrat caused economic melt-down, the unprecendented media adoration and exaltation of Obama, a completely ineffective McCain candidacy (other than Palin) that consisted of non-stop Bush bashing from someone on “our side,” the lack of a VP candidate as is normally the case following a two-term Presidency, a liberal media/academic/pop culture domination that inculcated the American people with white guilt.....”
I agree with every one of those. However, you forgot to put Anything about a very unpopular Pres. Bush in there. I’m sure that was a mere oversight on your part.
In Britain, where they speak plain English from time to time, "Affirmative Action" is officially called something a good deal closer to what it actually is, i.e., "Positive Discrimination."
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