Posted on 04/29/2013 7:05:44 PM PDT by smoothsailing
April 28, 2013
Eric Golub
BURLINGTON, Vt., April 29, 2013 The George W. Bush Presidential Library is now living history. The Southern Methodist University campus will house some of the most important documents spanning one of the most consequential periods in American history.
Mr. Bush, affably known by nicknames 43, Dubya, and The Dub, entered office after a disputed election. His first few months saw him ram through supply-side tax cuts that turned around a slowing economy he inherited from his predecessor. Despite a NASDAQ collapse of over 90 percent, Bush did not spend one minute complaining about his circumstances or blaming anybody else. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work. His promise upon taking office was to restore honor and dignity to the White House. After eight years of endless scandals during the prior administration, he did exactly that.
On September 11, 2001, radical Islamists from al Qaeda hijacked American airplanes and flew them into the two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane destined for the White House was diverted when brave passengers took the plane back. United 93 would crash in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. New York was ground zero of a war America never asked or. Yet after almost four decades of presidents unwilling or unable to take the fight overseas, President George W. Bush launched a Global War on Terror.
He left office with toxic poll numbers, but has seen a revival as Americans come to appreciate and respect the hard choices he made during the toughest of times.
The left always hated him, felt he stole the 2000 election, and never gave him the decency and respect that an American leader deserves. Yet an honest look...
(Excerpt) Read more at communities.washingtontimes.com ...
Bush is also accountable for the doubling of the national debt under his watch. Yes, during the last 2 years the Democrat Congress shares the blame. However Bush did not use his veto power to reign in spending during his 8 years. He also added significantly to federal education spending.
Federal Reserve Chairman and destroyer of the dollar Ben Bernanke is part of the G.W. Bush legacy. The decision to bail out the banks in 2008 was his as was the decision to appoint Goldman Sachs Chairman Henry Paulson Secretary of the Treasury. Timothy Geithner was appointed head of the NY Federal Reserve during the Bush administration. Bernanke, Paulson, and Geithner were Bushs managers of the financial crisis. Every decision they made protected their Wall Street banking buddies at the expense of the taxpayer. TARP was their creation and part of the legacy. Crony capitalism ruled during the Bush administration.
Homeland Security and the Patriot Act are legacies of Mr. Bush. Islam is the religion of peace is a legacy. John Roberts on the Supreme Court is a legacy. Harriet Myers on the Court was almost a legacy.
Bush failed to secure the border and promoted amnesty for illegals. The first gun running with the cartels occurred during the Bush administration. He failed to take a tough line with China on trade contributing to the wholesale theft of US intellectual property and military secrets as well as the continued deindustrialization of the US economy that began during his fathers administration. China paid no price for the downing of a US plane early in his administration. These are all part of the legacy.
Two wars wasting thousands of American lives and over a trillion dollars of additional debt are part of the legacy. The end is the same as Vietnam
A shattered economy, a decade of decline in household income for the average American family for the first time in US history, doubling of the national debt, millions of illegal immigrants, the depreciation of the dollar, a nuclear North Korea, and two lost wars are the Bush legacy. Yes, his successor much worse, but Bush was a poor leader and a bad president. He was a progressive globalist statist and crony capitalist, not a conservative. A lover of liberty and the Constitution would never have created a homeland security department nor would he have requested the Patriot Act. He left the nation in much worse shape than it was at the beginning of his 8 years and he set the stage for the disaster we have today. If he is truly proud of his legacy then he is a fool.
77 posted on Friday, April 19, 2013 6:34:56 AM by Soul of the South
I think your problem is that you have already pigeon holed why you think many of us do not like Bush. It’s not about perfect. Bush was nothing more than just another GOP estab candidate who happen to win because he ran against the 2 weakest Dem candidates in our lifetimes. He was a decent president, but he was awful at standing up for US....and that is damned sure one job of a Prez, to stand up for the people who voted for him and for what they elected him to do. And he rarely did that.
And in his misguided attempt to be loved by his enemies, he left office hated by almost everybody . I voted for him twice, and would again against Kerry or Gore, but he let all of us down for 8 years and is nothing more than a typical estab Republican.
Obviously there is a lot of room for disagreement over the wisdom of some of his decisions and policies, but he always did what he thought was in the best interests of the country. He's the second-most conservative President the country has had since Coolidge left office, after Ronald Reagan.
Meanwhile, the author of this piece should be happy that his immigrant ancestor did not anglicize his surname, which means "pigeon" in Russian and some other Slavic languages.
Lets dont forget Prescription Drug program (part D) That debt is now BIGGER than social security! Thanks George! Thanks GOP!
If you search my postings concerning the Twentieth Amendment, Section Three You'll see that I have placed the blame squarely on Congress not upholding the Constitution in regards to the eligibility issue. Bush had the ability, as President during the campaign, to actually do something about it but chose to do NOTHING. He deserves full responsibility for choosing to do NOTHING. I repeat. NOTHING. Obama did nothing for Benghazi. Bush did nothing for America. You tell me which is worse.
Well said lap. Bush and Cheney knew it all 100%, darn right they did! Okay, trivia time FReepers. What recent American President said the following regarding the murderous savage death to America cult known as islam.........”A faith based upon peace, love and compassion”? Or this nugget on how islam is really: Morality and learning and tolerance”? And who can forget we all being told that islam is: “A religion of peace”?
Islam is a religion of peace muchacho
I’ll grant you that Kerry was weak. Kinda’ like a Dem version of McCain. But Gore weak? LOLOL
Don’t forget about “The religion of peace”.
Noooo, nothing can be Bush’s fault silly. He only had eight years. Think about what great shape this country would be in if he had another four.
No clearly the complete disaster he left this country in Jan 2009 was EVERYONE elses fault.
He was a great POTUS because his bots got lots excuses for everything.
On another subject, you see how Obama is making excuses....??? The nerve!
yes, Gore was very weak candidate....had to fight Clinton fatigue, without any charm, ran an awful campaign, and then technically outpolled Bush anyway.
I do respect GWB for laying low after leaving office. I am grateful for that.
I would agree with that, and in many ways he’s very likeable. But he let us down by never standing up for him, or us, in the face of criticism. Presidential criticism is NOT the personal issue of the man involved....it’s owned by all of his supporters, and he never realized that.
I'll Always Love and Respect President Bush.
The only thing I can offer now is “George W. Bush. He sucks less.”
As monstrously horrid as things are now under Obama, I still find I can’t remotely bask in any warm nostalgia for the “GWB” years. Couldn’t sit through any of the fawning parade that FoxNews immersed itself in last week.
Bush REALLY lost me when he started pushing amnesty... that day he called the ‘minutemen’ vigilantes. His tone on that whole issue was incredibly obnoxious, and really turned me against him more than anything else. I’d already been exapserated with him for his unwillingness to defend his policies, or even remotely ‘sell’ conservatism. Heck, he was increasing government! Along with his quixotic preoccupation with bringing democracy to the Middle East, it just seemed to create a vacuum in the country, an emptiness, leaving an open field for Obama to enter and the enemies of Constitutional conservatism to grab the football and start ramming things through, one after another.
Even after all this I might still have a certain charitable attitude towards the Bush family at least for their relatively dignified comportment, but when that snotty Barbara Bush stated that Palin should stay the hell up in Alaska, that was really the final nail for me. I now view the whole Bush/Rove/Romney GOP-E crowd as total, 100% enemies, and would never support anyone associated with them.
Clinton, Bush, Obama are all proponants of the New World Order and they all continue to further their cause.
Our military is being used more and more as a tool to realize the New World Order.
Not a great President but a far,far better one than either of his opponents would have been.and I have no doubt that he’s a decent,respectable man...again,far more so than either of his opponents.
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