There is nothing that talks about G.W. Bush's silence while in office or even his last three years in office, although Trump does mention Bush's actions after 9/11, which I largely agree with and will give him the benefit of the doubt for those I don't because I wasn't in favor of just loading up B-52 with bombs and carpet bombing the entire Middle East, and I didn't have to get people on board to take action. Those who feel laying waste to the Middle East was the appropriate course of action, that's okay. You didn't have to find a way to move forward and take action, but your opinion is your own.
My post was specifically about the "custom" of keeping your mouth shut when leaving the office, and nearly all Presidents throughout history did just that, except for the the scumbag Carter and every Democrat President after that. Carter set the precedent.
I know how incredibly unpopular it is on Free Republic to defend anything George W. Bush did either during or after his terms.
I feel the same way many do about his silence, both in not defending the conduct of himself and his administration. I wish he had come out against his detractors, and didn't. And there are plenty of other things I criticize him harshly about ranging from his folding with judicial nominees to his infuriating attempts to "reach across the aisle" to people who were only going to cut that hand off.
But why is there a need to read more into what Trump said? to reiterate, Bush's last three years in office were not what Donald Trump was referring to. He simply was not.
It is not exactly true that Bush and others in his administration did not defend himself. There was plenty said on all sides. The problem is Bush told the truth and a lot of Americans did not want to hear it or believe it. We were, we are, we will be, in for a long, long war.An ideological war.
People don’t want to face that. Obama smiles and announces the war is over.....easy peasy. but not true. That is what way too many people (including Trump and his followers) want to believe. Or they want to believe something that is equally easy but untrue...Bush lied , people died”
Even before Bush took office we were at war ....or rather war was declared on us.
Everyone put blinders on. 9/11 was just one of many acts of war perpetrated on the west, the U S and its people. The thing Bush did was face the music and call it what it was. He also did something that people also don’t like.
He fought.
He fought, not the easy way that Trump does, with his mouth. He committed us to war. And once again people don’t like it because war is not a simple linear walk from point A to point B ..it is messy and full of pitfalls and it takes courage and fortitude. But like it or not Bush and the military fought, made changes in strategy and did what needed to be done. And in doing that he kept America safe.
Then as so often happens with the human condition. Way too many people put the blinders right back on.... where they remain. Trump may win and people may cheer just as Obama did win and people did cheer..... but he will continue to be wrong about so much.
And like Obama I don’t see that he will learn on the job. He is awfully fond of his blinders