Posted on 10/29/2007 12:48:01 AM PDT by neverdem
This article appears in the "Geopolitics" section of the recent issue of The American.
By October, 15 months before his presidency would end, George Bush’s approval ratings still hovered around 30 percent.
His administration will go down, say historians such as Columbia’s Eric Foner and Princeton’s Sean Wilentz, as a disaster. As Wilentz put it, “Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.”
A new genre in American popular culture has arisen comparing Bush to Hitler — on the Internet, and in fiction, stand-up comedy, and drama. To the novelist Garrison Keillor, Bush’s Republicans are “brownshirts in pinstripes” — echoing Al Gore’s similar slur of “digital brownshirts.”
Even Bush’s supporters seem resigned to such abuse. They now talk not of a restoration in public esteem before the president leaves office, but rather of a Trumanesque turnaround: a once-despised president only years later becomes appreciated for his unpopular but necessary decisions.
But for now, Bush seems to have an orphaned presidency defended by very few. From the left, he is criticized for his tax cuts for the rich, his lack of concern for African-American victims of Katrina, his illiberal homeland-security measures — and always for Iraq, with shrill persistent choruses of “preemption” and “unilateralism.” Much of this anger against Bush is Pavlovian and superficial, deeply embedded within the president’s caricatured dead-or-alive, smoke-’em-out lingo.
As a result, the left gives the president no credit for policies that have irked his conservative base. In his first term, he increased federal spending at a faster rate than Bill Clinton. He extended the reach of federal education policy with his No Child Left Behind legislation, and he did not veto a single spending bill, instead sponsoring a major new prescription entitlement...
(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...
Great pic!
I disagree. I doubt his commitment to core conservative values to begin with. No Child Left Behind and the Medicare Prescription Plan were every bit his proposals. His party controlled both houses of Congress. His refusal to do anything to control spending or the growth in government were not done because he reluctantly signed on to them, they were done with his full support. I question how much of his selection of judges was due to luck and how much was due to his beliefs - and have to wonder just how much value someone places on the judiciary if they really believe that Harriet Myers was a good choice for the Supreme Court. While I applaud his push for tax cuts I would give him far more credit if he would have pushed for cuts in other areas.
Not the ones who are continuing to blow people up in both places on a daily basis.
As well, we’ve had around 30,000 wounded in Iraq, with around 18,000 being wounded enough to require serious care (i.e. they weren’t able to rejoin their units a few days later). That’s just what the Department of Defense has said in regards to wounds received as a result of hostile activity.
Congratulations, you have again succeded in securing the last word by confusing the heck out of everyone so that we can’t respond.
You’ll come around. We’ll leave the light on for yah.
Bush did not start the war; he’s finishing it.
Who are these people you speak of. Can you name one for us?
-------------------------------------------------------
With 833 US KIA in 2007 so far it is a dishonest stretch to say that we are approaching 200/year. Give me a call when your fantasy approaches reality.
Renaming the war a police action changes nothing, Viet Nam was officially a "police action".
Harriet Meyer’s was brilliant strategey. If you played poker with W you would lose your ass.
_____________________________________________________
Taliban utterly destroyed? You might want to do a little light reading on that. Start with Jamestown Foundation or the Heritage Foundation (both conservative think tanks). They, along with every foreign policy/affairs publicatio you can find, disagree strongly with your version. As for your first comment, blow it out your ear...
And you've just revealed that you didn't actually read the entire article.
Really? How do you figure that?
Yeah, that whole "Catching pneumonia at your inauguration and dying a month later" thing plays hell with your legacy.
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
They're the Muslim ones blowing things up and killing people.
Amen. My thoughts exactly. We don’t know yet, the return for our great investment in freedom for the rest of the world. Only God knows.
Thanks.
I’ve noticed that Donk trolls like to bash Bush. Have you noticed that as well?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.