George W Bush - buffoon or great leader?

Telegraph.co.uk ^ | July , 9 2008 | Sameh El-Shahat

[Roscoe Karns]

Whatever happened to leadership and honesty as presidential traits? I happen to believe that the only leader in the West to have these two admirable qualities in droves is the leader of the free world: George W Bush.

[woofie]

A question for those running for office

Anyone can determine the way the wind is blowing and move in that direction.... can one think for themselves and take a position that is contrary to the prevailing zeitgeist and chart a course of action ? and can they stick with it no matter what if they believe they are right?

If not they dont deserve to be in charge

[exit82]

Excellent post—thanks.

[hosepipe]

Theres always HOPE...

[Marysecretary]

Exactly...

[Merlinator]

He would have my vote for a third term. History will judge him as one of the best Presidents and one of the most honorable men to have served this country. I dread January. We can only pray that the Obamazombies don’t sway those that are on the fence right now.

[karnage]

I don’t know who the author is, but he is 100% right.

[karnage]

What you said!

[Tzimisce]

He’s a great dunce...but he tricked the most intelligent amongst us (liberal elistists) in to going to war.

So if he’s dumb, they must be completely retarded...

[spetznaz]

The answer is simple ....he is both. Although, to be honest, that is the same for every leader that has walked this earth. In all of them there was a great leader, and there was also a buffoon. No one is perfect. It is just that some people have the fortune of having the media, or history, forget the weak and gray areas, and build up on the great and brilliant aspects. Bush, while he has many faults, has had the misfortune of having those faults put under the proverbial spotlight, while anything he has done that has worked is seldom delved into.

Look, I am one of the harsher critics of the man (although in private), and in many ways I would not call him a conservative (he is a Republican not a Conservative). However, I know that getting a politician who is 100% what YOU are is impossible (and even if that happened, that would only mean that he is not what others want him to be). My Conservative nature is more fiscal, with very little social in it (i am very big on fiscal conservatism, and almost libertarian on the social issues), so Bush fails in many areas of my book. However that does not mean he is a failure. People are too quick to criticize, and very slow to appreciate.

Some say Bush will be remembered well by history, but i personally do not know whether that will be the case (half of the country thinks he is a monster, and the other half has a substantial number of people who are NOW not that strong on him), but the thing about the President is that he always cam across as genuine. A person who could shake your hand, give you his word, and make you actually believe he would keep it (whether or not he did is not the question here .....the main point is that there are few other politicians, if any, i can think of that i would even THINK of accepting their word).

The President was thrust into a very taxing situation after 9.11, and i would love to know how the people who criticized him would have handled it [the usual 1) crazy 'I would NUKE THEM ALL crowd,' or the liberal 2) 'they did not REALLY mean it and are just misunderstood people who had no other way to express their woes and tribulations apart from crashing planes into buildings']. It is easy to criticize, but put someone in the same situation and they would either freeze, or do something totally stupid!

Bush will never be the greatest president in my book, and to be honest with you he will not even be in the top 5 list. However, he gets an honorable mention as a man who in really extraordinary conditions managed to somehow keep bad things from getting worse, and a man who was a straight talker and not some machiavellian paragon of a Nietzchean master-manipulator.

And in the convoluted world of politics, where shadows and obfuscation abound, such a man deserves an honorable mention, and is great.

It should also be noted ....no one is perfect, not even the critics.

[what's up]

George W. Bush has been a WONDERFUL President.

He's one of the great ones who has CHANGED the face of the Middle East vastly for the better.

A remarkable feat. America has been blessed the past 8 years. Amazing that we have been kept so safe in the hands of a great and good man. God bless our wonderful leader and God bless America.

[Irish Eyes]

Thanks for the article. It’s a good one :)

[smedley64]

To me, Bush was like having a friend that you liked in a lot of ways, but was always getting picked on by bullies because he never stood up for himself. To be sure, I don't think he avoided conflict because he's a coward, far from it, and as the POTUS, I realize that many of the great ones don't give a crap what anyone says, and just do what they think is right. Still, it didn't make it any easier for those that wished he would have publicly excoriated his political/media enemies until they stopped telling lies about him and especially the war. To me, the Bush presidency was like watching a friend in the boxing ring who stood still, not caring how many times he got punched in the face.

IMO, his legacy comes down to Iraq and Afghanistan. If they are productive, positive influences in the middle east after we leave, he will be remembered as one of the great presidents of all time (if his replacement doesn't screw it up).

[2nd Amendment]

W is an enigma to me. Other than his compromises with Ted Kennedy and his ill-prepared Iraq occupation, objectively he might go down as a greater president than Reagan. The obstacles W faced were colossal. He never wavered in the face of sub 20% polls. The very reason some of us are alive today may be because of his resoluteness in fighting the war on terror. He definitely does not change his mind in a world where nobobdy knows the definition of “is”

[maica]

"Hating George W. Bush is not only dull and unoriginal, but it shows a complete lack of understanding of the world in which we live in."

%%%%%%

I had dinner last night with a group of women who get their daily news from Good Morning America and the Today show. They think I am an eccentric because I respect and support President Bush. They also think they are well-informed.

[maine-iac7]

Hey, everybody. Our newly discovered hero, Sameh El-Shahat, is a regular with the Telegraph, with his expose pieces under “Holy Cows” = I'm bookmarking this brilliant young mind. His pieces would be a refreshing ‘regular’ on FR. He makes you smile while reading his like-it-really-is articles. No ranting. No blathering. Just plain ole facts laid out, sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek humor, devil take the hindmost.

Here's his take on global warming:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2189473/Holy-Cows-The-great-carbon-offset-con.html

“On this week’s Holy Cows our resident iconoclast Sameh El-Shahat warns those who’ve been showing off their carbon-offset credentials to beware – they’re being taken for a ride. “ We should take a minute and post our "Hail, Fellow..." on the Telegraphs comments to let him know how we appreciate his piece...it seems he's rankled some hackles across the pond. Good on him.

[maica]

Welcome to the US.

I lived in Vancouver for 20 years, and was treated as a crazy aunt because I supported ‘the Gingrich’ revolution. I know how much of a ‘minority’ you must have felt.

[maica]

If you are unwilling or unable to define and communicate your positions and convictions, others will tar and feather you with their words. This is the main thing Bush was unable to accomplish.

President Bush has been badly treated by the news media since he started running for presidnet in 1999. They had their story line and they have stuck to it for nine years

playboy, silver spoon, dumb

When he 'stole' the election that cemented their animosity toward him and they have been selling the 'can't communicate' line ever since.

Just one example: he gives a radio address every Saturday. How many times has any 'news' report repeated his words, even once, or even allowed the original broadcast to be aired on their station.

When Clinton was president we heard an audio clip of a statement by him every hour on radio newscasts, and saw him on every TV evening news program for eight years. The man was saying NOTHING but speaking glibly, and the media loved him.

Bush as non-communicator is a meme propagated by our "news" media, while at the same time they refuse to use any of the president's statements in their newscasts, unless they want to air a 'flub.'

[Joe Boucher]

Say what ya want, what with his amnesty stance and submitting his lady lawyer friend for the supremes and so many other stances I support G.W. Bush but I don’t think he is so great.

[maine-iac7]

too bookmark and read more goosing the sacred cows stories - here's the link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/holycows/

“Sameh El-Shahat was born in Egypt and educated at Cambridge. He spent 10 years in the City before becoming a film-maker, commentator and furniture designer. “

[meandog]

Buffoon... that stongly resembles Alfred E. Newman(Madd Mag).. Also a Globalist that installed two Supremes that are probably Globalist ringers themselves.. Who also single handily fractured the republican party like the windshield of a Yugo...

Exactly! A "major league" one at that...big time!