Despised by the news media.
Not from the Washington “insider club” which everyone claims not to be but those like Obama, Gore...... are.
Bush didn't get the love an Obama receives. But I have a suspicious feeling that history will be kind to him, no matter how much some try to twist and distort his legacy. Many will change their views once this hopey changey feeling wears off and what defeat in Iraq really looks like gets burned into their consciousness; once they realize what it means to have a Euro style socialist in power reforming health care, nationalizing large parts of the economy, raising their taxes........
At some point, maybe after the next major attack on US soil, some will reconsider their view on Bush. Like Reagan, Bush will have a legacy to be proud of, Obama will end like Carter, or maybe even worse. If it weren't for Obama’s “Historic nature” (i.e. he's half black), if it weren't for the symbolism of what he represents, he would already be shredded in the media, but they will give him every free chance, they will aid and abet him at every turn, because they are in love of the idea of Obama.
Despite how savvy Obama is when speaking, how handsome and cool he looks..... the question is simply how long this illusion and love affair will last. Eventually the bubble will burst and form can no longer trump function. Eventually like all those selling snake oils, ponzi schemes, or other rackets, there will come a reckoning that this product sucks, that what we were sold does not marry up with the claims on the bottle and sales person. It's only a matter of time.
I am convinced that when history is written, President Bush will come out shining.
bump
Your comment has made me realise how things have changed over the years. I can remember when I was a child it was correct to refer to someone like Obama as half caste and would have wrong to say he was black. In fact black was not really considered the polite way to refer to black people you had to say coloured but then with South African issue that was considered wrong and black was correct.
I wonder what 30 years from now we will have to say.
Your comments about history struck me because I just finished reading Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s excellent book (despite the plagarism charges) about the personality and style and savvy of the man and president, Abraham Lincoln.
There were so many things revealed about how he accomplished things, like getting the nomination for President from the new Republican party despite having little national experience. His get out the vote methods for his elections to Congress and to the Presidency were very modern and savvy.
How he handled people and what effect that had on the success of policy was intricately detailed.
I remember seeing the Brady photo of Lincoln visiting Gen. Grant in the field during the Civil War, but I was unaware how often he visited the army at the front and how much he was involved in trying to push for more successful strategies, sometimes very close to the frontlines. The soldiers loved him and vigorously cheered him, and he often pressed in and shook as many hands as he could.
Sound familar?
I wonder what will be learned by students of history years after we all are gone about the nitty gritty inside stories from the George W. Bush presidency, after information becomes available from archives.