How Do You Grade GW Bush (President of US)?

[rick_reno]

I think a better path would be to ensure the nation has adequate capacity for vaccine production - for starters. But...that requires PLANNING - if there is one thing this administration has demonstrated a lack of planning. Why are we in back of England, Germany and others in the order chain for Tamiflu? Could that be planning?

Why should we undermine a fundamental principle of American law by screwing around with Posse Comitatus, which does NOT hinder the military in responding to a crisis. The majority of the military personnel are not trained in a law enforcement capacity.

I'll ask you again - is Bush doing this? He said this on 12/13/1999. Again, provide specifics.

"I will be guided by President Jefferson's sense of purpose, to stand for principle, to be reasonable in manner, and above all, to do great good for the cause of freedom and harmony. "

 

[RealGun]

I'll ask you again - is Bush doing this? He said this on 12/13/1999. Again, provide specifics.

"I will be guided by President Jefferson's sense of purpose, to stand for principle, to be reasonable in manner, and above all, to do great good for the cause of freedom and harmony. "

Don't hold your breath. I don't get into it with hard line Bush bashers. He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

 

[PCGS65]

Mr. Bush has done a fine job. Though he has his faults(so do I) I'll give him a B+. Just think if Kerry were president? He would run from the terrorists among other things and then give himself a medal for it. Remember vietnam with Jane Fonda? Not my idea of someone who should even run for president. Just my 2c worth.

 

[MasterPiece Arms.com]

Don't hold your breath. I don't get into it with hard line Bush bashers.

Of course not, because we dare to point out lists upon lists of things the bush apologists can't/won't even deal with. They answer the stack and years of evidence with this world class cop out:

He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

BTW, that's now the 2nd time a bush apologist has used that mega cop out in this thread. What, is it on sale for half price or something?

I'm calling hypocrisy on that cop out while I'm at it. I'll bet deficits to doughnuts that these SAME apologists who pull out the "He is damned if he does..." garbage WOULD NOT HAVE LET KLINTON or his supporters get away with that nonsense. I used to hear the Klinton clones say "he's damned if he does and..." every ten seconds just like these Bush apologists do.

EDIT: This gem of a cop out was posted just before I hit "submit" and it is the sister to "he's damned if he does and...":

Though he has his faults(so do I)

Don't you bush apologists even hear yourselves? Gag me with a pitchfork. I need to go get a fresh case of air sick bags for what could possibly follow "though he has his faults..."

 

[Paco]

It's disturbing how much anecdotal evidence and huge leaps of pseudo-logic are being used here.

-Forget Kerry: he's not president.

No one has ANY idea, as plainly seen with every president we've ever had, how such-and-such a man/woman will ultimately pan out. We can guestimate at best. To demonize Kerry to support the flacid theory that 'things would have been worse' is juvenile. Maybe Kerry would have risen to the occassion, maybe he would have torched the White House. I'll tell you this, as a New Yorker, I didn't think too highly of Giulliani but he delivered the goods on 9/11.

-Let the track record, bad and good, speak for itself.

-If I may recommend, judge Bush on ALL major issues, not one's pet issue and then give him and A+ or F- based on that one angle of assessment.

***

Now for my personal opinion on this, I'd say he is doing poorly: very poorly. We've got 3 years left. Maybe he'll get better. Maybe something will happen in the world that will galvanize him and his administration and allow him to repeal foolish mistakes and mend relations. Who knows.

But in the now, I simply cannot understand how somebody can give him an A... I'm pretty good at seeing both sides: my friends call me the 'devil's advocate'.

I really am at a loss to understand such blind support, as blind it must be to ignore the track record we have before us. No propaganda, no Bush-Slamming: just the track record.

 

[AllisonDT]

First post here!

I grade Bush as a C. I had expected his performance to be a B or better, though. I voted for him twice, and would do it again if he were up against the same people.

My biggest gripe is his indifference to the Mexican Border crisis. He is an absolute shameful FAILURE on that very important issue. He has 100% ignored the popular opinions of his constituency in that department.

Ally

 

[AllisonDT]

Paco,

I agree that nobody has a crystal ball to look into. We don't know how another person would act as President, but gross assumptions CAN be made with an almost certain degree of accuracy.
Example A: Kerry would NOT be pro-gun or go out of his way to support our rights to keep and bear. His party would simply not allow it.

 

[Derek Zeanah]

Example A: Kerry would NOT be pro-gun or go out of his way to support our rights to keep and bear. His party would simply not allow it.

And the republican majority in the legislature would limit his movement.

As-is, they seem to go along with whatever the commander in chief suggests.

Gridlock is better than single party control of both branches of government. Or, at least it is when we're talking about Republicans and Democrats.

 

[RealGun]

Of course not, because we dare to point out lists upon lists of things the bush apologists can't/won't even deal with.

This is a good example of how getting into a stink fight with a skunk is a bad idea.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Strokes of pure brilliance spiking up out of an otherwise lackluster C level performance brings his grade up to B, and sometimes A- territory.

Thing is, he's all over the map, and he seems to have too few A- moments to offset the too many F- moments.

 

[MasterPiece Arms.com]

Strokes of pure brilliance spiking up out of an otherwise lackluster C level performance brings his grade up to B, and sometimes A- territory.

Notice how the bush apologists stay incredibly vague. They don't dare cite what they claim constitutes "pure brilliance" because it won't hold up to the light of ALL of the facts.

Using phrases like "pure brilliance" really shows the fantasy these people are living in. They all but diefy this man so as to avoid the unpleasant reality that they've helped put L.B.J. II in office with an (R) in front of his name.

 

[Waitone]

Let us keep on track, people.

I'm not interested in polemics. I'm interested in what people think about Bush's performance WRT leadership and management.

 

[telewinz]

I support him, and feel that he WILL be highly regarded in history

Maybe in Mexican history books

 

[Gordon Fink]

My biggest gripe is his indifference to the Mexican Border crisis.…

He is not at all indifferent on this issue. He favors immigration.

~G. Fink

 

[Magnum Mike]

Overall, I'd give him a C. I voted for him in 2000 and 2004 because he is, as the old saying goes, "The lesser of 2 evils".

 

[Biker]

Still evil though, eh Mike?
Biker

 

[robertbank]

Damn and I thought we Canucks were hard on our politicians!

Biker:"If he gets much "meaner with the drug war", we'll all be in prison for one reason or another."

That is one of the best lines on this thread. You get an "A" from me.

Give Bush his dues he managed to put nuclear bomb detectors on a some of the border crossings between the US & Canada for 4 or 5 hundred million....caught some seniors going to Florida wearing nuclear powered heart pace makers. I guess the detectors work.

Stay Safe

 

[idakfan]

Bush signed the PATRIOT Act

which allows SNEAK AND PEAK SEARCHES, right now, yes, the Feds can do this:

Sneak into your HOME when your not there, LOOK AT ALL YOUR STUFF, and then leave, WITHOUT EVER TELLING YOU.

Bush signed this into law.

I give him an A+

 

[Pocket.38]

Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

 

[Atticus]

D and B.....Oh.... I forgot the U and M.
Bush has had a lot of bad stuff handed to him....but he (or those working for him) only seem to make everything worse than it should be. I'll be happy to see him go.

 

[luxone]

C...He is mediocre at best.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I sorry to say I also voted for him both times. Now I feel a F is to high.

 

[FNFiveSeven]

F and F

Bush II is simply the worst world leader I have ever seen. I guess that's what you get when you elect the lazy son of a single term mediocre president. Bush has no principles, no beliefs, no intelligence. He appoints his friends to every position of government simply because he's at a loss as to what he actually should do. From the moment he announced his candidacy, I knew we were screwed. I knew that the blind republicans in this country would nominate him for president simply because they knew his name. So pathetic. Let's sum up:

His domestic policy is guided by his religious beliefs.
He's anti-gun.
His public speaking skills border on mental retardation.
He only appoints his buddies to the SCOTUS.
He put us in Iraq while rationalizing it all on a lie (WMD's)
His tax breaks were minimal.
He wants to build a space station on the moon with the intention of using it to launch a manned mission to Mars
He thinks intelligent design (creationism) should be taught as part of high school *science*.
He gave us the Patriot Act.
He claims to be fighting a "was on terror" but does nothing about iillegal immigration.

What a loser. It's too bad Kerry didn't win the last election; at least he would have given a wake up call to the rupublicans.

I sorry to say I also voted for him both times. Now I feel a F is to high.

Next time, vote 3rd party! Voting 3rd party seems to be the only thing that gets either party's attention these days. I've voted Libertarian for the last two elections, and I have no regrets.

 

[AStone]

done been thrown

Now, that's what i call a gauntlet.

And a nicely provocative one, if i may say.

Suddenly, I'm more interested in this thread.



#99

 

[spartacus2002]

Next time, vote 3rd party! Voting 3rd party seems to be the only thing that gets either party's attention these days. I've voted Libertarian for the last two elections, and I have no regrets.

Hear hear. We are throwing our votes away when we vote D or R because we get authoritarianism either way, so the "3d party vote=throwing vote away" argument is bogus. Didn't Perot's 20% in 1992 lead the Rs to understand Americans wanted a change in the 1994 elections, thus leading to the Republican Revolution?

The only way to get the attention of the Ds and Rs is to vote 3d party, thus teaching them that Yes, Karl Rove, We Will Go Elsewhere. Staying home allows the Ds and Rs to interpret the #s as they choose; I seem to remember a case a few months ago where the Ds got a higher percentage of a vote than before, and the Ds claimed it was a surge of D support, but if you broke the numbers down (a) Rs stayed home on voting day, so the percent was merely of votes cast, and (b) hard number of D votes actually decreased from previous elections --YET THE Ds CROWED IN TRIUMPH!