You know, how can we miss him until he's gone? Yet while he's kept a low profile the last 4 years, the minute he starts talking I stop missing him already.
As Christopher Hayes on MSNBC said last night, do what W is asking us and trust your gut. Your gut tells you what? That his Presidency was a disaster. For those who don't remember how bad it was Think Progress has 13 very good reasons not to miss Bush.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/25/1913311/13-reasons-to-be-glad-bush-is-not-president-anymore/
One reason has been demonstrated the last week: if he were President the Boston bomber-ok, technically he's a suspect but I'm taking license-would be in Guantanamo.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/04/if-mitt-romney-were-president-dzhokhar.html
Of course, this roll out of W's library is par for the course, every President gets one. However, Clinton said it best with his comment of how the Bush library is the latest, grandest attempt in the eternal struggle of former Presidents to rewrite history.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/bill-clinton-makes-joke-about-presidential-libraries-rewriting
I will say this. I always hated Bush; he's right there with Reagan at the bottom of my least favorite Presidents. In my lifetime those two are the worst.
As far as anything positive to say there were a few things. He was progressive on immigration and it showed by his getting-though estimates vary-in the vicinity of 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2004. He also did some admirable work in fighting Aids in Africa.
Finally he largely froze Cheney out the last 2 years of his Presidency. He rebuffed Cheney's repeated requests to pardon Cheney's convicted Chief of Staff Scooter Libby.
So there were a few things. Jamelle Bouie points out, however, that the positive aspects of Bush's legacy is not the part that Republicans have seem interested in; though they now seem finally to have gotten immigration reform.
However, the side of Bushism that believed that government could be part of the solution has made no inroads at all.
"As Greg noted earlier this morning, the Republican Party’s attempted makeover is hampered by its devotion to austerity. Republicans are stuck between their rhetoric — we can cut spending, cut taxes, reduce the deficit, and grow the economy — and the reality, which is that spending cuts hurt ordinary people and alienate potential supporters."
As Christopher Hayes on MSNBC said last night, do what W is asking us and trust your gut. Your gut tells you what? That his Presidency was a disaster. For those who don't remember how bad it was Think Progress has 13 very good reasons not to miss Bush.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/25/1913311/13-reasons-to-be-glad-bush-is-not-president-anymore/
One reason has been demonstrated the last week: if he were President the Boston bomber-ok, technically he's a suspect but I'm taking license-would be in Guantanamo.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/04/if-mitt-romney-were-president-dzhokhar.html
Of course, this roll out of W's library is par for the course, every President gets one. However, Clinton said it best with his comment of how the Bush library is the latest, grandest attempt in the eternal struggle of former Presidents to rewrite history.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/bill-clinton-makes-joke-about-presidential-libraries-rewriting
I will say this. I always hated Bush; he's right there with Reagan at the bottom of my least favorite Presidents. In my lifetime those two are the worst.
As far as anything positive to say there were a few things. He was progressive on immigration and it showed by his getting-though estimates vary-in the vicinity of 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2004. He also did some admirable work in fighting Aids in Africa.
Finally he largely froze Cheney out the last 2 years of his Presidency. He rebuffed Cheney's repeated requests to pardon Cheney's convicted Chief of Staff Scooter Libby.
So there were a few things. Jamelle Bouie points out, however, that the positive aspects of Bush's legacy is not the part that Republicans have seem interested in; though they now seem finally to have gotten immigration reform.
However, the side of Bushism that believed that government could be part of the solution has made no inroads at all.
"As Greg noted earlier this morning, the Republican Party’s attempted makeover is hampered by its devotion to austerity. Republicans are stuck between their rhetoric — we can cut spending, cut taxes, reduce the deficit, and grow the economy — and the reality, which is that spending cuts hurt ordinary people and alienate potential supporters."
"It’s fitting, then, that today is also the grand opening of the George W. Bush presidential library, providing Washington a chance to reevaluate the eight years of his administration. The overall record is ugly: Economic and regulatory mismanagement, two failed wars, a flooded city, environmental negligence. On the other hand, Bush made several positive strides during his tenure. He pushed for comprehensive immigration reform — and the current bill is a descendent of his original proposal — he spent billions fighting AIDS in Africa, he implemented a popular prescription drug benefit for seniors, and he used his presidential campaigns to make active outreach to African Americans and Latinos, with positive results: He won a historic share Hispanic voters, and improved his position with blacks."
"All of this is worth noting because it highlights the odd trajectory of the GOP since Bush left office. Rather than abandon the unpopular parts of the Bush agenda — wars, a relentlessly pro-business bias — Republicans have embraced them, digging in on upper-income tax cuts, and ramping up the push for fewer regulations and a thinner safety net. At the same time, they’ve — until recently — abandoned Bush’s attempts at minority outreach."
"What’s more, today’s Republican Party has abandoned a key aspect of Bushism: The former president’s rhetorical emphasis on the idea that government can improve people’s lives. Bush’s embrace of “compassionate conservatism” may have been widely dismissed as empty rhetoric, but in truth, it’s important to affirm a positive role for government. Instead, today’s GOP has turned on the whole idea that government can be a force for good. Today’s Republican Party remains in thrall to the pitiless economic libertarianism of the Tea Party."
So not only are they embracing a very unpopular former President who hasn't been at the last two RNC conventions, they repudiate only those parts of his legacy that are actually worth learning from.
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