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Bush heatedly defends his presidency

There are a number of things associated with the Bush administration that have disappointed me:
1. Failure to control our border with Mexico
2. Skyrocketing federal deficits and a bloated national debt
3. An unprecedented expansion of the power of the presidency at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches
Of course, the Congress must take some of the blame as well. I do not think Obama will make any progress on items 1 and 2, but he has said he would like to scale back on item 3.

Why not just keep quiet and slip on off to Crawford? After everything of the past 8 years I can only say three words--WHAT AN EMBARASSMENT!

Good job president B.

His advice to Obama is the most intelligent thing he's said in 8 years. He should be arrested and locked away for life as soon as his presidency is over for what he has done to this country and the world.

All I want to say is that I'm grateful that President Bush has been with us as our leader the past eight years. I don't agree with all his stands, but on the whole I think he did a remarkable job with an insanely tough situation. Call me a staunch,ignorant, Utah Republican if you'd like, but I support President Bush and his actions whole heartedly.

For me, the Legacy will be his response to 9/11. I remember being so impressed when he stood before the American people and said "We know Osama Bin Laden did it, and we're going to get him."

With unprecedented world support, we headed to Afghanistan. Then, to the disappointment of even our World War II allies, Bush took a hard right turn into Iraq, leaving Osama Bin Laden free.

He had a chance to deliver a significant blow to terrorism, but the arrogance of his neocon advisors led mission failure.

Today, in another news article it was reported that the job losses in 2008 set a post war (WWII, since 1945) record--2.7 million. Incredible.

The US Census Bureau publishes a report every few years titled something like "Wealth and Income in America". The version I have looked at was a couple of years ago and, in a nutshell, it stated that despite the economic recovery underway at that time that household income had actually declined since 2001 and that this was the first time this had happened since such statistics were first gathered. Incredible.

But there's more: The GINI index from that report which is a measure of how stratified wealth is (ie, the richest 1% have 90% of the wealth, that's what this measures) was increasing. That means that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. In fact, the top 5% had over 95% of the wealth in this country. Welcome, third world.

I could add others, the fraction of the population without health insurance grew during Mr. Bush's tenure, many with health insurance still go broke with the massive co-pays and deductibles (under insured). And on and on. Why vote Republican--really?

Time heals all wounds, and later with added perspective when the administration of George W. Bush is analyzed I believe he will still be considered the worst president ever.

Saddam allowed UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq in Nov. 2002. The Weapons Inspectors reported to the UN/Bush they had inspected 100 sites, Saddam was co-operating with the inspections--allowing them to inspect, at a moment's notice, wherever they requested. Inspectors still had 500 more sites they wanted to inspect and requested more time. Request denied. Bush invaded. Bush lies: we don't torture, we don't eavesdrop on American citizens, we don't have secret prisons, nobody anticipated the breaching of the levees.
Good riddance!

I think the tragedy of the Bush administration is the inability of GWB to communicate directly to the American people, nothing more, nothing less. Leadership is such an intangible, almost mystic, ability. It isn't intelligence, it isn't charisma, it isn't phyically attractive features on TV, it's that innate ability to communicate. Reagan had it, and it appears Obama has it, but GWB lacked it. While he was always transparent and easy to read because he was so intense in his feelings, GWB never tapped in to the communication link that was so obvious with Reagan. Even when he took full responsibility for the Iran Contra mess, Reagan could look straight into the camera and make you feel empathy for his situation. GWB just made you loathe him for his ineptitude. He failed on immigration reform, which should have been so easy to package and sell if done the way Reagan did it (amnesty), but he could never overcome the seething anger of the American people on that issue. He did succeed in keeping us safe at an enormous cost, but he completely sold out to banking interests in the bailout and failed once again to communicate his aims. Oh well.

I can't understand why Bush would be so defensive. He's been a great success! My taxes are way down. My Halliburton and Blackwater investments are way up. All my competitors in the Twin Towers are gone. I got an oil lease to drill on pristine land. My kids are doing just fine in their private school. Osama bin Laden is still at large, so the gov't is pouring $$$ into my defense contracts. Thanks for the Happy Days, George!

President Bush was dealt some bad cards early in his presidency. He did what he thought was best. He was elected two terms! If he was so bad why was he voted in a second term? I think he did as well as anyone could have. Good job President Bush!

I think the WMD lies were the worst. Not only did they lead us into a ridiculous and costly war trying to force democracy on a country that had never asked for it, it even showed Bush as willing to have his own Secretary of State, a man with considerable world respect, lie on his behalf to the entire world at the UN. Let's not have that kind of leader again.

After 9/11 the scheme for Bin Laden was to get the US bogged down in Iraq, spend trillions of dollars on warfare thus diverting our treasury towards a never ending war and diverting our attention away from Afghanistan. The economy, Afghanistan, Katrina, all took backseats to the situation in Iraq. That will be Bush's legacy.

Ok, RD, if no one else is going to, I will call you a "staunch, ignorant, Utah Republican". No offense. I voted for Bush myself--twice! What a huge disappointment he has been. With a Republican majority in the congress for several years, Bush had such a great opportunity to move this country forward. Instead, as he leaves office, the country is faced with trillions of dollars of debt, a continuing war that has only served to galvanize much of the world against us, and a sullied image due to this inept administration's handling of so many vital issues. Who'd have ever thought the little fat Dixie Chick was right all along?! Good luck cutting brush in Crawford, W. There will be no aircraft carriers named after you.

The mission was accomplished. Saddam was out of power. What Bush and Rummy did not count on was the insurgency. That has largely gone away since Saddam was captured. The war with Iraq was done after two months. The war for Iraq still goes on in some respects.

Most importanly, he never had sex with anyone other than his wife.

Hundreds of thousands US soldiers and Iraqi citizens dead, the worst economy since the great depression around the corner, constant lies and threats of fear to control the masses, unprecidented power grabs, abismal stewardship of the environment, right-wing extremism, constant corporate favors and ignoring facts over ideology and fiction, what could we possibly miss when he is out of the White House?

History will treat him exactly how he deserves to be treated in history books. He may be a "nice guy", but our country deserved far better and he will go down as the absolute, undeniable worst president in modern American history!

Could someone explain to me exactly how GWB affected job loss, decline in household annual income, stratified wealth and increased theloss of health insurance? I really want to know.
I don't think Bush has been the best president but I also think things could be a whole lot worse. Do you realize that over 70% of the people who make over $250,000 per year are small business owners? If there taxes go way up, what's going to happen to the little guy employed by the small business owner? If you think the small business owner is just going to take it in the shorts and continue to employ as many people as he has before and pay them more...I wish I had your vision and optimism.

Talk about denial!!!!

Two sayings:
-it's not much, but it's the best we have.
-things could be worse.

As incompetent as George Bush may seem, one must remember that his actions are the result of not just his thoughts but of many other's voices. Our nation has become so divided in what's most important to each person, that no matter what you do, you are going to do it wrong in someone's opinion.

Also, if he is labeled as the worse president we have ever had, it is not his fault alone. He is a byproduct of our inability to raise good men to such positions anymore. Gone are the Washingtons's of our day, we're left with what we foster.

Obama talks a good game...but the results have yet to be determined. I truly fear for what lies ahead. Look at the children spewing forth out of "our" system? There are good men and women among them, but they either don't give voice or it can't be heard over the others.

I even fear for those who consider themselves educated that don't understand the higher laws that govern.

Until we get our act together, it's going to be stormy for a while.