A Somber Bush Says Farewell to the Nation

[Retired AF Guy]

I for one am glad to see Mr. Bush on his way out.  While I don't hold Mr. Obama on a pedestal like many do, I believe the United States & indeed the entire world are ready for a change from Mr. Bush's policies.

While I think its important to remember the good that was done just as much as the bad, the bad in his case was exceptional.  Even if not all of it was his fault, he is still the leader of a government who has had an incredible amount of controversy during his presidency.  

......................... 

-  Warrantless wiretapping of American citizens.

Speaking of which (from today's Wall Street Journal):

"In a major August 2008 decision released yesterday in redacted form, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, the FISA appellate panel, affirmed the government's Constitutional authority to collect national-security intelligence without judicial approval. The case was not made public before yesterday, and its details remain classified. An unnamed telecom company refused to comply with the National Security Agency's monitoring requests and claimed the program violated the Fourth Amendment's restrictions on search and seizure."

The rest of the article can be found here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123206822799888351.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop

 

[Infanteer]

Bush did not keep the US safe during his term. 9/11 occurred, remember?

That attack in the beginning of his presidency?  Just like the 3 during the 8 years of Clinton.  I'm not the biggest fan of the outgoing POTUS but methinks you push history a bit to the right....

 

[GAP]

In a couple of years we are going to miss George.
He can laugh at himself. I don't think Obama can.

In truth GWB was not a fortunate as most presidents but he did do the right thing WRT the war on terror.

If we review, we find  Clinton, for all of his popularity, sowed the seeds that resulted in war.
GWB found himself cleaning up the Clinton mess for two terms.

Only the almighty knows how long it will take Sarah Palin to clean up after Obama.

I guess I revealed myself with that last line..... ;D

About 8 years......

 

[TangoTwoBravo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/opinion/16krugman.html?pagewanted=print

Meanwhile, about Mr. Obama: while it’s probably in his short-term political interests to forgive and forget, next week he’s going to swear to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That’s not a conditional oath to be honored only when it’s convenient.

And to protect and defend the Constitution, a president must do more than obey the Constitution himself; he must hold those who violate the Constitution accountable. So Mr. Obama should reconsider his apparent decision to let the previous administration get away with crime. Consequences aside, that’s not a decision he has the right to make.

Nobody should be above the law, but prosecuting former Presidents for national security decisions made in the international realm would be a massive mistake, in my opinion. It would harden the lines between left and right in the US and also harm long term national security. The left-wing intelligentsia want their vengeance, but I hope that Mr Obama is wise enough to ignore them. He already has their support and where would they take it anyway?

 

[GAP]

I agree....every act/approval would become mired in CYA, ad infinum.....

White House tapes are bad enough, to have every action demand accountability according some future standard/political nuance would kill whatever little is accomplished by the government..

 

[Edward Campbell]

I don't believe Bush can be impeached charged* any time soon, even though I do think he has some Constitutional issues for which he should be called to account.

In my view historians and scholars rather than the partisan politicians in the US Congress are best fitted to assess what Bush did or failed to do with regard to his duty to "preserve and protect" the Constitution of the USA.

But the debate will soon begin - I hope, and it should be fascinating.


--------------------

* Corrected. See Tomahawk 6's very correct statement below; Bush cannot be impeached once he leaves office.

 

[GAP]

There needs to be at least one term by Obama before any serious reflection can be done on Bush....

It takes the emotion out of it and gives something to compare to since.....

 

[tomahawk6]

Once out of office Bush cant be impeached he becomes a private citizen. Second I dont see where Bush has violated the Constitution unlike some in Congress. The US went to war with Iraq WITH the support of Congress as Iraq was in violation of 17 UN resolutions. Bush made the biggest mistake in not declaring war once he did that Gitmo and FSA would be moot points.

As for the view of historians of the Bush presidency we wont see an unbiased view for 40-50 years. Truman wasnt viewed with any type of regard until many decades after he had died. Historians like everyone else have political views and always seem to be included in their books. The same goes for Clinton. The democrats will be busy spinning the horrid economy on Bush when it was their legislation that created the crash of 09. All the causes go back to the Clinton administration with the enabling of Freddie Mac and Fannie which undermined the banking system. The so called stimulus is pork barrel politics at its worst. When its said and done we will look like Britain in the 80's looking for a Maggie Thatcher.

 

[ModlrMike]

In my humble opinion, I think Mr Bush got an undeservedly rough ride from the start. The media hated him and seemed to go out of their way to make him appear bumbling a a buffoon. Let's face it. No US party has the ability to put a clown in the White House, even if they wanted to. Ol' George had to have some credentials to have been given the chance to sit in the big chair. I agree with the other posters who said that in 40 or 50 years time we'll see a different take on this Bush's presidency. Those of us who were around for Gerald Ford need only see how he's treated now relative to how he was treated while in office to understand this.

 

[2 Cdo]

In my humble opinion, I think Mr Bush got an undeservedly rough ride from the start. The media hated him and seemed to go out of their way to make him appear bumbling a a buffoon. Let's face it. No US party has the ability to put a clown in the White House, even if they wanted to. Ol' George had to have some credentials to have been given the chance to sit in the big chair. I agree with the other posters who said that in 40 or 50 years time we'll see a different take on this Bush's presidency. Those of us who were around for Gerald Ford need only see how he's treated now relative to how he was treated while in office to understand this.

This has to be one of the best posts in this thread. People forget that GWB attended Ivy League schools and did fairly well. I would guess that being a buffoon would be a tiny bit of a detriment to attaining an Ivy League education. My personal belief is that George allowed Dick Cheney just a bit too much authority and didn't reign him in enough.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

In my humble opinion, I think Mr Bush got an undeservedly rough ride from the start. The media hated him and seemed to go out of their way to make him appear bumbling a a buffoon. Let's face it. No US party has the ability to put a clown in the White House, even if they wanted to. Ol' George had to have some credentials to have been given the chance to sit in the big chair. I agree with the other posters who said that in 40 or 50 years time we'll see a different take on this Bush's presidency. Those of us who were around for Gerald Ford need only see how he's treated now relative to how he was treated while in office to understand this.

Bush was also a fighter pilot who flew the F-102 Convair which had a lousy accident rate:

"There were some minor aerodynamic problems with the F-102. For example, at certain power settings and angles of attack � like, say, take-off -- the jet compressor would stall and the aircraft would roll inverted. It is no picnic, skill-wise, to fly a modern F-16 with advanced avionics and fly-by-wire flight control systems. The workload on the F-102 was far higher. The F-16 has an accident rate of 4.14 occurrences per 100,000 flight hours. The F-102�s accident rate was more than three times that: 13.69 per 100,000 hours. 875 F-102A interceptors were built; 259 � almost 30% - were lost to accidents or enemy action while serving in Vietnam."

The above quote was taken from this website which has a longer description of what George Bush had to do to fly the F-102. The author also addresses some of those "crimes" that people are always accusing Bush of committing.

 

[Flip]

My personal belief is that George allowed Dick Cheney just a bit too much authority and didn't reign him in enough.

Agreed, and perhaps maybe Rumsfeld needed to go sooner rather than later.
But, who are we to judge? 

 

[observor 69]

"I would guess that being a buffoon would be a tiny bit of a detriment to attaining an Ivy League education."  2Cdo

Not with the Bush family name behind him:

"Like his father, Prescott Bush, who was elected a Senator from Connecticut in 1952, George became interested in public service and politics. He served two terms as a Representative to Congress from Texas. Twice he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Then he was appointed to a series of high-level positions: Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency."

It's not that unusual for members of important families to fumble their why through college.

 

[Edward Campbell]

...
It's not that unusual for members of important families to fumble their why through college.

And in that respect there a are several prominent American families who have benefited from the best education money can buy and who have repaid their communities through 'public service.'

Caroline Kennedy, anyone? (She graduated from Radcliffe and Columbia (law) - you can't get much more Ivy League than that.)

 

[observor 69]

And apparently she will not become the next Senator from New York state.
Family connections only go so far. 

 

[2 Cdo]

"I would guess that being a buffoon would be a tiny bit of a detriment to attaining an Ivy League education."  2Cdo

Not with the Bush family name behind him:

"Like his father, Prescott Bush, who was elected a Senator from Connecticut in 1952, George became interested in public service and politics. He served two terms as a Representative to Congress from Texas. Twice he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Then he was appointed to a series of high-level positions: Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency."

It's not that unusual for members of important families to fumble their why through college.

Yes, I get it. You don't like George Bush. I will try to find the article I read a few years ago that showed GWB has an advanced degree (I think it is a Masters) and his IQ was substantially higher than Kerrys'. The Dem's loved to trot out how smart Kerry was. I still think for all the Obama supporters the shock is going to be severe, Obama is a greater speaker but seems to have all the depth of a wading pool.

And I'll still miss George.

 

[Rifleman62]

Baden Guy, apparantly she will.

 

[observor 69]

Baden Guy, apparantly she will.

I don't know who your source is but this is the best I can come up with:

JANUARY 19, 2009, 4:36 P.M. ET
Paterson Won't Reveal Clinton's Replacement in the Senate

WASHINGTON -- New York Gov. David Paterson said he has winnowed his choice to replace Hillary Clinton as his state's junior Senator but declined to say today who he plans to select.

At a news conference held amid festivities for Barack Obama's presidential inauguration, Mr. Paterson, a Democrat, said he's still mulling the decision and that his weighing will likely extend into this weekend.

"I'm focusing on a few candidates now," he told a handful of reporters. "I can't say definitively. I do not know who the next senator of New York is now."

Mr. Paterson has faced some criticism for taking so long to decide on a replacement for Sen. Clinton, who is expected to be confirmed this week as Secretary of State. The choice has been made difficult, observers say, because of the inclusion of two powerful contenders, New York's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, and Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former president John F. Kennedy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123239696115695199.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs%3Darticle

 

[Rifleman62]

It was all over the radio news first thing this am down in Texas.

You could check out Google News for Caroline Kennedy, Senator for lots of info.

I believe it is a very, very done deal, but I could be wrong.

 

[Edward Campbell]

And according to this report from the Associated Press, Ms. Kennedy has withdrawn her name from consideration, in a one line written statement sent to the NY Governor.