Do you really think Bush sucks?

[stormbind]

Oops! Maybe I was digging too deep to find faults

But my point is that with the bad decisions FDR made, the reaction is "Son of a..." and with the good decisions FDR made, the reaction is "About bloody time!"

FDR was not spectacular. Almost any President would perform equally, or better, given the same scenario.

We do have 20-20 vision in hindsight, and that is what empowers us to state who was a good politician and who was not.

 

[CurtSibling]

And the fact that he was a democrap has nothing to do with it?

Sure!

 

[stormbind]

And the fact that he was a democrap has nothing to do with it?

Sure!

I am no Republican, and have rooted for Clinton and Kerry

Policies surrounding the Great Depression are unknown to me, so cannot comment on his economic reforms.

 

[CurtSibling]

You are no American either, so why do you care?

 

[stormbind]

You are no American either, so why do you care?

I am a person, and I care about people

 

[CurtSibling]

How typically human!

 

[frekk]

Almost any President would perform equally, or better, given the same scenario.

Hoover didn't.

 

[Ivan the Kulak]

I wish there were an option slightly less polemic than "Bush Sucks", but upon reflection that's the one I had to pick. Being mostly apolitical, I had to enumerate his actions/persona and compare with other statesmen, and the qualities generally considered desirable by the ruled.

1. Apparently got into office with assistance from his cronies with some ballot twiddling. (bad)

2. After 9-11, created the DHS and signed into law the Patriot Act, NOT a good thing for a true democracy (bad).

3. Went into Afghanistan to get Bin Laden (good idea) but failed to catch him. Apparently let him slip away (incompetence).

4. Started a war in Iraq for no good reason whatsoever. (Shades of Hitler and Napoleon). Lied to the American people about WMD for a pretext. Remember Poland and the "invading polish commandos"? If war was to secure resources (oil) apparently a failure, considering the cost of gas/heating fuel now.

5. Presents a bumbling, foolish persona in his public appearances. A President should be Presidential.

6. Incompetent statecraft has alienated many nations from the US. Hopefully our next President will do better.

 

[stormbind]

Hoover didn't.

Hoover was not presented with the same scenario

 

[SonicX]

He ain't the best or the worst president the US has ever had.
I would prefer him over our leaders though ... by far.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Well, giving that Bush is like the anti-Davo, of course I think he sucks. His ploicies are like the opposite of everything I support!

 

[stormbind]

1. Apparently got into office with assistance from his cronies with some ballot twiddling. (bad)

Long live democracy.

2. After 9-11, created the DHS and signed into law the Patriot Act, NOT a good thing for a true democracy (bad).

Also, DHS created central control in emergencies making the President directly responsible in natural disasters. He used that power to divert funding towards war efforts.

3. Went into Afghanistan to get Bin Laden (good idea) but failed to catch him. Apparently let him slip away (incompetence).

Actually, trying to capture Osama was a bad idea. Al Qaeda gets it's power through providing free but biased schooling. The USA (and allies) would be better off funding free and unbiased schooling in the middle east - a policy they should have been pursuing since 1945. That would destroy the influence of radical clerics such as Osama bin Laden who was not the first, and will not be the last of his kind (another radical cleric will take his place).

4. Started a war in Iraq for no good reason whatsoever. (Shades of Hitler and Napoleon). Lied to the American people about WMD for a pretext. Remember Poland and the "invading polish commandos"? If war was to secure resources (oil) apparently a failure, considering the cost of gas/heating fuel now.

President Bush shielded the American people from the truth

5. Presents a bumbling, foolish persona in his public appearances. A President should be Presidential.

I like this. It makes Blair look so much more professional.

6. Incompetent statecraft has alienated many nations from the US. Hopefully our next President will do better.

I actually blame this on Ms Rice. She is a very aggressive, offensive, politician and was also Bush's foreign adviser during the 2000-2004 term.

 

[Masquerouge]

Bush sucks, and his entourage is scary. I mean, frankly, Rumfeld... doesn't he scare you ? Phisically ? He could easily play the evil archnemesis in any action movie. You know, the kind of guy with a complete lack of empathy who looks at humans as if there were nothing but number to add or substract in order to achieve world dominance.

 

[Akka]

Bush sucks, and his entourage is scary. I mean, frankly, Rumfeld... doesn't he scare you ? Phisically ? He could easily play the evil archnemesis in any action movie. You know, the kind of guy with a complete lack of empathy who looks at humans as if there were nothing but number to add or substract in order to achieve world dominance.

You mean that it isn't what's actually happening right now ?

Wow, scary, in fact.

 

[Serutan]

I believe Bush is the Republican answer to Carter.

I tend to agree. If one looks at his Administration up
to Sept. 10, 2001, it was astoundingly mediocre. No sense
of any leadership to speak of, certainly nothing happening
legislatively. In fact, he struct me as a lead pipe cinch
to be a 1 term President. Then Al-Queda decided to
step in...

 

[frekk]

Hoover was not presented with the same scenario

If we're talking about the Depression, he certainly was.

 

[stormbind]

If we're talking about the Depression, he certainly was.

I refer you to post #83

 

[Matrix]

I'll never forget the words "I'm a uniter, not a divider" and "You're either with us, or against us."

There are not a lot of things he could've done worse, concerning both foreign and domestic affairs. I don't really have much knowledge of other presidents, but from what I've heard and learned about them, Bush is the worst president since WW2. Calibre Dan Quayle.

 

[Serutan]

@Matrix - IMO Carter was the worst. For much different reasons,
though - he was too nice, and didn't understand how to work
with Congress.

Bush is bad because he doesn't understand the concept
that things don't always go as planned, and also because
he wants yes-(wo)men, not advisers.

 

[IglooDame]

Yep, truly the most powerful suckage on Earth. Nucular is one thing, but over the past year he's been developing the trait (or maybe I'm just noticing it more) of making statements that may or may not be obvious, but he says them with a little bit of a smirk that says "Well duh here, folks, why are you too stupid to get this?"

I disliked Clinton because he was pushing domestic policies I didn't like, always seemed too slick, and had all the self-control of a tomcat in heat in a catnip garden. But you know, at least he didn't annoy the living bejezus out of the rest of the planet. Bush Jr kinda reminds me of LBJ in that respect.