Every American President has obvious attributes and shortcomings, and the job of historians is to assess both, and come up with a reasonable conclusion on the tenure of each occupant in the White House.
George W. Bush has now been out of office for four years and three months, and has stayed out of the public eye and controversy, unlike his controversial Vice President, Dick Cheney.
Bush’s purpose in life is to begin the rehabilitation of his shattered image, primarily based on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the economic collapse in his last months, known as the Great Recession.
This is a lot to overcome, and having allowed Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to have so much impact on policy making does not help Bush’s quest to be seen as a President who did his best in difficult times.
Tomorrow, at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, a few hundred miles from his father’s library in College Station on the campus of Texas A & M, all four former Presidents will be present, along with President Obama, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, and many other dignitaries.
The new library will allow visitors to make judgments on whether they would have done any differently in the major crises of his eight years in office.
The library also avoids much attention paid to Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bush’s political genius, Karl Rove, who, like them, remains highly controversial and divisive in the minds of many Americans.
It will be argued that Bush is trying to manipulate history, and of course he is, but every President in his library attempts that.
Will a reassessment of Bush change the view of C Span scholars who in 2009, rated him 36th of 42 men who have been President?
Likely, over time, and particularly after his future demise, whenever that is, the image of George W. Bush will rise somewhat from the depths, but it is hard to imagine him going higher than say number 30 out of 43, and certainly, there is NO chance that he will surpass his father, rated 18th out of 42 in the C Span poll in 2009.
Hello Professor,
I prefer Lee Iacocca’s reference to G. W. Bush and the rest of his corrupt cronies, in his book, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
He states that he supported G. W. Bush in his first Presidential Election simply for the fact that Lee liked his father. Iacocca goes onto say that the son proved to be such a screw up that he did not make the same mistake during his second Presidential bid.
I highly suggest others to read this book because it truthfully, factually, and accurately covers how G. W. Bush, led by Dick Cheney, ran us over this physical cliff causing this current Republican Caused Depression.
Of course most critical thinking people know by review the facts, HE NEVER REALLY WON ANY OF THOSE ELECTIONS. They were stolen!
Engineer of Knowledge, again, totally correct that Bush did not really win over Gore, fixing the vote in Florida, and also did not really win over Kerry, fixing the vote in Ohio. What a sad state of affairs!
Ronald: Do you have evidence? Any proof? I mean really judicially applicable evidence of what you are stating? And please don’t come up with some hiper partisan film.
The Supreme Court was totally partisan in 2000, and there is evidence of vote tampering in both Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. I do not recall precise sources at this late date, but Karl Rove knew what he was doing. But of course, no one will ever be able to prove one hundred percent, any more than 1960 or 1876! We have to live with the results!
Hello Juan,
The Republicans publicly admits this action in 2000 as one of the most brilliant political moves to assure W. Bush his disputed win in Florida. Back in 2000, 12,000 eligible voters, a number twenty-two times larger than George W. Bush’s 537 vote triumph over Al Gore, were wrongly identified as convicted felons and purged from the voting rolls in Florida. This information is readily available on many confirmed sources. I would recommend the program “Front Line†who did the best extensive report on this.
This had worked so well in 2000, so to prepare for the 2012 election, Gov. Rick Scott instructed Secretary of State Ken Browning to repeat this same action and the purging of voting rolls of those who would not be voting for Republican candidates started once again. Many had been removed until the Supreme Court in Florida heard the case brought against this action and were ordered to restore these citizens to their proper voting status. Mitt Romney did not win this state.
Come on Juan, you are so proactive in researching so many aspects, but you could not find this information…..was it because it is not what you want reality to be?
To continue, in the 2004 General Election the use of Diebold voting machines were employed in upstate Ohio. It became well noted that something was wrong when W. Bush got over 120,000 STRAIGHT VOTES in the Cleveland area that was overwhelmingly black; and Democratic……Yes John Kerry did not receive one vote to break that 120,000 straight collective vote in this area that was overwhelmingly black; and Democratic!! This was the difference needed to hand W. Bush the State’s Electoral Votes.
Once again this worked so well that Mitt Romney’s son purchased the voting machine company that serviced the Cincinnati area. I would add that this action sent off alarm bells and the voting judges were ready and checked every machine sent to them. They found over half were flipping the votes and were removed from the voting booths. With now only half of the machines to collect the votes in Cincinnati, it took a much longer time to collect the votes…..but it was an honest vote.
Once again Juan, you are so proactive in researching so many aspects, but you could not find this information…..was it because it is not what you want reality to be?
This is not the objectiveness, critical thinking, and logical argumentation, of someone who supposed to have studied law. I’m just not hearing the voice in your writing of a person who studied law.
Thanks once again, Engineer of Knowledge, for your insights, reminding me of many details I had not thought about in a long time, and your challenge to Juan, who is always ready to promote his cause, but cannot admit that corruption was involved in the vote count in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004!
Engineer if your going to copy paste from Rolling Stones please at least say so.
“Twelve percent of Florida Democrats (over 200,000) voted for Republican George Bush”
-San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 9, 2000
If one percent of these Democrats had stuck with their own candidate, Al Gore would easily have won Florida and become president. In addition, half of all registered Democrats did not even bother going to the polls and voting.
Oh Professor….LOL….This is precious!!
Juan, you started right off with a “Nihilistic Statement†but at least you did confirm that there was enough evidence proving my statement from another source of the stolen election in Florida. What makes you think that the Rolling Stone was my source? You have validated proof….do to the fact I speak on the radio on these kinds of subjects, debunking the Extreme Right’s misinformation, maybe it was the Rolling Stone quoting me? See how you made a statement that HAD to be true to make your statement valid? Of course it was not so you just proved that the things you post cannot be taken with any value. (Actually the quote was from the program, “Frontline.†Just on this fact alone you have lost any “Logical Debate!â€) Remember I told you to follow up with this reference in the previous posting? I even made it easy for you…..but like I said….maybe it was not what you wanted reality to be?
Then your next statement is a “Divertive Argument†of, “If one percent of these Democrats had stuck with their own candidate etc.†What you have just done is applied an elementary school childhood logic much like as if you were caught throwing stones breaking windows and were caught; but your justification was, “Well Johnny was throwing stones breaking windows too!!†Very infantile wouldn’t you say?
This is why I say your voice is not of one who studied law. You make too many mistakes in what is simply Freshman English 101, “Logical Argumentation.â€
Bottom line you have just lost any chance to win ANY debate from your amateurish writing techniques. I am saying this not to be cruel but hopefully, maybe in the long term, you will learn. That journey is yours.
Now with this being said, I am glad you are doing so as it gives me a teaching lesson for the others who read this blog to learn by and how to counter act this kind of silly arguments put up too often by the Extreme Right that you have been providing.
Sincerely, Thank you again.
Engineer of Knowledge, what can I say? You are BRILLIANT, and I am glad you and I tend to agree on most issues, but then we are not the Extreme Right, which is out to destroy the New Deal, Great Society, and ObamaCare, what has made this country a great nation in dealing with its population in the past 80 years, due to the compassionate and great leadership of FDR, LBJ, and Barack Obama!
I find it fascinating that the reason the US is a great county is because of the entitlement programs. In other words because of our bureaucracy in government. No mention of our Constitution , our Bill of Rights, our Freedoms, our Federalism, Separation of Powers, our elimination of the scourge of slavery, our triumph over the evils of both totalitarianism, the Nazi’s and Soviet Communist, liberating hundreds of millions. Not a word mentioned about our system of law based on individual freedom that enabled generations and generations of Americans to create the greatest country on earth. Not a word mentioned about the incredible individuals that made our country great, from Washington to Lincoln, to the thousands of inventors from Franklin, Edison and Jobs, to the hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs from Whitney, Ford, Morgan to Gates, that improved the lives of millions not only in the US but around the world. Not a word of the millions of everyday Americans, that in the past as well as in the present get up everyday go to work, contribute to society, pay their taxes and raise sons and daughters , many of whom gave their lives for our freedoms since the moment we became a nation. No, what made us and make us great is our bureaucracy, not the individual American. What made us great is SS, Medicaid and Obamacare, not our Constitutional system based on individual freedom that served as a platform for the greatness of the U.S..
Juan, your sarcasm is despicable! No one is denying the greatness of the contribution of many people, and the ordinary citizenry, to this nation’s history, and the guiding principles of this nation, and its great documents, but a country that does not concern itself with its elderly, its handicapped, its sick, its less fortunate, is a country that has failed to understand that compassion and concern for thy fellow man and woman who is not as fortunate as we are, is a country without a soul!
And since we are the most backward industrial democracy in our commitment to those who are not wealthy, you should be ashamed of your intolerance, narrow mindedness, and lack of concern to make this nation a better one for ALL of us, not just the most successful among us!
But of course, you totally ignore what Engineer of Knowledge accuses you of, because you have no legitimate answer, and instead think being a bully and attacking everything decent about American democracy is the way to go. Well, the American people have rejected your philosophy, and it is in the wilderness for a long time where it belongs! 🙁
@Ron: First of all, Engineer sounds like a broken record always repeating the same mantra; “statement is a “Divertive Argument†bla bla bla. Why would I waste time with someone who doesn’t acknowledge the fact that on every single independent recount Bush won Florida and that it was Gore who brought in the Courts. The fact that the Florida Supreme Court overstepped it bounds by ignoring Florida electoral law and its clearly established time schedules. The legal issue in Florida was never those people that were allegedly “wrongly” purged from the voting rolls. He says 22K were “wrongly” purged, but we don’t know that all 100% were wrongly purges and there is still dispute on the numbers of those actually “purged”. Furthermore how do we know how those people would have voted? Again you assume Democrat. In any event that was not the issue in Bush v Gore, and the SCOTUS only put the Florida Supreme Court in its place. As for you, you were the one that said those programs were what made the nation great , not me! And do you mean to say that before those big bureaucracy Americans didn’t care for those in need, for the elderly, the poor , the ill and for children? Do you really believe that Americans were so rotten before the bureaucracy invaded us? You mean to say we let little children just die or hunger, we killed off the elderly , poor and sick by abandonment? That in America people were left in the street to die? That was the American that millions and millions of people from all over the word came to? And that those that came here wrote back to their families, “come to America , this heartless country where people die of hunger and sickness on Main Street USA”. In other words , you words not mine, America before FDR, was a country “without a soul.” That millions and millions of people came to a country without a soul and that we are the most “backward” industrial democracy. But yet again I don’t see mass migration, legal or illegal to Switzerland,Finland, Sweden or Norway. Oh but I forget, they don’t let illegals aliens stay in those countries, as a matter of fact you could give birth to a child there but if you are not a citizen you child is not either.
Anyway I find your statement about us being a backward soulless country insulting, but not surprising coming from a “progressive”. No wonder many kids come out of college “hating” America.
Juan, you are a piece if work! The nerve of you to accuse anyone of plagiarizing their statements on this blog is outrageous!
Over and over and over I have pointed out that you plagiarize constantly and have supported it by providing the website(s) you have used.
As Engineer stated, and I agree… There is no way you studied law nor did you teach it for 10 years. You make too many mistakes, copy other’s work, take whole articles or cut and past from 2 or 3.
In addition your writing is ridiculously inconsistent, your thought processes are intellectually superficial….It’s so bad it’s almost funny!
Lug heads who attempt to CHEAT… think they can fool the professor(s). Juan you would have flunked the course long ago!
You are a fraud and you are not as old as you would like us to believe. You immaturity is like a blinking neon light. LOL!!
You are likely some kid living in your patent’s basement, not working but spending your time playing video games, smoking pot and waiting for Professor Feinman to post on his blog. Then you jump in with your silly cheap shots as you pretend to have a brain. I wonder if you are a former student who flunked his class and are trying to get back at him.
You’re so asinine you honestly believe you are debunking anything he or anyone else writes!
You don’t seem to realize we all recognize you for the fraud you are.
Juan you are immature, lacking any self respect, despicable and very predictable.
GET A LIFE! You are making quite a fool of yourself . LMAO!
Juan, you have no sense of history and show you are just bent to promote an ideology with total ignorance of historical reality! You are showing your ignorance of such realities as child labor; horrible conditions in coal mines; no union recognition for workers who were working 12-14 hours a day; women being exploited and paid less than men; people living shorter lives because of lack of health care; African Americans treated as industrial slaves in factories; immigrants being mistreated by corporations; no industrial regulations causing, for instance, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in NYC; and loads of other denials of basic human rights toward average Americans, only starting to change with some reforms under TR and Wilson, and major changes starting with FDR and the New Deal.
In many states, even now, they do not care about the health and safety of poor and middle class Americans! The Gilded Age and the 1920s saw terrible exploitation on all levels, and progressivism and later, liberalism, was essential to make America catch up to the rest of the civilized world in Europe, which was beyond us in these areas of human existence (Britain, France and Scandinavia in particular)
Juan…”First of all, Engineer sounds like a broken record always repeating the same mantra; “statement is a “Divertive Argument†bla bla bla. ” …….I keep repeating this for the reason I guess because you are too stupid to learn from what I have pointed out over and over again. I would venture a guess that you never attended college at all did you?
Then I guess you want to bat 1000 with your following up statement to the Professor:
“In other words because of our bureaucracy in government. No mention of our Constitution , our Bill of Rights, our Freedoms, our Federalism, Separation of Powers, our elimination of the scourge of slavery, our triumph over the evils of both totalitarianism, the Nazi’s and Soviet Communist, liberating hundreds of millions. Not a word mentioned about our system of law based on individual freedom that enabled generations and generations of Americans to create the greatest country on earth. Not a word mentioned about the incredible individuals that made our country great, from Washington to Lincoln, to the thousands of inventors from Franklin, Edison and Jobs, to the hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs from Whitney, Ford, Morgan to Gates, that improved the lives of millions not only in the US but around the world.”
Now you have gone into the “Straw Man Argument.” None of this was the subject of the posting but you present this as if he was against these aspect. You are real just a sad little man aren’t you?
For the rest of the readers of the blog, take notice of this pit fall of Logical Argumentation and recognize it for what it is worth….which is basically nothing.
An example would be, Juan I have never seen you speaking out against kicking puppies. Of all of the great men of this country have you ever heard of them kicking puppies/ NO!! ..but you must be in favor of it which I find despicable.
So everyone else, Juan is in favor of kicking puppies!!
See how this works Juan? I suggest you take a class at night and try to get past the 8th grade education.
To the other readers, take note of what I have passed on as this is a common tactic for those on the Extreme Right. They are like young Robins in the nest…All Ass and Mouth….no brains.
,
Since you must speak spanish since you lived in Latin America for 10 years…LOL! Here ya go!
Hey Juanito por fin hacer llegar el mensaje? Usted es un BROMA colega.
Geeeezzz Si por mà fuera estupidez serÃa doloroso!
Engineer you ROCK! I would love if we could have a conversation without the bothersome little chap who hangs around trying to play with the grownups.
Don’t worry Professor Feinman, I kept it suitable for under 13 yrs of age…I promise! 🙂
Maggie: I see you are back spewing you frustration, anger and hatred!
Hate is the coward’s revenge for being humiliated. –George Bernard Shaw
Did I hit a nerve there Mr. Attorney? LOL!
… You do frustrate me Juan….for reasons already explained in detail.
Me humiliated? in your dreams boy.
When and if you ever decide to grow up, treat people with respect, stop lying and attempting to focus attention on your narcissistic self by insulting all Liberals with your childish rants… maybe I will stop spewing at you Duckie.
You are a foolish little bad-mannered child.
And for the record… I don’t spew at anyone else because no one does or has ever acted out tantrums like you. People I have encountered on this blog have always demonstrated courtesy, debated with respect and intellectual acuity…even when they disagreed. That is an art you have yet to learn Juan.
“Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.” – Goethe