I haven't seen a post supporting the "R" team, mostly the posts on this thread and others criticize Carter, Clinton and Obama. Of course when I or others criticized Bush, Jr. we're characterized as whinners and told to get over "it". Unfortunately, it's damn near impossible to get over the legacy of George W. Bush.
43 was elected by conservatives - twice. In 2000 he ran on the promise to restore honor to the White House, promised to be a compassionate conservative, and promised to cut taxes to 'fix' the economy.
On his watch America suffered its worst attack in history, killing thousands of Americans and citizens from 58 other nations.
On Sept. 12, 2001 our nation enjoyed the support of the world community. What George W. Bush did over the next seven years was a travesty of leadership; the result, a war on terror that has lasted longer than our partisipation in WW II, a collapsed economy and a nation divided into ideological camps.
The G.W. Bush Administration failed America; that is a fact today, and will remain a fact in the future.
Today, those same people (some of whom will read this today, and be angry) who voted for Bush II twice actually believe his actions deserve credit.
I find that unbelievable, fanstasy and, frankly, a rejecton of reality itself. Eight years of incompetent leadership, partisan rancor and rhetoric loaded with hate and fear cannot be repaired in 9 months, or possible in four years. The task before President Obama is enormous, and yet, he is attacked by 'conservatives' every step of the way.
There is ample room for debate on policy, but the right wing - and that is many who probably won't read this (those who choose to remain ignorant and never question their beliefs) rarely debate policy. They choose to blame Obama for what may happen in the future, and Clinton and Carter for the past as if the presidency of Nixon / Ford and Reagan / Bush were benign.
Most annoying to me personally is the rights failure to take responsibilty for what has gone so wrong, and their complicity in extremist ideology which besmirched our constitution and the rule of law during the first decade of this century.
I lean right but overall not extremely so, so I'll try to answer some of your points. I did vote for him both times but more so because of who he was running against. All of our presidents have made mistakes, some worse then others and as I have said in the past, many of those mistakes based on the viewers perception, not always based on reality. The biggest challenge with this lies in the fact the general public has little knowledge of the "big picture" or what is happening behind the scenes, especially on a global scale.
Blaming Bush for the ideological division within this country is disingenuous at best, the divisions had been building over the last couple of decades and really only came to fruition while W was president. It has less to do with who's in office and more to do with each and every one of us allowing the extremes on both sides to polerize us.
The lead up to 9/11 was a failure that actually spanned multiple presidencies, from providing arms to the Muhjadin to the cuts in Intel to the inability to piece together the bits of info we were receiving and not understanding the mind set and determination of our enimies.
Iraq as a mistake or not, yes to one degree, no to another. No because from a military stand point when attacked or facing random attacks from a dispersed enemy the best plan of action is to get that enimy to concentrate their efforts in one area as much as possible to isolate, destroy and/or damage them and their abilities to continue fighting. This will also bring many out of the wood work, so to speak, once again making them easier targets.
Unfortunately it diverted our attention from Afgahnistan allowing the Taliban to rebuild. The terrible truth of the war on terror is it will last much longer than any other war in the history of mankind has ever lasted. Some will be done by diplomacy but, understanding the cultural and ideologic mind set of some of our enemies, diplomacy is not only impossible but seen by them as a weakness on our part to be exploited and used against us. This can also be said of some of our "friends". Example: Qadafi, saw Bush as a stong leader, willing to use force after Afgahnistan and Iraq, and essentially capitulated to us. Now that Obama is president look at what Qadafi and the Libians are doing now. Draw your own conclusions.
Bush was able to force N Korea, S Korea, China, Japan, etc. to the table by refusing to directly talk with N Korea alone. This was a good thing for us and all involved. While there were no "official" talks with Iran only a complete idiot will believe back room talks weren't taking place and any agreement to be had with Iran can only be done with Russias' participation and approval. A good knowledge of
actual international relations and interaction will help understand much of what is going on, even today.
Continuing in that vein many people seem to have some wierd pollyannish idea that all differences between nations can be eliminated by verbal diplomacy. They refuse to acknowledge the fact there are nations and peoples who for differing reasons have every desire to destroy who and what we are, and will go to any lengths to do so, this has been proven. Mainly in the Asian and Muslim cultures diplomacy is used not so much as a way to accord but more as a way to better their stategic position. Through out history these cultures have used this tactic to rebuild their military strength in preperation for renewed hostilities therfore if you opponent does so to work towards some other goal they are considered weak, again look what is happening today. Many countries now believe we can be taken advantage of. Is any wonder they like the new administration?
On the economy any economist who doesn't have a political agenda will tell you presidents have little effect on market fluctuations. Blaming Bush or even now, Obama for what happened, well.........
So there are aspects of the Bush presedency I will defend to the death just as there are aspects I would and do rail against. Just like there are aspects of the Obama administration I support and others I hate. I know there will be those who will violently disagree with my assessment, I can't help that and I won't try. I know what I know and I'll let it go at that.
But, there was no way I was voting for either party. Given the choice, I would have preferred Obama, because despite the fact that he served his country with honor, John McCain is a prick!
