I honestly believe that history will treat Bill Clinton very well and George Bush will be listed among the worse presidents in US history. When you compare their accomplishments Clinton clearly outshines Bush. Clinton is the most intelligent president in many years.
Because history tends to be written by liberals and secular humanists.
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I have been a Republican all my life, but I can't stand Bush. I cringe every time he speaks wondering what stupid statement he'll make next. IMO he's an embarrassment to the the USA. His adminstration will be most remembered for his stupidity and for being so headstrong he would rather live a lie than to do what is in the best interest of the country and the world in general. The day Colin Powell resigned as Secretary of State represents for me the beginning of the end of any hope for a successful Bush presidency.
Well, now you have a wide range of Republican views to choose from - everything to Democrat in Republican clothing (Giuliani, McCain) to Conservative (Huckabee) to Libertarian (Ron Paul whose views many conservative Republicans ran on when they won control of Congress in 1994) and everything in between (the other candidates).
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It's too bad that Clinton will also be remembered as well for his moral failures. Apparently his attendance at those UPC campmeetings didn't impact him as they should have!
No one is even going to pay the least little bit of attention to his sexual escapades in the White House except to question why Congress wanted to impeach him over them.
As CC1 stated, GWB is not a good public speaker. At least not in the mold of RR and BC who were both master communicators.
However, he is the first president with an MBA. you cant be dumb and do that. GWB is no idiot as some in the media and all in the democrat party.
Just about anyone with an average IQ can get an MBA. Bush is not exactly the brightest crayon in the box and he has never truly succeeded at anything in the private sector but, instead, was the quintissential rich kid with a silver spoon in his mouth!
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I think the history books will show that faced with increadable odds, GWB has done well. he inherited a pathetic economy and before he could even get his sea legs, 9/11 happened. GWB has handled the economy very well. unemployment is at an historical low. Tax revinue is at a record high and more importantly we have not had another terrorist attack on American soil. while it has not gotten much notice, according to some, there have been as many as 20 major attacks that have been thwarted without much fanfare.
Unemployment is no lower than it has been in the 1990s. Inflation is higher. He took the government from a near budget surplus (if, indeed, it is ever possible for the government to have a surplus) to a multi-trillion dollar deficit. Government spending is higher than it was under Clinton. American liberties are being eroded in the name of "security" as the Bush administration turns an unconstitutional war that should have been limited to going after Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban government in Afghanistan that supported him to a quagmire in both Afghanistan and Iraq that we can't get out of any time soon in a way that saves face for the United States.
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Afghanistan has quietly been moderately successful. Iran however is another story. We have taken care of Saddam, his sons, and the leader of Al Queda in Iraq Zarqwi. however, there have been set backs and we are now at a point politically where it may be impossible to bring this to a postive end.
If you call returning Afghanistan to a nation run by war lords "successful." Of course, we still haven't captured Osama Bin Laden. Of course, since Congress didn't actually declare war, no matter what we did it was still unconstitutional.
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the major reasons for that are GWBs on fault. First, for what ever reason, the he refused to articulate early and often what it was going to cost and how long it would likely take. He has said it in the past, that it could be ten years, but it has not been a repeated refrain.
Maybe that was because the idiot neo-cons that pushed him into breaking his campaign promises and into a foreign policy of preemptive strike didn't tell him what it would cost and how long it would take? Maybe because no one really knew how long it could take?
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Second, until this last offensive, we have worked with failed vietnam policy. we entered an area infested with insurgents, killed them then we left, only to have to return later. This failed in Korea and Vietnam. It failed in Iraq too. this has devistated American resolve and led to the near collapse of American will to win. It reamains to be seen if the current leadership can turn the corner.
Well, that's what happens when you take some guy from President Ford's administration and make him your Secretary of Defense!
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Lastly GWB for some reason has failed completely on the subject of immigration. I suspect his goal is to build good will to the hispanic commuinity and bring them into the republican party. What ever the reason, he has failed utterly on the subject.
He's sucking up like most politicians do. He's also trying to imitate Ronald Reagan (much the way Slick Willie Clinton tried to imitate JFK).
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I think in fifty years, GWB will be seen as an average president. certainly not as great as Ronald Reagan and the 2 Roosevelts. but no where near as bad as the likes of Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter.
The bottom line is Saddam Hussein was not at that time a major threat to the USA! There was no compelling reason to disregard the UN on the matter of waiting until there was indisputeable evidence of WMDs.
He wasn't any threat to the United States! Of course, maybe what we should have done was expose what France and Germany were doing and get the UN to bring sanctions against them.
Of course, no matter what we would have done militarily, it still would have been unconstitutional because Congress would never have declared war (since declaring war would mean they were ultimately responsible for the outcome).
It's the attitude of Americans towards other peoples that has contributed to much of the hostility being shown towards the US today. Through the years the US has been very involved in providing arms and technology to dictators who ended up turning on them. IMO it's the foreign policy of the past that has placed the US in the position it is in now, not the cutback in defense spending. Of course I am an American who has lived outside of the US for most of my life and travelled to 25 nations, so I suppose I do have a different perspective than some of you. I have had many opportunities to listen to what foreigners have to say about American attitudes and policy. I have come to accept that not all American ideas are correct or good.
Ever since Teddy Roosevelt, the United States has been trying to butt its nose in the affairs of other nations, contrary to the foreign policy advice of many of the founding fathers and contrary to what was foreign policy from the founding of the republic through almost all of the 19th century. We are reaping what we have sown.
Why is it that "other people" suck up every resource that the US sends their way and then bites the hand that feeds it? The US has plenty of issues and its share of evil politicians, but let there be a catastrophe in where in the world and WHO is the first on the scene? So, why do we get dished for the evil we do, but absolutely no praise for the great things that the US has done? It really is discouraging!
That's part of the problem: we keep butting our nose into everyone else's business. It's not our job to police the world or to serve as the world's food distribution warehouse! Trade with other nations, be friendly with other nations but keep America's nose out of the internal affairs of those nations.
Just about anyone with an average IQ can get an MBA. Bush is not exactly the brightest crayon in the box and he has never truly succeeded at anything in the private sector but, instead, was the quintissential rich kid with a silver spoon in his mouth!
cant let this one go.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? IN AN OLD SHOE BOX???????????????????????????
GWB was one of the most successful Governers of one of the largest states in America. when he left office his approval rating in Texas was above 60%. he even garnered a majority of the hispanic vote and a third of the black vote.
he left office with a billion dollar surplus. and was the FIRST Governer of Texas to be re-elected since Texas started with 4 year terms as governer.
In his first election victory he beat Maw Richards, a very popular democrat with wide bi-partisan support.
He started out with less than 20% polling across the state and worked his butt off. with less than 2 months to go, his campaign was written off by everyone. He went out and WON the election on his own.
he built wide bi-partisian support for his agenda and even with a dem controlleed house, and a dem lt governer, GWB was able to drive the discussion and create real change in Texas.
GWB DID in fact have personal accomplishments ouside of that "rich kid" business.
beyonod that, GWB was the managing owner of a group that bought the Texas Rangers. he put together the ownership group, manitianed controlling intrest and turned the franchise into a money maker. when the group sold out to Tom Hicks, his parternership made $$$$$.
Chan it is really easy to say something as ignorant has youve done. it is another thing to be able to prove it. GWB was successful in both business and politics before becomeing President.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
Unemployment is no lower than it has been in the 1990s. Inflation is higher. He took the government from a near budget surplus (if, indeed, it is ever possible for the government to have a surplus) to a multi-trillion dollar deficit. Government spending is higher than it was under Clinton. American liberties are being eroded in the name of "security" as the Bush administration turns an unconstitutional war that should have been limited to going after Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban government in Afghanistan that supported him to a quagmire in both Afghanistan and Iraq that we can't get out of any time soon in a way that saves face for the United States.
wrong. unemployment is nearly a point below the average of the 1990s.
currently unemployment is around 4.3% the 1990s ranged around 5.5 %
while on the surface that might now seem like a lot but it is a statistaclly large number. indicating millions of jobs.
Home ownership (even with recient issues with high risk loans) is at an all time high. Home ownership in minority areas is at an even greater all time high.
inflation is higher in a post ressession period than it was in an unusually low period of the 1990's. the 1990's was very much an anomoly. this was during a period when we were in the beginnings of a major shift in business modeling and an entirely new employment paradym was in the beginnings states.
that bubble busted if you remember. dont blame GWB for what happend before he took the oath of office.
as for American Liberties.... well, name one American liberty that has eroded?
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? IN AN OLD SHOE BOX???????????????????????????
GWB was one of the most successful Governers of one of the largest states in America. when he left office his approval rating in Texas was above 60%. he even garnered a majority of the hispanic vote and a third of the black vote.
Oh, please!!!!!!!! He was a puppet of the Republican establishment who had a rich daddy! Besides, being Governor of Texas isn't nearly as much of an office as being Governor in other states. Under the Texas Constitution of 1876, the Governor's office was intentionally created as a weaker office, distributing many of the duties Governors in other states have to various other elected officials. Thus, there is what amounts to a "plural executive" in Texas.
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he left office with a billion dollar surplus. and was the FIRST Governer of Texas to be re-elected since Texas started with 4 year terms as governer.
Considering that the responsibility for the budget in Texas is largely given over to a ten-member board overseen by the Lieutenant Governor, Bush really can't be given much credit.
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In his first election victory he beat Maw Richards, a very popular democrat with wide bi-partisan support.
She obviously wasn't popular enought.
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He started out with less than 20% polling across the state and worked his butt off. with less than 2 months to go, his campaign was written off by everyone. He went out and WON the election on his own.
All that shows is that he's a politician!
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he built wide bi-partisian support for his agenda and even with a dem controlleed house, and a dem lt governer, GWB was able to drive the discussion and create real change in Texas.
Considering that the Governor's office is a much weaker office in Texas than in other states, did he really have much of a choice?
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GWB DID in fact have personal accomplishments ouside of that "rich kid" business.
beyonod that, GWB was the managing owner of a group that bought the Texas Rangers. he put together the ownership group, manitianed controlling intrest and turned the franchise into a money maker. when the group sold out to Tom Hicks, his parternership made $$$$$.
What personal accomplishments? What businesses did he start on his own (without daddy's money)? What real jobs has he ever held? Being the owner of a baseball team is pretty much meaningless considering that the actual business is run by various managers, accountants, etc.
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Chan it is really easy to say something as ignorant has youve done. it is another thing to be able to prove it. GWB was successful in both business and politics before becomeing President.
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