We've seen a sort of vindication of the Bush administration in recent years.
No.
The idealistic, hopeful civil libertarian Barack Obama took office, sat down for an intelligence briefing, and, after hearing what he did, flip flopped on virtually every major civil liberties and foreign policy position.
What?
Thanks to Bush-era intelligence, President Obama got to walk out in front of the cameras and declare Osama bin Laden was dead.
Is this serious?
Additionally, we can now look back on the Bush administration's attempt in 2003 to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which would have avoided the global financial crisis. Great champions of financial reform like Barney Frank ripped Treasury Secretary John Snow for pushing government to regulate itself. If only we had listened. If only we had acted.
This is a joke, right?
The vindication of the realistic, but principled foreign policy of the Bush administration rings especially true. While President Obama moves on Cuba to try to recover some semblance of authority on foreign affairs, his intervention in Libya unraveled the nation. Iraq went unanswered in their calls for help for months before any action was taken. Foreign policy is a major source of "I told you so" for the Bush administration.
Come on, you cannot be serious.
Culturally, George W. Bush seemed real to a lot of people. He seemed genuine. He seemed like he cared. President Obama is actually having a bit of a likability problem now. The chart at the top of this post, favorability numbers, is actually what carried him to re-election, not his job approval. Being five points underwater is very bad news for the President. W is remembered as connected, likable, and, yes, hilarious.
Alright. This is all very dry humor and I understand this is the 2016 board which seems full of that. But, the problem is that people actually believe stuff like this because they're deluded partisan Republicans. I know it seems like only someone who spent their time watching Fox News and smoking crack could come up with that laughable prose, but people seriously believe this stuff. So, maybe tone down the satire a bit.
