Do you miss George W. Bush?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

No since he created the mess in the middle east.

well "created" is a bit of a stretch. That's been a basketcase since at least the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

No since he created the mess in the middle east.

well "created" is a bit of a stretch. That's been a basketcase since at least the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The ISIS recrutement was helped in part by the Iraq war.

[Young Conservative]

Yes. Being originally from Texas I can't help but love the family. Do I think he was a particularly good president? No. Do I think he truly wanted to do what was best and respected the office as he held it with class? Absolutely. Do I believe he was a better president that Pres. Obama? YES

Before anyone asks I am not pro-Patriot Act or NSA, nor do I in any way shape or form support Jeb Bush in 2016...

How is he better than Obama?

He had class. He had strength. He united the nation. Every year under Bush, the President of the United States was ranked the most powerful man in the world by various news sources. Since President Obama took office, the office dropped to number three. We aren't respected, the recovery was the slowest in history, foreign nations don't respect us, ISIS is rampant (at the fail of Pres. Bush for going in, but Pres. Obama for funding rebels and destabilizing the reason with a swift, ill advised withdraw), and Obamacare is hurting families, mine included in particular. He refuses to call Islamic extremism by its name and says Christians are intolerant and need to change our religion. He made no similar claims to Islam or Judaism.  He's a poor leader, and it shows daily. I want someone like Bush, who brought us together as a nation and a firm figurehead and truly wanted to do what was best for our nation. That's my rant.

[Young Conservative]

Only 4 presidents have managed to actually unite the nation- Washington, Licoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy solely because he was shot.

So this charge that Obama is a 'divider' is stupid considering that election night on 2008 was clearly something big for the nation.

The nation hasn't been as divided as it is now for 50 years...

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

it's a very good parodic portrayal of a clueless young true believer, but I fear you're becoming a bit on the nose.

@ ProgCan, I certainly don't deny that.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Yes. Being originally from Texas I can't help but love the family. Do I think he was a particularly good president? No. Do I think he truly wanted to do what was best and respected the office as he held it with class? Absolutely. Do I believe he was a better president that Pres. Obama? YES

Before anyone asks I am not pro-Patriot Act or NSA, nor do I in any way shape or form support Jeb Bush in 2016...

How is he better than Obama?

He had class. He had strength. He united the nation. Every year under Bush, the President of the United States was ranked the most powerful man in the world by various news sources. Since President Obama took office, the office dropped to number three. We aren't respected, the recovery was the slowest in history, foreign nations don't respect us, ISIS is rampant (at the fail of Pres. Bush for going in, but Pres. Obama for funding rebels and destabilizing the reason with a swift, ill advised withdraw), and Obamacare is hurting families, mine included in particular. He refuses to call Islamic extremism by its name and says Christians are intolerant and need to change our religion. He made no similar claims to Islam or Judaism.  He's a poor leader, and it shows daily. I want someone like Bush, who brought us together as a nation and a firm figurehead and truly wanted to do what was best for our nation. That's my rant.

You are what is wrong with the United states. Obama calling it Islamic extremism is not going to magically change the middle east. Other countries do not see Obama and say i do not respect him...they do not respect the idiotic Trump supporters and right wingers. Have you not seen polls showing other countires would prefer a Democrat???

[Reaganfan]

Of course!

Bush had a terrific first term. I remember him eating popcorn in the White House having fun watching the film "Thirteen Days" with Ted Kennedy. He got things done with Democrats like No Child Left Behind and passed the Bush tax cuts which still are in place today. Then after 9/11, he rallied the country, still holds the title of most popular President ever polled (92% two months after the attacks), went into 2002 with America united behind him. Then with Congressional authorization, including people like John Kerry, John Edwards, and Hillary Clinton, we invaded Iraq, and had what seemed to be a swift victory. Right after his surprise Thanksgiving trip to Iraq, we capture Saddam Hussein in a hole right before Christmas 2003. He goes into 2004 with America undergoing a Christian uprising, from the outrage over the Janet Jackson nip-slip to the tremendous reaction and success of Passion of the Christ to gay marriage and even legal recognition of same-sex couples being dismissed in 11 states as "just a fad". Oh, and he wins the election decisively with a clear popular vote majority.

So on January 20, 2005, I was proud. Damn proud. I'd call that a success.

The second term is where things get tricky, as we saw with Nixon and Clinton and Reagan and Obama. Hurricane Katrina's impact caused a mass criticism of the Federal Government in August 2005, of which George Bush was the head of. Then the wiretapping information was leaked in December 2005, of which Bush's defense of the programs to keep America safe fell on deaf ears as the electorate began to have 9/11 fade from "recent" memory. Then Iraq began falling apart bad, and the troop surge in 2007 helped but was extremely unpopular. This was also the time of the rise of the Immigration debate of which many Republicans went against George Bush's position. Also, this was the time of the rise of "social media". When Bush was re-elected, nobody had heard of Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. First time I got a MySpace, it was April 2005, and the first time I remember using YouTube was November 2005. We were already knee-deep in Bush's second term. The younger culture which is of course more liberal aided in dissing President Bush. In some ways, 2006 seems like a completely different world than 2000. Then the economy began to tank, thanks in part to Clinton era housing policies. This lead to the unpopularity of George W. Bush and subsequent election of a Democratic President.

But on the whole, I think the first term was 100%. The second term sucked. But he never had a Watergate, never got impeached. Hell, even only had to deal with Democrats in Congress for two of his eight years. You can say what you want about George W. Bush, but from a Bush supporter's point of view, his Presidency had many successes.

[HiramJohnson]

He was a God awful president, but in a perverse selfish way I do miss the certainty he gave my political outlook.

When Bush was in office, he was such an incompetent liar, and his party was so unhinged in its unyielding support for him, that it made the Democrats the good guys and the Republicans the bad guys in my mind. Those of you who are partisan one way or another perhaps take that kind of clarity for granted.

As someone who has a mix of conservative and liberal beliefs, I may never have a "team" to root for like I did with the Democrats from 2001-2008.

When I protested the Iraq war and campaigned for John Kerry in college, that was something that gave me a sense of righteousness I'll perhaps never experience again. Now it seems that I can either support the party that somehow denies climate change or the party whose youngest members instead of opposing Bush now are obsessed with finding offense in every little thing. The party that doesn't seem to understand the separation between Church and State found in the 1st Amendment, or the party that increasingly doesn't respect free speech. The party which shows no empathy for the poor or the party that creates more poor people with excessive regulation of the economy (see California's unemployment rate). The party who opposes background checks for mental illness before purchasing firearms or the party whose members forced one of their candidates to apologize for saying that "all lives matter."

[DavidB.]

He had class. He had strength. He united the nation. Every year under Bush, the President of the United States was ranked the most powerful man in the world by various news sources. Since President Obama took office, the office dropped to number three. We aren't respected, the recovery was the slowest in history, foreign nations don't respect us, ISIS is rampant (at the fail of Pres. Bush for going in, but Pres. Obama for funding rebels and destabilizing the reason with a swift, ill advised withdraw), and Obamacare is hurting families, mine included in particular. He refuses to call Islamic extremism by its name and says Christians are intolerant and need to change our religion. He made no similar claims to Islam or Judaism.  He's a poor leader, and it shows daily. I want someone like Bush, who brought us together as a nation and a firm figurehead and truly wanted to do what was best for our nation. That's my rant.

Hear, hear.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Yes. Do I think he was a particularly good president? No. Do I think he tried to do what was best and respected the office? Absolutely. Do I think he was better than Pres. Lincoln? YES!

Since President Lincoln took office, the Union has been more divided than at any point in the last 50 years. Foreign nations no longer respect us, the Civil War is the bloodiest in history, the Confederacy is advancing unchecked (President Buchanan is at fault for not doing more to oppose secession, but President Lincoln made things worse by appointing incompetent generals and destabilizing Northern Virginia with the ill-advised Peninsular Campaign), and the Emancipation Proclamation has harmed for many families, including mine. He refused to call Northern aggression by its name and says Southerners are intolerant and need to change their beliefs. He has made no similar claims about the North. He's a poor leader, and it shows. I want someone like Buchanan, who brought us together and truly wanted to do what was best for the Union.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Yes. Being originally from Texas I can't help but love the family. Do I think he was a particularly good president? No. Do I think he truly wanted to do what was best and respected the office as he held it with class? Absolutely. Do I believe he was a better president that Pres. Obama? YES

Before anyone asks I am not pro-Patriot Act or NSA, nor do I in any way shape or form support Jeb Bush in 2016...

How is he better than Obama?

Obama extended literally everything Bush did, added Obamacare, more debt, and more divisions.

Not quite true, but he's not the non-interventionist that Ron Paul would have been.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Yes. Do I think he was a particularly good president? No. Do I think he tried to do what was best and respected the office? Absolutely. Do I think he was better than Pres. Lincoln? YES!

Since President Lincoln took office, the Union has been more divided than at any point in the last 50 years. Foreign nations no longer respect us, the Civil War is the bloodiest in history, the Confederacy is advancing unchecked (President Buchanan is at fault for not doing more to oppose secession, but President Lincoln made things worse by appointing incompetent generals and destabilizing Northern Virginia with the ill-advised Peninsular Campaign), and the Emancipation Proclamation has harmed for many families, including mine. He refused to call Northern aggression by its name and says Southerners are intolerant and need to change their beliefs. He has made no similar claims about the North. He's a poor leader, and it shows. I want someone like Buchanan, who brought us together and truly wanted to do what was best for the Union.

^

beautiful

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Yes, because he didn't try as hard to redistribute away my money as Obama is.

[Blair]

Yes. Being originally from Texas I can't help but love the family. Do I think he was a particularly good president? No. Do I think he truly wanted to do what was best and respected the office as he held it with class? Absolutely. Do I believe he was a better president that Pres. Obama? YES

Before anyone asks I am not pro-Patriot Act or NSA, nor do I in any way shape or form support Jeb Bush in 2016...

How is he better than Obama?

He had class. He had strength. He united the nation. Every year under Bush, the President of the United States was ranked the most powerful man in the world by various news sources. Since President Obama took office, the office dropped to number three. We aren't respected, the recovery was the slowest in history, foreign nations don't respect us, ISIS is rampant (at the fail of Pres. Bush for going in, but Pres. Obama for funding rebels and destabilizing the reason with a swift, ill advised withdraw), and Obamacare is hurting families, mine included in particular. He refuses to call Islamic extremism by its name and says Christians are intolerant and need to change our religion. He made no similar claims to Islam or Judaism.  He's a poor leader, and it shows daily. I want someone like Bush, who brought us together as a nation and a firm figurehead and truly wanted to do what was best for our nation. That's my rant.

I forgot we rank leaders' on vague qualities like class- you're telling me Obama doesn't have class?

Oh so the President was ranked powerfully? Hence why countries like France, Germany and Italy followed him into Iraq in 2003?

This myth that the US was respected is complete and utter stupidity. Even in the UK, the country that went into Iraq the US, and in turn Bush became hated (99% of the Labour party wanted Kerry to win in 2004)

 The myth that the US was respected is just wrong-Bush pulled out of Kyoto, pulled out of the ABM treaty and unilaterally invaded Iraq. That's not respected abroad-hence why Obama got such big crowds when visiting Europe.

The slowest recovery? Yeah the slowest since 1929 because well it was the biggest crash since 1929! Let's look at the economy since (I love how the GOP have to use the most obscure phrases/figures to claim Obama has crashed it) Unemployment? Down. Gas Prices? Down. Stock Market? Up. Auto Industry? Saved. US Economy? Turned around. Obama was given the absolute worse economy since FDR, and has managed to turn it around

Obama's Withdrawal? You mean the one Bush signed in 2008? No mention of the fact that the 5,000 US troops left in Iraq would have made little difference IMO, as ISIS sprung up from the fighting in Syria which in turn came from the Arab Spring in 2011. Sure Obama could have done more earlier on, but that's true of every President from Bush to Truman.

Obamacare Hurting families?
You mean the 30 million Americans who were insured? The 57% more people covered who couldn't get insurance before? Along with the expansion in Medicare, and extra protections for patients. You try reforming America's awful healthcare system, and of course there's going to be bumps, of course you're gonna have issues but isn't it better than what you had before. People with pre-existing conditions couldn't get coverage.

Bush brought us together?

So the gay couple wanting to marry where brought together by Bush? The family hit by Hurricane Katrina were brought together? The idea of Bush 'brought' the nation only comes from the fact that 9/11 happened-other than that Bush's first term was rather tepid until then. He brought the nation together after 9/11-then what? Obama getting elected as the anti-war, progressive in 2008 shows that if anything people wanted the opposite

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Yes, because he didn't try as hard to redistribute away my money as Obama is.

instead he distributed it ... into an empty hole in Iraq.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Sometimes, I wish we would have had a Jeb & Clinton race. The country is still polarized 51/49 Dem whichever GOPer. GoP is a CO away from presidency.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Yes, because he didn't try as hard to redistribute away my money as Obama is.

instead he distributed it ... into an empty hole in Iraq.

*sigh* 'tis true...