Most see Bush presidency as a failure, poll shows

Thats right everyone, jump on the Bush Bashing Bandwagon. Thats what the one safe thing to do is right now. There are things that he implemented that I wish he didn't do, but he is a man with values, and has my respect. Moral people in an immoral world are always hated. I was brought to this website because I was so disgusted with what was being played on the "current" tv channel, I came here out of curiosity to see what they stood for, and in turn found this thread full of whiners. I see lots of posts hoping that drugs are legalized and all other sorts of nonsense. Peope need to quit putting so much emphasis on the power of the President.
Bush didn't "ruin" things, and Obama won't "fix" things.
I wish I could have been there when Obama was getting his security breifings....he probably had his eyes opened wide as to why Bush had to do certain things. It will also be interesting to see how he's perceived once the media honeymoon is over.

As far as his approval ratings..remember,even with the attempt at making McCain into Bush the sequel, 58.3 million voters were fine with that.. Continue hating him if it makes you feel better.

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Yes, there has been a downward trend.

Tragedies don't actively leave legacies, but rather legacies are created out of their ashes. And this is the context – the only context – in which we must think about the legacy of blessedly exiting administration of George W Bush.

Am I being unfair? Is there not even one positive thing to say? OK. It was nice the other day, in fact quite nice, that Bush announced new protections for 195,280 square miles of American-controlled Pacific islands, reefs, surface waters and sea floor. That was well done. Bully.
But the world the Bushies tried to create – the legacy, that is, they attempted to leave has virtually nothing to recommend it. Even they know it. Vice-President Dick Cheney, in an exit interview with one of the last remaining friendly media outlets in the US (the Reverend Moon-owned Washington Times), said: "I'm personally persuaded that this president and this administration will look very good 20 or 30 years down the road in light of what we've been able to accomplish."

Now, let's parse why he said that. He knew he couldn't say with a straight face: "We've been incredibly successful and leave office with our heads held high." Even the man who said in May 2005 that the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes" couldn't pull that one off. At the same time, Cheney and other defenders can't say: "Well, we blew it, we screwed a lot of things up." The admission would be refreshing of course, but it isn't done.

So they are left with this stab in the dark. Bush's defenders surely know that even this scenario is bloody unlikely. But, you know, it could happen. So it's worth putting the spin on the record, just in case it does.

A list of grievances from the likes of me would be, I confess, a bit predictable and tedious, so there's no point in doing much besides briskly enumerating the lowlights, notorious and somewhat lesser known. The lies about the war. The phony Saddam–al-Qaida link. The use of one of our greatest national tragedy for partisan political purposes. The smearing of political opponents as unpatriotic. And in the face of all that, the temerity to botch of the prosecution of the war.

The corruption of the justice department. The torture, the waterboarding, Abu Ghraib. The domestic surveillance of only God yet knows who and what. Guantánamo. The intimidation of scientists, the doctoring of governmental reports on global warming. The utter inaction, also, on global warming. The utter inaction on healthcare. The utter inaction on the economy. The utter indifference – no, hostility – to any regulation of the mortgage market.

From a universally respected combat journalist, a gripping history based on five years of front-line reporting about how the war was turned around–and the choice now facing America

During the fierce battle for Fallujah, Bing West asked an Iraqi colonel why the archterrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had fled in women’s clothes. The colonel pointed to a Marine patrol walking by and said, “Americans are the strongest tribe.”

In Iraq, America made mistake after mistake. Many gave up on the war. Then the war took a sharp U-turn. Two generals–David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno–displayed the leadership America expected. Bringing the reader from the White House to the fighting in the streets, this remarkable narrative explains the turnaround by U.S. forces.

In the course of fourteen extended trips over five years, West embedded with more than sixty front-line units, discussing strategy with generals and tactics with corporals. He provides an expert’s account of counterinsurgency, disposing of myths. By describing the characters and combat in city after city, West gives the reader an in-depth understanding that will inform the debate about the war. This is the definitive study of how American soldiers actually fought –a gripping and visceral book that changes the way we think about the war, and essential reading for understanding the next critical steps to be taken.

Praise for The Strongest Tribe:

"Balanced, panoramic assessment of the Iraq War by former Marine and Reagan administration veteran West (No True Glory, 2005, etc.), who heralds American soldiers as its unsungheroes amid the “fog of Washington”. . .A timely, eye-opening historical analysis that provides clarity around the difficult choices the next president faces."
--Kirkus (starred review)

The number is shocking and sobering.
It is at least 10 times greater than most estimates cited in the US media, yet it is based on a scientific study of violent Iraqi deaths caused by the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003.
That study, published in prestigious medical journal The Lancet, estimated that over 600,000 Iraqis had been killed as a result of the invasion as of July 2006. Iraqis have continued to be killed since then. The graphic above provides a rough daily update of this number based on a rate of increase derived from the Iraq Body Count. (See the complete explanation.)
The estimate that over a million Iraqis have died received independent confirmation from a prestigious British polling agency in September 2007. Opinion Research Business estimated that 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed violently since the US-led invasion.
This devastating human toll demands greater recognition. It eclipses the Rwandan genocide and our leaders are directly responsible. Little wonder they do not publicly cite it. Here is simple HTML code to post the counter to your website and help spread the word.
ACTION YOU CAN TAKE RIGHT NOW
Sign the petition telling Congress that about a million Iraqis have likely been killed and urging them to end this war now. A large number of signatures on this and other petitions is a compelling way to keep pressure on Congress as there are more votes on the war. Add your name»

That picture would be funny if he wasn't responsible for so many deaths.

===
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,307,319"
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
===
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq 4,226
http://icasualties.org/oif/
The War And Occupation Of Iraq Costs
$588,845,244,588
See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

good bye little monkey-boy

Why George W. Bush ignored the sage advice of his father, George H.W. Bush, and took America into war.
How Bush was convinced he was doing God's will.
How Vice President Dick Cheney manipulated George W. Bush, disabled his enemies within the administration, and relentlessly pressed for an attack on Iraq.
Which veteran government official, with the assent of the president's father, protested passionately that the Bush administration was making a catastrophic mistake -- and was ignored.
How information from forged documents that had already been discredited fourteen times by various intelligence agencies found its way into President Bush's State of the Union address in which he made the case for war with Iraq.
How Cheney and the neocons assembled a shadow national security apparatus and created a disinformationpipeline to mislead America and start the war.

Provocative, timely, and disturbing, The Fall of the House of Bush stands as the most comprehensive and dramatic account of how and why George W. Bush took America to war in Iraq.

Newsbreaking and controversial -- an award-winninginvestigative journalist uncovers the thirty-year relationshipbetween the Bush family and the House of Saud andexplains its impact on American foreign policy, business,and national security.
House of Bush, House of Saud begins with a politicallyexplosive question: How is it that two days after 9/11,when U.S. air traffic was tightly restricted, 140 Saudis,many immediate kin to Osama Bin Laden, were permitted toleave the country without being questioned by U.S. intelligence?
The answer lies in a hidden relationship that began in the1970s, when the oil-rich House of Saud began courtingAmerican politicians in a bid for military protection, influence,and investment opportunity. With the Bush family, the Saudishit a gusher -- direct access to presidents Reagan, George H.W.Bush, and George W. Bush. To trace the amazing weave of Saud-Bush connections, Unger interviewed three former directors ofthe CIA, top Saudi and Israeli intelligence officials, and morethan one hundred other sources. His access to major players isunparalleled and often exclusive -- including executives at theCarlyle Group, the giant investment firm where the House ofBush and the House of Saud each has a major stake.

Unger's book offers a politicalcounter-narrative to official explanations; this deeply sourcedaccount has already been cited by Senators Hillary RodhamClinton and Charles Schumer, and sets 9/11, the two Gulf Wars,and the ongoing Middle East crisis in a new context:Whatreally happened when America's most powerful political familybecame seduced by its Saudi counterparts?

Democracy. Widget48..........he took democracy to Iraq. What a way to degrade the very word DEMOCRACY.

You need to read this Robert Fisk book and then you will understand,

Vincent Bugliosi is the only American true crime author who has written three New York Times bestsellers. His record as a lawyer is even more impressive: In his career at the L.A. County District Attorney's office, he successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony jury trials, including all 21 homicide cases. In The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, he tackles his most challenging case yet. This controversial book presents a searing legal indictment against the 43rd president of the United States, arguing that he must be held accountable for crimes related to the Iraq War. Meticulously researched and volatile.

Farewell, George, you were awesome yourself
President Bush will be remembered for the damage he did not only to America, but the world, writes Joseph O'Connor

Dear George, a little note just to say how much we're all going to miss you. Against a broad range of forces, you and your friends proved fearless adversaries. House owners, people with pensions, the United States car industry -- yes buddy, you ruined them all. You did more to destroy capitalism than Marx and Che Guevara put together. But to comedians you were the gift that just kept on giving. I don't know how they're going to manage without you.

You were adored by the ideologues of the neo-con Right, the kind of forward-thinking, God-fearing Christian folk who see torture as essential for the encouragement of democracy but want to ban Harry Potter novels in case they corrupt our children.

And for your services to the English language, as well as cultural understanding, you surely deserve a Nobel Prize.

In January 2002, you said: "We are working hard to convince both the Indians and the Pakis there's a way to deal with their problems without going to war." (Clearly, you were a great influence on Britain's Prince Harry. Who'd have thought he'd like any party with the word "Republican" in its name?) And speaking about Hurricane Katrina, as the floodwaters rose, you provided inspiring leadership by saying: "The good news is... out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house... there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

Well, George, you're finally heading directly towards that porch. Which probably means you're going to end up in the garage. Most former American presidents have a library named after them. A colouring book seems likelier in your case.

I was in New York last week, the great city in which I once lived, and one night I found myself watching TV. And there you were again, George, like a Guardian Angel. It was an old clip, but I was happy to see it.

You were attending a rally at Kansas University when a student asked your opinion of the movie Brokeback Mountain, a film about the love affair between two cowboys. I hesitate, in this context, to call you a horny-handed son of Texas, but you can see why the student was interested in your reaction, admirer of cowboys that you are.

You met his enquiry with your trademark gape of wrinkled bemusement and your Dastardly and Muttley titter. You hadn't seen it, you said, but you understood that it was about two ranchers, and you would be happy to talk about ranching for ever and a day -- until the cows came home, in fact.

Brokeback Mountain, a film about "ranching"? Was this some new erotic euphemism that had escaped my attention? Were the young people of the world approaching one another in nightclubs and saying: "Any chance of a quick ranching if I buy you a Bacardi?"