5 myths about George W. Bush

[alp227]

Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, is the editor of "The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment."

Zelizer breaks down what he considers these misconceptions about Bush:
1. George W. Bush was an uninformed Texas cowboy.
2. "Compassionate conservatism" was just a campaign slogan.
3. Bush committed America to nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. Dick Cheney ran the Bush White House.
5. Bush left conservatism in ruins.

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110305993.html

[bbinacan]

1. Interesting article n/t

[RZM]

2. I agree with a couple of these

And I'm kind of agnostic about a few others.

I totally agree about number 2. Bush wasn't somebody who lost his cool a whole lot, but you could tell he was really hot under the collar when the racism accusations started flying after Katrina. I think he was genuinely upset about that and we seem to have confirmation now since he's apparently still mad about it. Number 2 is interesting compared with number 5 as well, since Bush's interest in diversifying the Republican party have gone nowhere. He and his fellow Texan Karl Rove apparently really thought that they could turn Hispanics into good Republicans. It's not happening.

I never bought the Cheney in control stuff either. Not that I had any inside information, but it just didn't make sense to me. Cheney obviously was in there for policy reasons (often the running mate is there for vote-getting, if in an indirect way), but I never really bought the idea that Bush would allow himself to be controlled that way. It'll be fun to see the information trickle out over the years and see how it jibes with what people were saying at the time.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. Mr. Zelizer didn't demolish the following "myths" about Bush -

at least not to my satisfaction.

1. Like his mother, W carries a grudge - for as long as it takes.
2. Rove was his "eminence grise."
3. W deliberately began two disastrous wars. The first was a sort of bonus dry run for the one he had in mind all along.
4. W believes that God speaks directly to him and will never admit to making a mistake.
5. W is a shallow, self-indulgent, selfish, intellectually incurious and lazy man who should never - ever - have been allowed near the US Presidency.

Dick Cheney may not have "run the WH" - but he was responsible, among other things, for a) creating the unit to generate lies to justify the invasion of Iraq; b) outing Valerie Plame, i.e., committing treason; c) Rumsfeld's policies of outsourcing military functions to contractors like Blackwater; and d) pushing for creation of the prison at Guantanamo and the approval of torture generally, even though Bush signed the orders. Bush gave Cheney carte blanche in those areas, so long as he got what he wanted, which was the invasion of Iraq.

But it was clearly Rove who was much more interested in domestic policy favoring Republicans generally than Cheney ever was, and who was behind the firing of the federal prosecutors. And Bush gave Rove carte blanche to "stack" employees throughout the civil service, especially the DOJ. At least, Cheney was an elected official. Rove never was but he knew enough dirty shenanigans to keep getting Republicans elected.

I still believe that all three deserve to be behind bars for the rest of their lives. That would not even begin to make up for the harms they have brought to the world and us all.

[Enthusiast]

7. PLUS ONE! nt

[Raster]

4. So the whitewashing of George W. Bush* continues in earnest...

...and Julian E. Zelizer goes for the reach-around.

Five more Myths about George W. Bush* debunked by Raster:

1. George W. Bush* lawfully served all of his commitment to the Texas Air National Guard. FALSE! George W. Bush*, was assigned to the Texas Air National Guard, the "Champagne Squadron," over other applicants in line because of his father's political connections in a blatant attempt to keep Bush* out of the draft and Viet Nam. While assigned to the TANG, Bush* essentially stopped showing up for meetings, did not complete required physical examinations and basically went AWOL for the last two years of his assigned service.
2. George W. Bush* was a successful Texas oilman and businessman. Completely FALSE. Bush* failed at every business venture he laid his hands on. He career as an "oilman" yielded at least three failed attempts resulting in dry holes. <insert Barbara Bush joke here>
3. George W. Bush* was the owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. FALSE. Bush* owned at most 2%, but received a $12.4 million dollar bonus from the consortium that actually did own the Rangers when they were able to sell the Team at a profit primarily because of the clout and legal preferential treatment the Bush* name and family relationships provided.
4. George W. Bush* was an effective governor of the State of Texas. FALSE. The office of governor of Texas is more ceremonial, with much of the actual power for day-to-day governance resting with the Lieutenant Governor. The only thing Bush* did "great" as governor of Texas was execute more prisoners on death row.
5. George W. Bush* was legally and lawfully elected President of the United States. Absolutely FALSE. The Independent News Consortium proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that if all the votes had been fairly counted, Albert Gore was the clear and undisputed winner.
   
   Here you go, Julian. Five more "myths" for your "Assessment."

[Number_Six]

9. Even more interesting....

Greg Palast ran a story on BBC about how Bushie couldn't fly a fart out his ass, let alone an F-106. Nobody said a damned thing. CBS ran a similar story and Danny got fired over it.

Myths, indeed!

[Raster]

10. As far as The Machine was concerned, Palast was already marginalized and...

...relegated to "conspiracy theorist" status. Rather, however, had guaranteed national exposure and CBS News reputation. He was dangerous.

[The Wizard]

5. Try as they may

polishing a turd is not possible.

[That Guy 888]

6. Hmm... Seems like a setup for false equivalency

As in "People disagree about * , and both sides have some legitimate points."

How else can j.e.b. run for President and p continue the bush legacy of effing upwards?

[Raster]

8. Exactly. Methinks there is more at work than just a scholarly tome about the....

...Bush* administration. I lived in Texas from 1981 to 1996. I knew of and followed the "career" of George W. Bush* long before he showed up on national rethuglican radar. I remember the period of "sanitization." Books were burned, people were killed, records were destroyed, and then the fawning, butt-kissing media slithered in to sing the praises of all things Bush*. It's happening again. Only this time, I fear, the benefactor is j.e.b. And unfortunately, j.e.b. is not a village idiot. Far from it. And he is a true believer and card-carrying member of the PNAC. And like most in their family, somewhat of a sociopath. Not good.

[Chemical Bill]

11. Chemical Bill breaks down these misconceptions about Bush:

1. George W. Bush was an uninformed Texas cowboy.
He is from Connecticut.
2. "Compassionate conservatism" was just a campaign slogan.
It is also an oxymoron.
3. Bush committed America to nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush committed America to military base building in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. Dick Cheney ran the Bush White House.
Wall Street ran the Bush White House.
5. Bush left conservatism in ruins.
Bush left America in ruins.

Bill

[bemildred]

12. Props.

:thumbsup: