A sincere request for input

[Orrex]

A friend who isn’t of a particularly political mind asked me yesterday to identify one good thing that Bush can call his legacy. My friend voted Democrat in the last three elections, so it’s not as though he’s stumping for Bush, and the question was asked in good faith.

I disclaimed that I am ill-qualified to advocate for Dubya’s good name, and then I had to confess that I really couldn’t recall a single “good” thing resulting from this administration. All I could think of are the countless giveaways to huge corporate interests and the innumerable attacks, small and large, upon our civil liberties. But surely there must be one good thing, right?

After struggling for a few minutes, I suggested that Dubya’s actions in the days following 9/11 were arguably his strongest Presidential moment. Granted, his actions on the day were pitiful and cowardly, and since it’s fairly clear that he knew the attack was imminent, his posturing heroism after the fact becomes a hideous farce with the benefit of hindsight, but I was desperate to come up with something! Also, it must be admitted that pretty much anybody wearing the President hat would have acted more or less the same, standing atop the rubble and heralding a new era of unity and solidarity, so even this one pseudo-bright spot can’t be held in Dubya’s favor.

So, can anyone identify one good thing that Dubya can name as his legacy? I sure can’t…

[havocmom]

1. No

even his dog hates him

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. .

[MichiganVote]

3. Exactly what did W do after 911 that gov't hires did not do as a part

of whatever protocols were in place. I really don't recall any stunning action on his part that distinguished him. It seemed to me that it was average americans and employees who did the "doing". I recall his rousing speech a week later, did he write it? Not hardly.

He might just as well have stayed in that classroom reading about the goat he is.

[Orrex]

10. Keep in mind

that I was struggling to come up with something nice to say about Whistle Ass, and that's all I could think of.

As I mentioned, he did exactly what any President would have done, and exactly what countless anonymous civilians did do. However, I think that in those fragile days following the event, many people had an expectation of what Our Fearless Leader should do, and so (for those people) Bush did exactly that.

You and I and everyone here can recognize him for the spoiled brat poser that he is, of course.

[MichiganVote]

18. He abandoned his people for hours after 911. That is not what

every president has done or "would do". He did less than countless anonymous civilians, he hid, while we all wondered what the hell was going on and what was likely to happen. There were parents of children who were terrified that day and removed their children from school to keep them close lest more bombings occur. Hours went by, and that idiot said absolutely nothing to his people to allay their fear. I've seen 5 year olds lead a better playground campign than that.

In the months and years that followed, that son of a bitch held his little private meetings with his "base", excluding millions of people who counted on him that day to rise up and say what should have been said, "I am here, I am alive, I am working on your security even before my own.'

I see little reason to waste time trying to count on this chef for a meal when you know you're going to be hungry b/c he's left you hungry over and over again.

The issue is one of respect. I don't respect this jackass precisely b/c he lacks any respect for me and you and all the people who comprise his "base". He is an angry, insecure, authority driven male without an ounce of compassion for others.

[displacedtexan]

4. Playing the Pollyanna Glad Game, are we? OK.

I'm glad that George W. Bush's low sperm motility problem saved us from a greater number of offspring.

What a legacy!

[getmeouttahere]

5. Absolutely not....

and I love for conservatives to explain to me what it is that BushCo has done that is good.

[Bluerthanblue]

6. he has shown us

that there ARE worse things than lying to the public about sexual infidelity while in office-

He's shown us, how the American public is actually NOT in control of anything- That money and influence are.

He's shown us how far we have strayed from what we were 'created' to be.

And most importantly-

He's shown us that violence as a response to violence only perpetuates the deadly, downward spiral.

Important lessons all, but at great cost.

[The White Tree]

7. He cleared a lot of brush on his farm in Texas

I'm sure when he sells it in 2009 the new owners will be very appreciative.

Seriously,

Some of the "good" things he has done (unfortunately they all are double edged swords.)

1. What will probably stand as his most effective legacy may be Leave No Child Behind. Unfortunately he never funded it properly so the jury is still out, but he could, if he wanted, correct it. My understanding at the time was that this was a bill with bipartisan support that had noble intentions.

2. He appointed, I beleive, the first black male and first black female Secretary of States in US History. Again while I don't think the second choice is a worthwhile candidate for the position and was tremendously disappointed with the effectivenss of the first, the act of naming them in and of itself at least has that positive value of breaking that stigma.

3. Nicholas Kristof of the NYTimes frequently points out that Bush has provided more money in aid to Africa then any other president. Unfortunately, there are many caveates to it and it falls far short of actually making the substantial differance that we can make. But still, it is better then nothing.

These will likely be his real effective legacy - not really much.

I don't tend to give him much credit for 9/11. I think the country rallied around him and not the other way around. His highwater mark there was the speach he gave at the site. Everything was downhill from then on.

For example if the roles had been reversed and Al Gore was president, I don't think republicans would have given him an inch and may have tried to immediately have him impeached (especially if Leiberman was VP).

[Orrex]

11. Thank you--that's a good, well-reasoned answer. (eom)

[getmeouttahere]

16. Don't mean to debunk a fellow DUer, but I have to...

No Child Left Behind will be looked at as an abject failure in the future, and not just because BushCo underfunded it - I worked for an educational publisher for 10 years, and I could not find one teacher or administrator who thought that any good would come out of it, except maybe developing really good multiple choice test-takers.

All BushCo's other appointments, particularly not replacing a female SC judge with another female, obliterate his appointment of Powell and Rice.

The caveates for aid to Africa, like, for example, abstinence-only education, do more harm than good and obliterate the good the additional aid might do. Besides, the aid agency where I sponsor a child in Cameroon says my $24 a month does a tremendous amount of good for her community...so what happens to that $50 billion that BushCo and Blair pledged? Really makes you wonder.

[The White Tree]

17. No problem - it's just an opinion - and you make good points.

You are probably right about NCLB, but as I said, it was a bipartisan bill/act, so I'm not sure it's failure from the get go is all Bush's fault - so in that sense the good intentions are valid.

Likewise on numbers 2 and 3 - I'm not putting the guy up for sainthood - the pickings are extremely thin. As such I think there is some merit in these 3 things at the very least for their good intentions. Time would tell.

To be honest, I am not sure it will matter anyway, for the time being the far right will always view him as the savior of the country (my hyperbole for brevity) and we will know him for the disatster that he really is. So his actual legacy, like Reagans will probably be obscured long past our lifetimes.

Thanks for the comments. :toast:

[MichiganVote]

19. NCLB is not an effective program. It is a data driven program;

meaning that so far all it is doing to developing data that is derived from mandates that are almost impossible for schools to follow.

Do you think it is reasonable for some high functioning retarded children to have to take the same tests as non developmentally delayed students? Well, because of NCLB schools are forced to choose to do this. And that is only one of the many, many items in this bill that defies logic. Neither this Congress or this president worked with schools to put their ideas to the test.

NCLB is the precursor to vouchers for all students, including those who attend private religious institutions. God forbid their little darlings go to school with poor children, children with single parents, multi-ethnic or multi racial children.

Changes in education are needed. NCLB approaches the education of students with a sledgehammer. It is not now and will not be an effective program. They'll spin it so that it appears to be but consider this, if they thought it was going to be effective they would have fully funded it.

[AverageJoe]

8. Well, he hasn't actually

manifested horns and a tail and eaten the entrails of babies on the White House lawn yet. I guess that's a good thing. Of course, I wouldn't lay any money against him doing this soon; so if you're going to use this as your example, I'd use it pretty fast.

I'm sorry to say that I can't think of anything else good to say about the Treason Monkey. :shrug:

[dsc]

9. He took up for not attacking American Arabs after 9/11

He took some federal steps to make adoption easier and less costly. Naming AA to Sec of State is important. Too bad he didn't listen to the first one. I can't think of much else though. One AA friend mentioned an AA history museam which he funded as part of the Smithsonian. I don't know much about that though.

[Orrex]

13. Thanks--I was totally unaware of these adoption measures (eom)

[Yupster]

24. Here's a couple

Signed the Do Not Call List Bill into law.

Created the 10 % income tax bracket out of the 15 % bracket.

[mmonk]

12. Is this a trick question?

(sorry, this is how I answer all such questions). I'm sure there is something, it's just not coming to mind yet. Maybe taking out the training camp in Afghanistan?

[Orrex]

14. Heh. I understand your suspicion, but the question really is sincere.

Another bright spot for his legacy is the fact that he hasn't personally vivisected any prisoners at Gitmo or Abu Ghraib, at least according to most accounts.

[lynettebro440]

15. He allowed a nobody to become a reporter

Jeff Gannon got a job as a reporter by graduating from being Bush's boy sex toy to becoming a real live reporter. That's something isn't it? :sarcasm:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

20. it would be folly to try!

[Wizard777]

21. The democrats are reactionary!

Okay we are being viciously attacked by the Republicans and we just won't just sit around reading My Pet Goat. We react to the attacks. That's all you can do when you haven't been sent the talking point before the attack. I think Rove personally selected that book. I guess he couldn't find My Pet Chimp and Bedtime for Bonzo has already been done. I think it's time for an encore performance. LMAO

[chieftain]

22. I'll tell you the one thing that he did that has bought him

a lot of good will with the American people that he has finally begun to piss away .That is the invasion of Afghanistan and the unseating of the Taliban. He blew everything before and after but that one action convinced a large part of the population that he would do what was necessary to protect the US. Any rational analysis would give the lie to this but when people are afraid, rationality sometimes takes a back seat to lashing out at enemies real and perceived.The Democrats will have to convince the electorate that they believe there are people out there who were willing to die to get us to change our policies and that we are up to dealing with them not only through diplomacy but also the effective use of military force where necessary.

[aspberger]

23. He was a Texas-style real life Arthur

who renounced booze to then later be president. Rich republicans with family money and drinking problems can be encouraged.