Your opinion.. Bush: Incompetent or Devious Opportunist

[Fire Walk With Me]

Some say that this is the worst administration in our history. In regard to the needs of the people, this is true, but is it because the administration is clueless, or as I'm convinced, simply engaging in the fattening of corporate tills?

[Ready4Change]

1. Yes.

Sorry, was that supposed to be an either/or question? Because to me, he is both.

[rfranklin]

3. Definitely a sophisticated combination of both...

But can you be considered incompetent if failure is the desired result?

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Bush's own motivation are irrelevant, he is a marionette of the ruling

elite

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. I am inclined to agree

with this view. But I think he sure gets a lotta nice puppet perks.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Two, two shortcomings in one

Kind of a SpiRiTuaL mYsterY.

He's a devious opportunist and incompetent.

[driver8]

5. I think it is a little bit of both...

They are definitely fattening corporate tills -- that is a no brainer. As far as being clueless, they definitely are that, too. Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice...they have really fucked things up with their arrogance and ignorance.

[Amonester]

6. Bush: Incompetent AND Devious Opportunist

AND Idiot Bully
AND War Criminal


Obviously, a clueless, spoiled child, IMHO.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Evil people looked at him and saw a perfect vessel for their plans.

He was their match in evilness, but was too stupid to be able to doublecross them or be able to take control of their plans. He was dumb enough to think he was as smart as they were, and evil enough to do their bidding because he was interested in the same evil results.

[melody]

9. the two aren't mutually exclusive

I opt for "both".

[RoyGBiv]

10. Both ...

I've wanted to bring this up in several threads today for some reason, and you've provided me with the perfect opportunity to do so without changing the subject.

Questioning whether Bush is an opportunist or incompetent is a false dichotomy. He's both at different times depending on his priorities. As you say, the priority of this administration is, on one level, "fattening the corporate tills," but also dismantling the government we've had since the 1940's. He and his cronies have been very good at that, but this also leads to the discussion of incompetence.

Shrub and company don't want government to be efficient at handling domestic issues at all. They don't want a government that is diplomatic. They don't want to be able to compromise, show compassion, or aid anyone other than those they see as the elite. Naturally, when Shrub's position calls on him to be or do those things, he's bad at it, even if he tries.

I've personally worked for managers who were brilliant at achieving their personal goals, i.e. self-advancement and making the company look good long enough for them to get paid. At the same time, these managers couldn't handle a genuine crisis with a gun put to their head. They were, in other words, very bad managers, one might say incompetent, but they were good at what they *wanted* to do.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. So it's all agenda and intent (through action and inaction)?

Meaning that even the things they fuck up through not caring and paying appropriate attention, are intentional?

That's my take. They honestly don't "get" regular people and we'll always suffer like numbers under their type.

We are cheap labor, they are the company store.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. devious opportunist AND incompetent dry drunk on drugs

with a personality disorder, if truth be told. He is no dummy - no matter how much I dislike him, we have to recognize the truth - he got elected and reelected. despite mangling the language, despite being a shit and despite being one crazy-assed piece of shit, HE STILL IS PRESIDENT.
That means something. Including the fact that he collected a group of supporters to get him there that will cut throats to stay in power.

Our biggest danger in personalizing Bush as the only problem. IS he the major part of it? sure. But is he the ONLY problem, no, not by a far shot.

[Usrename]

12. Bannishment to the Hague - he has no strategic intelligence value.

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. Think of Kevin Kline...

...in 'A Fish Called Wanda'.

Perfectly possible to be both.

[C_U_L8R]

14. Just because he plays a dumb hick on TV

doesn't mean that he isn't one shrewd fucker
who wouldn't hesitate at ANYTHING to
achieve his personal and political goals.
You don't rise to his level of power by being
somebody's puppet. Don't underestimate the chimp.
He bites.

[applegrove]

15. Bush is the puppet. He hasn't got a clue. He doesn't read newspapers,

read books or watch the news. They fill his brain with whatever they want. It is the people around him. They are the monsters. Bush is just the puppet they work through.

[rasputin1952]

17. Conceived from satan's loins...the guy is just downright stupid and

evil...:puke:

[hardrainfallin]

18. bush is a cockroach, surrounded by cockroaches

they have turned the wh into a cockroach hotel

it is a combination of nefarious nepotistic greed
absolute moral degeneracy
utter incompetence, idiocy and insanity
mental illness, drug addiction and alcoholism

toxic cesspool politics


i hope someday we can force them to liquidate their accounts (all the bush family accts, all the cheney-halliburton accts...) and return these funds to the US treasury under new leadership