The Economist: The Frat Boy Ships Out

[TeamJordan23]

George Bush's legacy

The frat boy ships out
Jan 15th 2009
From The Economist

Few people will mourn the departure of the 43rd president

HE LEAVES the White House as one of the least popular and most divisive presidents in American history. At home, his approval rating has been stuck in the 20s for months; abroad, George Bush has presided over the most catastrophic collapse in America’s reputation since the second world war. The American economy is in deep recession, brought on by a crisis that forced Mr Bush to preside over huge and unpopular bail-outs.

America is embroiled in two wars, one of which Mr Bush launched against the tide of world opinion. The Bush family name, once among the most illustrious in American political life, is now so tainted that Jeb, George’s younger brother, recently decided not to run for the Senate from Florida. A Bush relative describes family gatherings as “funeral wakes”.

Few people would have predicted this litany of disasters when Mr Bush ran for the presidency in 2000. True, the 2000 election was likely to be divisive because of the peculiar arithmetic of the outcome (Mr Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore by 500,000 votes, then won a disputed recount in Florida by a few hundred). But for most people Mr Bush was a pretty acceptable choice, and certainly not a crusader-in-waiting.

He came across as an affable chap, particularly when compared with his uptight rival. Frank Bruni, who covered his election campaign for the New York Times, wrote in 2002 that “the Bush I knew was part scamp and part bumbler, a timeless fraternity boy and heedless cutup, a weekday gym rat and weekend napster.” And the then governor of Texas presented himself as a centrist—a new kind of “compassionate conservative”, a “uniter rather than a divider”, an advocate of a “humble” and restrained foreign policy. The Economist liked this mixture enough to endorse him in 2000.

How did all this change? How did the uniter become a divider? How did Mr Bush’s governing style shape American politics over the next eight years? And what legacy has the 43rd president left for the 44th?

Continue Reading: http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12931660&source=most_recommended

[Skittles]

1. I have to say this

"few people could have predicted this litany of disasters when Bush ran for the presidency in 2000" - when that election happened, I was on vacation in England - people would find out I lived in Texas and they'd ask me what I thought of bush. My standard answer, which I responded repeatedly, was, "He will be your worse nightmare. He will be endless war and a crashed economy." So SOME OF US KNEW.

[mucifer]

2. yeah well I'd expect that fromt the radical left wing rag "the economist"

:sarcasm: :rofl:

[TwilightGardener]

3. I would have predicted the "litany of disasters"--because I saw in 2000

that he was not very bright and nowhere near Presidential material. I still can't believe he got elected.

[otohara]

4. At Least Bush Family Gatherings Are Like Funeral Wakes

in spite of their constant defense of the black-sheep, dimwit - they at least know he's the cause of the demise of the Bush dynasty too and poor Jeb won't ever be President because of GW.

Those Bushes, family first, country second.

[tularetom]

6. Most satisfying sentence in the entire article

Can you envision Babs and Poopy sitting there glaring at the chimp as he knocks back another toddy?

[Submariner]

5. A Bush relative describes family gatherings as “funeral wakes”.

Good. The Bush family are a stain on our country and I'm glad they know it.