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How would you evaluate George W Bush's presidency?

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George W Bush is one of the most maligned presidents in history. The liberal mass media hated him from the start, and comined to brainwash a gullible public into thinking that he was bad, and that nothing he could do was right. People are so fickle. However, there are those of us who still think he did a good job, by and large. We will see what Obama, the "Savior of the Worl" (sic)will do. Methinks there will not be too much change, despite all the rhetoric. Im not American, but I think it is disgusting to hear so-called "educated" academics in Japan, mostly Democrats, belittling a president who has sincerely done his best for his country. They are so narrow minded, yet that is what they accuse Bush of being.

President Bush was mostly maligned because of his faith, and his moral stance regarding abortion and gay "marriage." A total misnomer, if ever there was one.

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George W Bush is one of the most maligned presidents in history. Nearly everyone hates him because of THE WAR IN IRAQ, HURRICANE KATRINA, FAILED CLIMATE POLICY, RECORD BUDGET DEFICITS, TORTURE, ILLEGAL DETENTIONS, PATRIOT ACT, FAILED AFGHAN POLICY, FAILED MIDEAST PEACE POLICY, FAILED NORTH KOREA POLICY, FAILED IRAN POLICY, FAILED PAKISTAN POLICY, NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, FINANCIAL CRISIS, NO HEALTH CARE REFORM, NO IMMIGRATION REFORM, ETC. ETC. ETC.

He's maligned, because he is a terrible president.

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malign (vb): speak about (someone) in a spitefully critical manner

GWB isn't maligned. There is nothing spiteful about the manner in which he is criticised, unless 'spiteful' is a synonym for 'honest and truthful'.

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An imperial presidency of grasping for powers beyond the proper scope of the president -- a grasping characterized by clutching at dubious legal straws.

As for any presidency, the more imperial, the less presidential.

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Maybe sarge or Helter_Skelter or Nippon5 can come on here and try to defend the results. I mean, it's not like only two or three people have voted, 'one of the worst' is double the others combined! (and that's with Helter and co. logging on under different handles and voting several times).

Anyway, adios, bush... clearly, and even on JT, one of the worst presidents of all time.

realist: The misnomer is putting 'president' before the man's name. He was president in NOTHING but title, loser in everything, including the title. The man's face deserves to be on printed paper, so long as it's within hand reach of the toilet bowl, and double-ply.

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Where is the "War criminal" option?

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I voted for "One of the best", but thought it meant in providing material for comedians.

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''...incompetent leader so mindbogglingly stupid that he could single handedly flush the world's greatest nation down the sewer before the populace at large has a chance to notice...''

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I voted "One of the worst" because it was the closest to "The Worst." Don't care if all the Obama rhetoric doesn't come to pass. Even if only 1 percent of it does, it will still out do the dimwit the Americans elected last time.

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It is hard topic to comment, because hardly a president had such a combination of a) unique world political challenge, b) verbal clumsiness and c) pathological hatred from almost the entire media corp.

So, the scale from "one of the best" to "worst" means nothing unless explained to compared to what.

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the scale from "one of the best" to "worst" means nothing unless explained to compared to what.

Compared to previous presidents. It isn't that difficult.

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How many terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001?

Thanks to the Bush administration, zero. This cannot be denied, except by liberals.

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Bush must have been doing something right midway through his eight years in office, being as how he was re-elected by several million popular votes.

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"compared to previous presidents. It isn't that difficult."

True. Look at what we had from 1976 to 1980.

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Sarge, there are no straws left to clutch, and there HAVE been terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 2001. the beltway snipers were connected to muslim terrorist cell.

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WilliB: "So, the scale from "one of the best" to "worst" means nothing unless explained to compared to what."

Ummm... given that it's a request to rate Bush's presidency, it ought to be pretty clear that 'one of', be it 'best' or 'worst' is in comparison with other presidencies. Even bush supporters ought to be able to figure that out.

sarge: Keep tryin', bud... even the numbers on JT reflect American and world-wide thinking of your moron of a president.

"How many terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001?"

Always love this question. Okay, sarge, on whose watch did 9/11 -- the worst terrorist attack on the US in its history -- occur?

I could go on to list all the other ways bush failed his country, his people, and the world, but I'd be up all night and the first hundred pages would only be a start.

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In my opinion he is the worst president we have ever had. he still must be drinking. It affected his ability to run this country like he was suppose to. You can blame the way the economy is today on him because he got us into a war we had no business being in. good luck to the new president elect. I know he will have a level head on his shoulders.

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haha, Sarge that's facetious reasoning. I could make the same claim that some special talisman kept the terrorists at bay. I believe there were other factors involved in keeping terrorists "at bay". And even if Bush's war on terror miraculously managed to keep terrorist from American shores, it proved detrimental to the American people, and the full repercussions are only starting to be felt now.

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*

How many terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001?

Thanks to the Bush administration, zero. This cannot be denied, except by liberals.*

No terrorist attacks = Bush prevented terrorist attacks. This is a very poor null hypothesis. How do you test this?

It's a highly flawed logic. I'm certainly glad there have been no terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11 (although there have been plenty in other parts of the world), but no one can say that the lack of terrorist attacks is due to Bush's policies.

How many foreign acts of terror were there in the U.S. in the eight years prior to 9/11. Also zero. Was that because of Clinton's policies or the myriad of other factors involved?

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Voted "below average." He's bashed more than he deserves and a lot of the things that happened were out of his control, but I definitely wouldn't call it a successful presidency.

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Thanks to the Bush administration, zero. This cannot be denied, except by liberals.

Zero attacks happened since 9/11 (which was during the Bush administration, in case you forgot), but can you prove that any attacks were planned?

I mean prove, with the sort of proof that would hold up in court. I'm waiting to see the proof.

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How many terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001?

The anthrax attacks, for one.

Got an arrest on that one yet? Found Osama bin Laden yet?

Sarge, your ironic humor always makes me chuckle. Not sure how you keep it up.

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"You can blame the way the economy is today on him"

Sure, if you want to deny that the financial crisis was largely caused by liberal-inspired mortgage loans that should never have been made.

"can you prove that any attacks were planned?"

You really believe that the Bush administration's anti-terror efforts have been unnecessary because the terrorists have not planned any more attacks, don't you? Incredible...

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Sarge

How many terrorist attacks on U.S. soil before September 11, 2001? George Walker Bush is the most incompetent, & arrogant peresident in the history. His coutless failures are WMD, Cyclone Kathierina, Sub Prime mortgage, Guatanamo, never ending bail outs for his cronies. He transformed United States into semi socialist nation. He makes US become laughing stock of the world. May be you are last person to defedning that unpopular president. He admitted he was a C grade student during his high school. Thanks God for his term will expire on Jan 19. Sayonaya Bush! He lost his credibility. Once it was lost never get it back.

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I agree with athletes. thank god his term will expire soon. bush id lose his credibility and will never get it back for sure.

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Athletes - "How many terrorist attcks on U.S. soil before September 11, 2001?"

A whole bunch. Look it up.

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Sarge

Athletes - "How many terrorist attcks on U.S. soil before September 11, 2001?"

Almost zero. United States was enjoying the golden age of peace & prosperity during the 1990s. The world is envy about amazing technical prowess & economic success of the states. Information revolution has benefited not only states, all human kinds. Like you & I am communicating with keyboards. Media was more interested in Clition Cigars & strained coat. Clition lied no one died. Bush lied millions died & injured. Before his term, everything was going well in the land of the opportunities. Bush made US broke & losing international standing. Shame on u Bush! Thanks God for you are going soon. Enjoy in your Texas Ranch!

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A whole bunch. Look it up.

usual response I see. ok then, how about GWB was rubbish...look it up

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George W. Bush will go down in history as the president who made unpopular decisions resulting in the awful Taliban getting kicked out of power in Afghanistan, and the awful Saddam Hussein brought to justice and a freely elected government in Iraq.

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Atheletes You have been fooled, hoodwinked, and cajoled into thinking George. W. Bush is an absolutely incompetent president; however, most of the examples you provide do not support your case.

Arrogant? On what do you base this? Because he does not base his decisions on a psychological need for approval from Americans and foreign countries? Because he made the hard, unpopular decisions base on what is right, not what is politically expediant? It's called leadership; something the U.S. was severly lacking.

WMD? Information said Iraq had them; and you know what, they did (and had used them in the past). The whole think about missing "WMD" was bogus, because the other 17 POINTS of the UN athorization (which he should not have even sought) are ALWAYS totally ignored. Bush had a moral obligation to act. He did not start the war; he finished it. What we are now doing in Iraq should be called "peacekeeping" or a "humanatarian mission". Hurricane (not Cyclone) Katrina exposed Lousiana's unpreparedness and (Democratic) corruption. It had nothing to do with Bush. Sub-Prime Morgage, partially a result of idiotic (anti-redlining, etc.) laws pushed by Democrats. The same people who got us into this mess are in charge of fixing the system. Do you actually think this was not planned in advance as a way for the ONE (or more accurately, his controllers)to "change" the U.S.? Yes, blame Bush while the Democrats cause the problem, "fix" it, and assume total control. All while fleecing us blind. (Like Bwaney Frank's former "lover"). Guantanamo - What's the problem? Moral masterbation will not protect us from terrorist attacks; Gitmo has. Bail-outs for cronies? I do disagree with all bailouts; to which cronies are you referring? Semi-socialist nation? True, but we were already that and all the Democrat alternatives are much, much worse. The Kenyan Guy (you mentioned arrogance?) wants to turn us into a full-fledged socialist state. The problem with Bush is that he was not a true conservative, but those on this forum who attack him attack him for being TOO conservative. I'd rather be the laughing stock of the world than be like them.

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George W. Bush will go down in history as the president who made unpopular decisions resulting in the awful Taliban getting kicked out of power in Afghanistan, and the awful Saddam Hussein brought to justice and a freely elected government in Iraq.

That's true. And he will also be remembered as having done nothing for the American people, and that had something to do with why he was unpopular.

Real conservatives believe in America and focus on it.

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"can you prove that any attacks were planned?"

You really believe that the Bush administration's anti-terror efforts have been unnecessary because the terrorists have not planned any more attacks, don't you? Incredible...

It's a yes/no question. Give a yes or no answer.

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"I could make the same claim that some special talisman kept the terrorists at bay."

In fact, isn't Bush also keeping wild tigers away? Or was that putting a banana in your ear?

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Dubya

You name like a George W Bush nick name. It is interesting. You said Bush is not arrogant. Did u remember his state of union address? " The course of nation not depending on others" That's right! When he need the bills for war, he begged other nations for charity. It was so embrassing. He said "Bring em on". When he was young he was a draft dogger & AWOL.

Like a Daddy Bush, He is economically stupid. He followed Reganomic economic theory. According the Reganomic, "Market has own magic. Let 's the market wild. Government has to shut up. God will rain the prosperity from heaven". It was a fairy tale now. Wall street has lost credibilty & investors confidence. He spent the public moneny like no more tomorrows. Congress has bailed out for his wasteful misadvantures. He also allowed permenanent tax cuts for super rich. Some are his cronies too. Over spending & unrealistic budget policy are part of the problems for credit crunch. US has both budget & trade deficits. Easy way was selling treasury bonds for the finance. It is no longer sustainable.

Sub Prime morgage was a Democrats experiment. Without Republicans support & implementation it will not become legislation. After all Reps controlled the three levels of government at that time. Legislation became law by the majority of votes.

He is ideological & conservative now. When he was young he was fined for drink driving. He against the abortion now. When he was young, he helped abortion for someone he hooked up. He is very green for energy efficient cars now. Before he was anti green. He said no child left behind. There are plenty of disadvantaged. He is a flip flop.

Hurricane Katherina response was very slow & he even made some jokes about the Hurrican at that time. Citizens without cars drowned becacuse of his carelessness. Reconstruction projects were biased & awarded to his cronies again. Incompetent & corrupted projects are still no where to go. There was nothing rosy during his term. Doom & Gloom only. Thanks God for sending him Taxas soon.

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Bush protected us from terrorism?!?! Except on the one day it mattered!

1/2001, Richard Clarke warns of terrorist threat in memo to Condoleeza Rice. Is ignored, marginalized.

5/2001, Hart-Rudman report warns America must take immediate action to deal with terrorist threat.

During this time, John Ashcroft shifts DOJ budget from anti-terror to anti-drug.

7/2001, CIA chief George Tenet warns Condoleeza Rice and other top administration officials of terrorist threat.

8/2001, The Presidential Daily Brief entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US" details terrorist plans to attack us using airplanes, it's ignored.

9/11/2001, "My Pet Goat".. good readin'!

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+1 point for Bush, he ousted Saddam Hussain from Iraq -1 point for Bush, he never caught Osama bin Laden, nor has he effectively (that being the key word here) their terrorist network. -1 point for Bush, Instead he has made us aware of terrorism, and created large amounts of propaganda showing how he could stop something that was more complex than brute military force could solve. He then continued to throw large amounts of dollars to have that same military act on his (maybe Halliburton's?) whim? -1 point for Bush. He established prisoner camps at Guantanamo Bay, which torture prisoners, and lowered Americans to the very level of the terrorists they were trying to catch.

1 point for Bush. He has racked up astronomical military costs in Iraq, which not only did not contain WMD, but were not related to the 9/11 attacks. Meanwhile Afghanistan remained a secondary military venture, even though it is a training ground for al Qeada insurgents.

As America's head of state, I think one can assert that at least 1/3 of the blame can be placed on this man. Lets not forget his ability to institute some of the crappiest Justices of the Supreme Court in a long while. I will give Bush his credit, he finished his dad's business, but that's about all he did, besides bumble through his speeches to the public. Sorry, dubya and sarge, regardless of your opinion, the majority of the people in America and the world are wanting to forget this abysmal period in history (with the exception of those that made pockets of cash during his rule). Glad to see the back of him, and don't let the door hit ya on the way out Bush!

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Athletes

Regarding Bush's statement about " The course of (our) nation not depending on others". I say, RIGHT ON! I cannot fathom why it should be desirable for ANY country to depend on others. Why should the U.S. succumb to peer pressure to do what is "cool and groovy"? Who cares what he rest of the world thinks? With some exceptions, they are insanely jealous of the U.S. Do we really want to be like them? Of course not. That is not arrogance, that is deciding for yourself; something all countries should practice.

Regarding Reaganomics, it works. Period. How can anyone say it was less than a smashing success? However, economic independence is very dangerous for the Democrats as they don't want any of their appointed victim groups to leave the plantation.

Bush wasn't the best president, but he is a good and honorable man and kept the U.S. strong. The Kenyan dude is a fraud. We don't even know who he is, what he has accomplished in life (other than write two books about himself), what is plans are (CHANGECHANGECHANGEHOPEHOPE), or more importantly, who actually is holding the puppet strings. Hopefully, he will be convicted of fraud and serve a term - in prison.

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Nicole:

" compared to past presidents... "

So which past president was hated by the press and intelligentsia to this pathological degree, even before taking office? I can´t think of any.

And which past president had to deal with an international islamist jihad, financed by unlimited petrodollars, abetted by free international movement, and defended by political correctness (which declares that we must not even address the problem?

No past president had a set of problems like this. Jimmy Carter was idiotic enough to help Khomeini take over Iran, but he had no domestisc jihad to deal with.

So again, what do you compare with?

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President Bush will go down as one of the worst, thanks to an incessantly and increasingly more hostile media. However, history will prove him to have been one of the best. People have been bandying aobut how President Bush was omehow responsible for 9/11/01, but how can the man have been responsible when he had been on the job only ieght months before it occurred, when his predecessor had been on for eight, had the chance to get bin Laden, and let him go?

President Bush has been a great President of the USA. The USA and the world, are better off because of him.

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"The USA and the world, are better off because of him."

You need to add 'leaving' to the end of the sentence after 'him' there, bud. THEN it will be true.

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Blue Tiger

"but how can the man have been responsible when he had been on the job only ieght months before it occurred, when his predecessor had been on for eight, had the chance to get bin Laden, and let him go?"

Now he has been eight years like his predecessor. Bin Laden is still invisible as smoke. He failed like his predecessor.

President Bush has been a worst President of the USA. He lied, exagerrated & cheated everyone including Collin Powell.The USA and the world, are broke & bankrupt now because of him.

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The worst President of the USA.

If you agree you already know why, if you disagree after eight years of this man then there is no hope for you, nothing anybody could say would change your thinking.

“thinking”? now I am having serious doubts about that being the right word because I’m sure thought really doesn’t come into it.

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"The worst President of the USA"

Who, George W. Bush? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! There have been worse presidents, including the one who served in the late seventies.

"The USA and the world are broke and bankrupt now because of him"

If the USA is bankrupt, why are we still giving billions in foreign aid? If the world is bankrupt, why are all those high-end shops in OmoteSando and Roppongi Hills still open?

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Wow, I never agree with the majority but there's always a first. Bush will go down as one of the worst proesidents. Not simply for the lies and twisting of truths he and his administration used to get us into Iraq but for the lack of foresite in dealing with the aftermath of toppling Sadam. The Bush adminsitration believed their own rhetoric that the Iraqis would welcome us as liberators but they understood nothing of the sectarian strife and reality on the ground. Add in the muddled response to Katrina, the growing split between the haves and have nots and the complete financial metdown brought about by the lack of banking oversite and the picture is pretty clear. I don't hold out much hope that the new administration will be able to clean up this mess anytime soon but I also give them some credit for inheriting the worst of all possible worlds. George W. Bush you will not be missed. I voted for him the first time but as they say fool me once... The only thing that blows my mind is that he was given a second term.

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8 days to go folks,let GWB talks be yesterday. Get on with now,future and Obama administraton discussions.

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Sorry, 7 days to go.

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While I would certainly agree that Bush's presidency was not a good one by any reckoning (and I've seen some rather mad conservative offerings that things like his support of water boarding, un-checked wire tapping and other knives into the back of our Constitution are reasons to hail his success) - see here:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/986rockt.asp?pg=1

But I do take issue with particularly liberals throwing all the blame his way.

"How many terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001?"

Always love this question. Okay, sarge, on whose watch did 9/11 -- the worst terrorist attack on the US in its history -- occur?

Smithinjapan - While true, it was on his watch, I think it can be argued with some credence that Bill Clinton's denuding of the intelligence services did much to cause this lack of foresight. It takes time to build these networks and I would argue that the Bush administration simply had not had the time to do so in a sufficient manner before the attack.

I would say the same on the economy. While you might not want to listen to Sarge it IS fact that much of the housing loan crisis was the work of democrats under the Clinton administration. The policy of issuing risky loans to allow more middle and lower income people to buy is good in humanitarian practice, but economically unsound when they can't pay their loans. I think it's rahter short-sighted and unfair to place blame for policies that were enacted before Bush came to power.

And I would even offer to those who wrote 'Katrina' that while the Bush governmental response to the Hurricane was abysmal, those dikes have been ignored by more presidents than old Georgie. And the idiot Mayor and idiot Governor have much blame to shoulder there.

Blame him for the war(s), blame him for the economy becuase of these costly conflicts, blame him for his abuse of power and raking of the Constitution. But in fairness there should be some reflection and sould searching on the left for what was inherited. Just maybe Old Willy made a few poor decisions while going about ruining the carpets in the Oval Office.

And for my vote, that idiot Jimmy Carter - who has done more to ruin the institution of the Presidency than any other man - was undoubtedly one of the very worst presidents we have ever had. Yes, worse than Bush. Building houses for the homeless doesn't forgive his 'sins'.

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BUsh is a nutter. Strewth the whole world hate the idiot. Only a nother religous lunatic like Blair followed him and his daft war, war , war policies.

He made America and the world skint. Caused thousands of deaths worldwide and he left people to die after that big hurrican thing because thay wasn'T white , well most of them anyway.

He should be on trial at the Hague, with poodle socialist pillock Blair next to him, that would learn them!

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Was it bush who outted all out spies and left us without the info needed to know what saddam was realy up to?

Was it bush who made it nearly impossible to get any solid info from those we capture even tho 100s maybe even millions of lives depend on that info?

Was it bush who bought 10s of millions of suvs big screen tvs power hungry consoles and power gulping gaming computers?

Was it bush who loaned out zillions of dollars to people who couldnt possibly replay it.. and then threatened banks that didnt want to do so?

Was it bush who didnt get the bleep out of the way of a major hurricane and then didnt have anywhere near enough manpower or money to deal with the result of the debacle that resulted?

Was it bush who was stupid enough to live in hurricane alley without a car and not check to make sure there was a way to get out or a truely safe place to weather it out?

Was it bush who was stupid enough to think the us was strong enough economicaly to prevent global warming quickly?

Was it bush who got in the way of nuke power for sooo long and thus kept the behcing coal plants running far beyond the time they should have AND THEN screwed things up 1000x worse by making it IMPOSSIBLE to upgrade those old plants thus making them even worse?

Was it bush who made this world what it is today or was it us? Are our leaders leading us or are we leading them and in either case why am I in this handbasket and why is it getting so hot?

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I see 83 percent saying below average or worse, with 69 percent of those saying one of the worst.

Even citing typical negativity at the end of just about any presidency cannot explain away those numbers. One of the very few things I can credit Bush with is being able to keep his head up. But then, I would not be surprised if he was completely unaware of these polls. Junior is not exactly a reader by any means.

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First of all, Bush was, unquestionably, intellectually unqualified for the position. Secondly, his administration was fundamentally undemocratic in any sense of the term. He surrounded himself with yes-men, whose loyalty he rewarded with promotions (Condoleezza Rice); those who dared to voice objections were estranged from the inner circle (Colin Powell), or subjected to leaks that got them chewed up by Fox News's attack dogs (Valerie Plame). It's outrageous to see the media spin now at work to make it appear, somehow, that the outgoing president was really a nice guy, instead of the petty tyrant he was.

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Tigermoth: Nice post, despite the fact that we don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things.

"Smithinjapan - While true, it was on his watch, I think it can be argued with some credence that Bill Clinton's denuding of the intelligence services did much to cause this lack of foresight. It takes time to build these networks and I would argue that the Bush administration simply had not had the time to do so in a sufficient manner before the attack."

Well, I don't really agree with you completely. First off, I usually throw that question out there to blow some of the hot air out of the people who argue, "There have been no terrorist attacks since bush took office", as though they happened every day beforehand, and as though they themselves had a major part in any effort or victories achieved. What's more, the fact of the matter is Bush's government, new or not, had the power to stop what happened whether or not it was in the works before they inherited the White House. They were given COUNTLESS warnings leading up to the attacks, but chose to ignore them all (I think somebody posted a few examples above). As such, while perhaps the Clinton admin. laid the groundwork for the attack, bush could have worked to prevent it but chose to shift funding to anti-drug programs, etc., instead.

That goes for the economy as well. Again, while much of the groundwork MAY have been laid by the past admin., bush and co. received PLENTY of warnings and chose to ignore them. They are completely incompetent and definitely led to what happened in both the 9/11 terror attacks and the present state of the economy.

If I become principal (or vice) of a bad school and months down the road an incident occurs that affects the entire school, I am too blame. Let's say the incident was a few kids planning to attack some others. I chose to whole up in my office and ignore the visual cues and warnings from the teachers. Them bam, while I'm reading My Pet Goat to a class I hear the news... what do I do? Keep on reading and hope it all goes away.

"Blame him for the war(s), blame him for the economy becuase of these costly conflicts, blame him for his abuse of power and raking of the Constitution. But in fairness there should be some reflection and sould searching on the left for what was inherited. Just maybe Old Willy made a few poor decisions while going about ruining the carpets in the Oval Office."

I give you a bit of credit for your open-mindedness here, but still; when you had the keys to ultimately prevent what happened and chose instead to ignore the causes, you are to blame. I DO agree that you have to give some credit to people walking into a bad situation, and hence Obama deserves the most credit of any president in the history of the US, since he is inheriting possibly the worst remnants from (definitely) the worst presidency in US history.

Good riddance, bush... only one week left.

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Bush is nothing more than spoiled son of rich man. He is a fraud & indecent person. He betrayed the trust of countless people.

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He is responsible for bringing the U.S. to a new low. to think we actually debated torturing. forgive us! Now, we have to rebuild our country, hopefully, the world will have oodles of patience.

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What we need is a poll on what Obama's first actions as president should be. One of the options should be: "Remove Bush's self given immunity from war crimes and other crimes." I would vote for that!

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Smithinjapan - Thanks for your civil posting - and the way discussion should be carried out; with intelligence and thought rather than anger, accusations and screaming. More of that on here would be nice.

We likely agree more on some of these points. While I suppose my comments could easily be construed as a defense of Bush's presidency, in truth I think he was a rotten president. But my point was more along the lines that situational precedence can affect perception. I think George is blamed for some things that perhaps should be at the very minimum equally shared. The Katrina response is always one of my favorites. The press gladly played GW as the fool on this one. It's easy to say the current administration should have been prepared, should have had the resources in place, should have...should have. Well, the old adage hindsight is 20/20 is a fundamental truth. New Orleans and the gulf coastal states are certainly used to hurricanes, but not of that magnitude. Yes, it was predicted, but I don't know if they envisioned the catasrophe that occured until right before it happened. The logisitics of getting that much manpower and equipment into place is enormous. The press and critics (including on here) obviously have no clue and think this is instantaneously achieved. Wouldn't those in local government have some responsibility? Could it perhaps be taken into account that to logistically rescue hundreds or thousands (who shoudln't have been so stupid and evacuated to begin with - shouldn't we as a species be bright enough to share some responsibility for our own well-being?)is not a matter of a few quick phone calls? Couldn't/wouldn't/shouldn't some of those in previous administrations (and again falling to the local government - mayor, governor) have fought for the replacement of these shoddy levies if it was known as being so urgent? But instead they categorically say 'it was Bush's fault'.

And now President-elect Obama inherits all of this. Is it his fault if we have a major terrorist attack in a year? Is it his fault if the economy continues to flounder (which it will)? Is it his fault if a major earthquake wipes out half of California (it's been predicted for decades)? According to the mob thinking - yes, it will be his fault and therefore he will be a crappy president. I just find that thinking to be a bit too simplistic and flawed.

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As far as America is concerned, his presidency was average. Same old American crap. As for America's domination of world politics, that has been one of the worst periods in Earth's history.

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Bush himself admitted his mistakes & misadventure yesterday. He defended his track record with "why me? "why financial crisis happened on my watch". A few years ago, economists warned about his excessive spending, deregulation of market & generous permanent tax cuts. He ignored all of the warnings & stubbornly keep spending like no more tomorrows.. They are part of the problems for credit crunch. As far as broke Americans are concerned, his presidency was terrible.

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Zenpun, specifically which market deregulations did Bush author, and which of those contributed to the market collapse? And exactly how did the tax cuts contribute to the market collpase?

Yes, he kept signing the inflated budgets submitted by congress, even when the last two sessions of congress (run by who, now?) increased spending by 23%. For this, Bush deserves ample criticism.

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he deserves being put in Guantanamo, for life.

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he was awful

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he deserves being put in Guantanamo, for life.

I guess I could not hope for anything better from the people around here.

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This world has seen too many changes, too rapid a rate of dislocation among the most powerful nation-states, ethnic-racial and religious blocs since a few years before Bush took office.

I rate him as average for now, with a surprising reappraisal to come. Time will tell.

He infuriates many, but most of his detractors, were they honest, would admit they oppose true democracy or have disdain and even hatred for the civilization that inspired the republic created by America's founding fathers.

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Whitehawk

Bush authored the "magic of the market" script "Let's the market wild, God will rain prosperity". It is according Reganomic theory. In the reality, market has dishonesty, manipulation, lack of transparency & corruption. No prudential reguations. Unbridled market will make investors broke.

Back in early stage of his term, Reps control the three levels of government. Most of the Bush demands has been passed by congress. Because he made propaganda about national security. In the reality,spending trillions of dollars can not end the terrorism. If the huge spending met the goals what he promised & visioned for, it will be acceptable. Now he even admitted himself he is dissapointed about all dooms & glooms.

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Definitely one of the worst.

I hope the American trend towards hostile international actions and totally unrestricted economics dies with this president.

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He did what he felt was best. That said I am glad to see him go. Out with the old school and in with a liar............

Jav

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Bush to me was one of the worst Presidents we have had. Hell his policies were so bad that he will be rated worse than Carter.

Where to begin......

Created on avg 375,000 per year. Lowest of any president in the modern era.

Pay for the avg worker raised only 2.3%. He joined a real distinct team here he tied Bush 1 and Ford here. Real sad if you think about it. His policies were more concerned with corporate profits than the good of the workers.

Under the Bush administration we saw the rise of the no-bid contract. A long list of fine fine companies with far right connections get those little gold mines. For the fact checkers here are some of those names. Fluor Corp., Bechtel, Shaw Group, CH2M Hill Cos, Halliburton, Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root. Waste waste waste was the name of the game.

Man this could keep going and going but who has the time. This man and his party caused so much damage to America that it will take a long time to correct them.

Sad thing is, we the people allowed this man and his bunch of thieves to have their way for the last 8 years. I hope that Obama comes in gets rid of all those Bush EOs and starts investigating the waste!

This must never happen again!

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Athletes:

In the reality, market has dishonesty, manipulation, lack of transparency [and] corruption.

So does congress.

Most of the Bush demands has been passed by congress.

Except for his calls for oversight in regards to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. And that lack of oversight (at the insistence of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd) is what triggered the economic collapse.

We had a bubble economy, especially in real estate. The bubble was created by a Democrat congress and a Democrat president legislating banks into lending money to people with bad credit. Some banks (Bank of America, for just one example) took it upon themselves to go a step further and cater to the illegal alien market, lowering their requirements for indentification for illegals but not for legal U.S. citizens. Yet you still insist it's "Bush's fault". You parrot the talking point about "Bush's deregulation", yet you cannot name a single regulation he eliminated.

Better luck next time.

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Just to add more to my last post of our dear leader and his party;

1.Republicans had full control of the government from 2001 until 2007.

Real funny how the right will not take responsibility for the mess they have caused. It must be the Democrats fault for all the bad policies the last 7 years. Better yet why don't they just blame Bill Clinton for Bush's bad management? Oh wait they have been doing this for the last 5 years.LOL

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" William Pitt

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JoeBigs, the Republicans did make mistakes. It's just that they were acting like Democrats when they made them.

;)

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It sucked!!!

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Bush had 8 years to screw it up and did so in spectacular fashion. Now he leaves his mess for others to clean up. Bravo!

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One of the worst for sure, so many screw ups from his administration that have been listed above and on a personal level he was surely the thickest dimwit to ever sit in the oval office. goodbye G.W, don't let the door hit your proverbial on the way out.

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Prez.Bush,DID keep America safe for the duration of his Presidency.

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96 hours to Obama presidency. GWB presidency did good,it brought first truly mutiracial-Obama presidency into globai scenario.

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Whitehawk

Market deregulation means Bush appointed his crownies for powerful position. Bush removed some restrictions from market. Such as transparcy for intention of short selling. Short selling means forcing particular stock becoming almost worthless like Auction. Market needs to be prudent. Not on his watch. He likes market got wild & uncontrollable. Now he even said he has no idea how much of his money was lost in credit crunch. Sound like he is depending on other for investment. His mentor & business advisor was Karl Rove before.

Democrats introduced the Sub Prime mortgage first. Without Republicans support & implementation, it will not become law. Legislation become law by majority of votes. US enjoyed Golden Age of Peace & Prosperity during 1990s. It was because of the wisdom & sound judgement of Clionton Admin. Bush admin broke US & created mountain of debts. There is two options for making budget from red to black. One is cutting the spending. One is increasing Tax for revenue. He avoided both. He liveed in the fantasy world like Reganomic.

Bush was asked about the "his understanding of budget" by reporter. He replied I understand Budget has so many numbers. No wonder US facing the huge budget deficit & trade deficit. He admitted before he was C grade student during his high school. He will be remembered as the most incompetent, stubborn and immatured president. Thanks God for sending him Taxas soon.

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smithinjapan: I could go on to list all the other ways bush failed his country, his people, and the world, but I'd be up all night and the first hundred pages would only be a start.

What happened to the "You can't blame everything on one side" smithinjapan that normally appears in threads relating to terrorism? I figured you're be here telling us it's never black and white.

By the way....do you capitalize Osama Bin Laden's name? ;)

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Market deregulation means Bush appointed his crownies for powerful position.

Right, no president ever does that. /sarcasm

Democrats introduced the Sub Prime mortgage first. Without Republicans support [and] implementation, it will not become law. Legislation become law by majority of votes.

Yes, but it was a Democrat idea. And which Republicans supported it? I bet you'll find it was the exact same ones who regularly vote with the Democrats. They're called RINOs for a reason.

US enjoyed Golden Age of Peace [and] Prosperity during 1990s. It was because of the wisdom [and] sound judgement of Clionton Admin.

I love this one. So tell me, what exactly did Clinton do to create this utopia?

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THE Worst - not One of the Worst.

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Absolutely the Worst!

Hope him, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest their cronies are ready for their next trip after they leave the white house.... Right into the Intl Court in the Hague, for their War Crimes Tribunal!

What a bunch of Chick hawk Criminals.... They wouldn't serve in Vietnam, but have no problem sending other peoples kids to war over a lie and oil money.... The almighty is watching, and that's one person they can't avoid...

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7% said best huh? wow!

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A sad man who led a nation of not so smart people - what other explanation for his re-election? Now that America will harvest what he sowed, we may say:

¨Americans had it coming¨.

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I judge Bush in large part by how solid our most important alliances are after his presidency.

Australia, the UK, France, Canada, Japan, Germany, Israel? Yep, still on board, ties as strong as ever.

The world's most populous democracy? Let's see what their leader has to say, shall we -

“This may be my last visit to you during your presidency,” Singh told Bush in Washington in September, “and let me say, thank you very much. The people of India deeply love you.”

Later, in the same Wall Street Journal article by Anand Giridharadas:

“Mr Bush is driven by ideology and instincts, not by nuanced thinking,” said Ashutosh Varshney, a political scientist and South Asia expert at Brown University. “Bush’s ideology convinced him that, of the two rising stars on the world stage, India was preferable.” (The other is, of course, China.)

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Coolasapool at 02:44 PM JST - 16th January

7% said best huh? wow!

That 7% are the die hard far right wingers. They would support any far right winger just because he/she was a far right winger. They follow blindly and ask no questions. Those that ask question are just traitors.

Some like oysters while others like snails.

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"7% said best huh? wow!"

My guess is that like many of the Leftists here they are very young; they don't know much else.

They need a pat on the head. They need a stool in the corner.

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LostinNagoya I take offense in your remark. What nation of geniuses do you hail from? Let's take a look at your leader's decisions. A sum of a nation is not always reflected in those who lead it - life isn't that simple.

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wuzzademcrat at 02:17 AM JST - 17th January "7% said best huh? wow!" My guess is that like many of the Leftists here they are very young; they don't know much else. They need a pat on the head. They need a stool in the corner.

To be honest I really thought as you and believed that no other President could be worse than Carter. But lo and behold Carter looks like a gem next to Bush and his "I am lost" Presidency.

Dare I say using such tactics as to bait the folks here by calling them kids is really childish. But what can we expect from the far right other than baiting tactics.

Don't use such tactics, if you have proof then bring it forth and do not play silly playhouse games.

But again what can we expect from the far right.LOL

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These results are totally biased and I ought to know. I've been running around Tokyo to computer cafes and voting "one of the worst". I reckon that I personally have accounted for 1139 of the 1258 votes to date. I can't explain the "below average" votes, though.

Anyway, even if my votes had all been monitored by international observers and determined to be reasonably free and fair, it would just tend to show that people do not always know what's best for them. That's why we must intervene when popular votes go contrary to our wisdom.

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onedragon,

I think that depends on what you mean by "safe".

If you mean that there were no more (known) terrorist attacks (outside of the anthrax thing, whatever that was about) on American soil (exclusive of embassies, consulates and ships at sea), then, yes, America was kept safe.

If you mean that America was in imminent danger and that Bush prevented those dangers from materializing, his record is no better than Clinton's and in some respects it is worse. Clinton at least caught the foreign terrorists responsible for the attack on the Twin Towers and he did so without yielding 3,000 dead, sending 4,000 more to die and tens of thousands to be maimed without reducing the threat.

If you mean that Bush protected the America that he started with and will deliver to the next President that same America, safe and secure, I don't think there is any way that is true. If I read these results correctly 1261 people don't get that America was protected by Bush. Of course, they're probably either all French or multiple voters like myself, eh? (By the way, that was a non-Canadian "eh".)

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¨Americans had it coming¨.

The second time he was elected, there were some serious "shenanigans" going in Ohio, where sadly enough it came down to one state, where Bush's buddy's company made the Electronic voting machines.... Coincidence....?

They are still investigating, and some people have been sent to jail over elections fraud...

No, I'd say 30 - 40% of American's had it coming, I never voted for that idiot, and matter of fact more people voted against bush, the 2nd time, than in any presidential election in U.S. history....

U.S. elections have never been decided by a majority vote, there 50 individual, winner-take-all elections, and districts and electronic voting machines can easily be manipulated.... as we've seen in Ohio... God help us if we get another bush or cheney...

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George Bush was a good president. Of course, he madew mistakes, like we all do. The amount of hatred and venom directed against him has been despicable. We will see what his successor does, and we will see how long it will be before hatred is directed against him.

Of course, Obama is going to save the world, isnt he? He is going to sort out the world`s troubles, save the earth from ecological disaster and raise a few dead people too, in the process.

George Bush was hated by the liberals from Day One. The media were biased against him, too. Really, he didnt stand a chance. I know he is not a good public speaker, or even all that bright, but he was a sincere man who stood up for America and also for his principles.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/15/frist.bush/index.html

"Bush saved 10 million lives"

AIDS project for Africa, programs to wipe out malaria.

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wuzzademcrat at 01:30 PM JST - 17th January http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/15/frist.bush/index.html

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says George Bush's AIDS policy has saved millions in Africa.

Ok that was a good one, I went to the link and lo and behold the story was by Bill Frist. You could not have found anyone more partisan than Mr Frist.

Mr Frist is trying to save his own political career. By trying to make Bush seem better than he was he in turn makes his time as a Senator better. Mr Frist is one of the main folks who is to blame for our woes.

When ya have meat try again.

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"Ok that was a good one, I went to the link and lo and behold the story was by Bill Frist. You could not have found anyone more partisan than Mr Frist."

Yes, the article was by Bill Frist, physician and senator, and frequent visitor to Africa.

I remain open-minded though, and eagerly await the debunking, from Frist's equal among Democrat senators, that JoeBigs is in possession of.

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Tigermoth: LostinNagoya I take offense in your remark. What nation of geniuses do you hail from? Let's take a look at your leader's decisions. A sum of a nation is not always reflected in those who lead it - life isn't that simple.

@tigermoth: I am really sorry and I apologize. My idea of non-geniuses applies to all those who voted for GWB twice, or once - being sincere. And a lot of Americans voted against him. So, I correct myself again.

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Wall Street bailout --700 billion

Iraq bailout -- $600 billion at least and counting. Projections of 2.4 trillion and more.

Auto industry bailout -- 25 billion

AIDS bailout -- 15 billion

Bush out of the White House -- Priceless!

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sarge As this is about your hero, bush, I need to remind you that even on this site you are amongst some 4 per cent who think bush was slightly better than average! haha! Meanwhile, those who think he was one of the worst presidents in the world number about... ummm... 6.69 billion, or on this thread about 70% (and another 10% for those who thought slightly better).

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sargie: Just re-read your comment again and had to laugh... the saddest person ever in terms of one of the worst presidents in the history of the US (or wait... what do the numbers say?) is you, my friend. You win the award for the most inane cut and post comments, and also for the worst arguments ever, and those in support of criminals. Congrats. If I ever need some advice on how to be a disgrace, I'll give you a buzz... no offense intended.

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smithinjapan:

"even on this site you are amongst some 4 per cent who think bush was slightly better than average"

Heck, I woulda thought on this site I woulda been amongst the point 4 percent, ha ha ha!

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sarge: "I'm not sad! Heck, I've got Obama to kick around for the next four years!"

For once, I give you my hats off. A nice comeback. You still didn't answer the questions I asked but one baby step at a time, eh. Good job, Sarge. You kind of lose it later in your latter comment, but that's something else altogether.

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wuzzademcrat at 06:25 PM JST - 17th January

Ok let us try this again what good has "soon to be" Mr Bush done for our Nation? What has he done for us lately other than nearly bankrupt us?

With Mr Frist going any where and trying to paint a shinning light on what Bush did for Africa. That takes the light away from Mr Frist and his time as a Senator and how he had a hand in nearly bankrupting our nation.

Again I ask you what has Mr Bush done for our county? Please dont come with, "he kept us safe" line that has been used to death. Tell me how good of a job did he do before Sept 11th? Must not have been that good, we got hit.

Ok here are some more fine examples of his leadership skills and that of the Republicans who were in full power.

Katrina

Brownie

Mission accomplished

Bin Laden

Operation Iraqi Liberation

No Bid Contracts for Republican connected companies

Diplomacy?

Loss of South America t far left wing groups

Worst job creation of any President in the last 60 years

Since taking office unemployment his risen from 4.0% to 4.9% (just to inform Carter did better)

We could keep going and going and going but why waste time.

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I don't think the question should be if he was one of the best or the worst. I think the question should be, was his term in office one of the most difficult? There will always be knockers and supporters of any president regardless. For me Carter was the worst ever.

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McCain for '00!!!!! Sorry people picked a "wholesome" recovering alcoholic idiot (generally an idiot, I mean) rather than a great man as yourself.

I thought Clinton was all right. OK, a bit horny and talked too much but still OK. No super big disasters. I thought after 8 Clinton years a republican in the WH - Namely McCain - would have been a good change but not W. OH, my god! I mean if you are going to vote for someone please vote for someone who is at least better than you are. With GWB you might as well put a republican monkey in the WH.

Sorry John, '08 is too late and too old and your VP pick was well....

The point of true conservatism is about quiet grumpy old rich men who want to keep more of their money from taxes and who think that's good for everyone at all classes in society. And I'm cool with that fundamental debate. But what has this party changed into? Especially with GWB?

But I don't blame W. for the current economic crisis.

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Anyone wantin' to express appreciation to President Bush before he leaves office can do so at whitehouse.gov

For anyone who wants to express somethin' else, have at it. There's no such thing as electronic traces on emails. That's a complete myth. -And the US doesn't exchange information with foreign governments.

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