Andy Card Claims Bush Has Done GREAT Things For America.

Published on March 28, 2006 By COL Gene In Politics

When I heard that statement today by Mr. Card I wondered what he or any other Bush supporters would list as GREAT things they believe George W. Bush has done for America since January 20, 2001

I would love to see such a list and then have the person(s) making the list show just how the items helped our country.

ANY THOUGHTS?

Comments (Page 1)

Moderateman

on Mar 28, 2006

why should anyone bother gene? you will just spout thousands of meaningless numbers to prove how wrong that person is.

stutefish

on Mar 28, 2006

Most of the great things he has tried to do have failed due to lack of bipartisan support. Social Security reform, for example.

But for my money, the greatest thing he's done has been to turn terrorism into the global clash of civilizations it should be. Nations can't pretend terrorism is a local problem with local law enforcement solutions anymore, as they did in the last century. In this century, they have to confront terrorists and state sponsors of terror directly, and make real policy decisions. He's also established a precedent of preemptive strikes and forced regime changes for state sponsors of terror and bad actors on the world stage. And he's dared to attempt a fundamental change in the paradigm of the Middle East. It's a bold and risky experiment, and it might fail, but I honestly believe it needed to be tried, and I honestly believe that he's a great man for trying it.

The second greatest thing he's done has been to run his entire administration with a complete disregard for the media portrayal of his work. Ironically, the most frustrating thing about his presidency has been his consistent refusal to make his case clearly, describe in detail the successes of his policies and his troops, and counter the spin of the opposition faction. He obviously prefers to do whatever he thinks is right, regardless of what people may think of him, rather than spend time trying to change people's minds about him. While it annoys the hell out of me that he rarely speaks up in his own defense, and never goes to great lengths to describe his successes, I think it's great to have a President who is so painfully media-ignorant and PR-unsavvy.

COL Gene

on Mar 28, 2006

Stutefish

I can not say I would agree the things you mention were great for America but at least you have stated what you think.

COL Gene

on Mar 28, 2006

I see there are very few GREAT accomplishments of GWB. That was my thought as well.

stutefish

on Mar 28, 2006

I see there are very few GREAT accomplishments of GWB. That was my thought as well.

I think that when you unpack the things I listed, you'll find they involve enough activity to justify an eight-year presidency.

Add to that his leadership of the country during a recession, and following the most devastating attack on America since Pearl Harbor. Add also his efforts, now bearing fruit, to force a badly-needed debate on immigration reform. And don't forget his increases in NASA funding and his promotion of a bold new long-term goal for that agency. That seems like a pretty good haul for an 8-year stint in the White House.

Besides, for my money his re-casting of the war on terror is by itself enough to justify any claims to greatness his staff wish to make. And it's not like he's been coasting on that one success, either. He's been working hard at the follow-through his entire presidency.

But claims of greatness are made of every president by his supporters. If you think Bush's list is too short, or too insignificant, let's compare him to other Presidents:

People say Bill Clinton was a great president. So let's have the list of his great deeds. Is it longer? Greater in scope? More influential? Who's greater: Clinton or Bush?

What about Bush, Sr. What is his claim to greatness?

Ronald Reagan? Greater than George W. Bush, or less great?

Carter?

Ford?

Nixon?

Johnson?

Kennedy?

Eisenhower?

Lincoln?

Washington?

Give us some perspective, Gene.

singrdave

on Mar 28, 2006

Washington?
Give us some perspective, Gene.

How's this for some perspective?

Goodwife Cindy Sheehan pickets Mount Vernon over Gen Washington's role in starting war with Great Britain on false pretenses!

Whistleblower Benedict Arnold reveals secret Philadelphia memos to New York Times!

bakerstreet

on Mar 28, 2006

You've asked this question a million times, and people have answered only to have you ask again the next day. There are no strings on me...

COL Gene

on Mar 28, 2006

Bush did have a very long list of outstanding issues coming into office. The problem I have is that NOT a single of those major issues has been made better and almost ALL have been made worse. In addition, issues like balancing the budget which took almost 20 years to bring into balance were destroyed by Bush with his tax and spend policies.

Social Security is about the same as in 2001 except we are closer to the day when we will have a problem meeting the commitments made under this program. The change Bush suggested was not what the vast majority of Americans wanted and it did not solve the issue of how to pay the promised benefits to the baby boomers. The changes Bush suggested were design for the generations AFTER the boomers and added to the funding problem for the Baby Boomers. Thus he was ineffective in helping solve this issue.

Medicare which is a MUCH larger and more urgent issue then Social Security Bush had no solutions for and then added a major new entitlement to Medicare without a funding source with the Prescription Drug plan. Thus Bush has made the funding issues of Medicare MUCH worse.

Medicaid is another major issue that Bush did nothing to solve. What he has done is shifted the burden from the federal budget to the state budgets. That is no a solution just a shift in responsibility.

I totally disagree that he shifted the focus of Terrorism from a law enforcement issue to an international problem. The terrorists are responsible for that shift with 9/11 and the attacks in England, Spain, Saudi Arabia and the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Issues like trade have gotten MUCH worse since Bush took office. He expanded the Clinton policy that FAILED and expanded it to China and the Americas. The trade deficit has more then doubled under Bush.

We are more dependent on foreign energy and have much higher energy costs since our former oil men took control of the White House.

The illegal alien issue has turned into a disaster over the last 5 years.

We have alienated most of the world’s population with our international and environmental policies.

We have failed to deal with natural disasters while spending hundreds of Billions in Iraq rather then meet the needs to rebuild the Gulf area in America.

We have ignored the need to rebuild our infrastructure and I see NO measurable improvement in K-12 education. We have made it harder for our students to pay for post high school education and the lack of families that have health insurance has gotten worse over the past 5 years.

I do not know how Lincoln, Ike, Kennedy, Ford etc would have handled these issues. However, I can not see a SINGLE MAJOR challenge facing America that Bush has not made worse or done nothing to improve. HE IS A TOTAL FAILURE!

Daiwa

on Mar 28, 2006

It's great how you blame Bush for everything from the weather to that chafing you're feeling between your thighs when you walk. Your opinion is your opinion. Why you solicit the opinions of others is beyond me, except to hear yourself type.

I can see your next article headline:

BUSH FAILS TO CURE HEARTBREAK OF PSORIASIS!!!!!

I'm just grateful Al Gore was not President in September, 2001, and that John Kerry remains in a wasted Senate seat.

Adventure-Dude

on Mar 28, 2006

We are more dependent on foreign energy and have much higher energy costs since our former oil men took control of the White House.

This is one you cannot blame on this gov't. It wasn't him that reported a 3rd quarter record earnings! I am appalled at our current energy circumstances but by no means blame it on Bush. Yeah I think there are somethings that need to be explained or worked on. But when Exxon turns down domestic oil for a cheaper price vs importing it from the Middle East (at a higher price) I can't run to Bush pointing my finger. I need to go to Exxon. Unfortunately my efforts to find out what the Heck is going on has resulted in nothing more than pile of frustration. In one weekend where I live we had a 20cent/gal hike. I have yet to find any reasoning behind it. Unfortunately the higher you go up the later the harder it is to speak to someone. It's the companies that are price gouging us not Bush!

COL Gene

on Mar 28, 2006

Daiwa.

All of the issues in my last post are significant problems faced by our country. It is the responsibility of our leader to adopt policies that help deal with these issues. Not only have the policies that Bush has instituted not improved ANY of the above, they have almost ALL gotten worse. Yes these MAJOR issues are the responsibilities of our President. He has totally FAILED to deal with ANY of them!

Adventure-Dude

on Mar 28, 2006

It's great how you blame Bush for everything from the weather to that chafing you're feeling between your thighs when you walk.

That is so true. I'll always have engrained in my mind Katrina and the Govenor of NO calling from Baton Rouge mocking Bush for not being where he should have been the first to be. It's this kind of CRAP that keeps me from entering too many political conversations.

Daiwa

on Mar 28, 2006

I'd vote for Bush again for no reason other than that it would so royally piss off the press & people like Gene to see him win another election.

I'm also looking forward, in a perverted sort of way, to the opportunity to critique the next lefty in the White House (should that by some strange twist occur).

Daiwa

on Mar 28, 2006

I see Newsweek has declared his departure a victory: Link

COL Gene

on Mar 28, 2006

Daiwa

Your attitude is why this country is facing some of the greatest problems in its history. We should be voting for people that we believe can solve the problems we face. If they fail to solve them, it is stupid to reelect them. I love the idea that because Bush screwed things up in his first term we should reelect him so he could fix them in his second term. What makes ANYONE with ANY brain believe Bush could solve the issues facing us? In the REAL world when a CEO fails to accomplish the tasks at hand he or she is GONE. That is what should have happened in November 2004!

We will all PAY and PAY and PAY for the the idiot many of you JoeUses supported for President. I am so glad I NEVER voted for GWB.

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