We Really Don’t Like Bush
I guess I could have titled this post Duh.
CNN Poll:
Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think it applies or doesn’t apply to George W. Bush:
Is a strong and decisive leader: Yes 45%, No 55%
Cares about people like you: Yes 37%, No 62%
Brought the kind of change the country needed: Yes 13%, No 86%
Is honest and trustworthy: Yes 37%, No 62%
Managed the government effectively: Yes 25%, No 75%
Is a person you admire: Yes 27%, No 72%
Shares your values: Yes 34%, No 65%
Generally agrees with you on issues you care about: Yes 34%, No 66%
Inspires confidence: Yes 20%, No 80%
Has united the country and not divide it: Yes 17%, No 82%
Was tough enough for the job: Yes 49%, No 51%
Can get things done: Yes 31%, No 69%
On top of this, 75% say they are glad Bush is leaving office, compared to only 23% who say they’ll miss him. And 66% want him to get out of public life, with 33% saying he should remain active.
Seems President Bush finally lived up to his promise of “uniting” the country.
Tags: Bush
And remember: A large majority of repubs (66%) still think he is doing a good job. They must be the majority of dead enders in the general population.
I can not possibly imagine how a man as reviled as George W. Bush could think his legacy would be anything but negative over the next millennium.
It truly makes me wonder how things would have turned out had Al Gore been in charge these last eight years.
We wouldn’t be here. We would have all perished on 9/11.
Jason O’Neill’s just kidding. No one could possibly believe such tripe and keep a straight face about them.
the country must be doing better than we thought. some 30% still like the guy in some way. simply amazing
Mike, you are absolutely right. I was kidding to a point. I do have a strong concern with how the Dems fund and rely on the intelligence agencies. 9/11 solidified that concern for me when it was revealed that Jamie Gorelick, Clinton’s Deputy AG put up “firewalls” between the FBI and CIA. Those firewalls prohibited the two agencies from sharing information. 9/11 might have been prevented had the two agencies been allowed to share information regarding the terror plot.
With regard to the polls, they are unscientific but probably a true assessment. The assessment is about the same whenever a new administration is about to take office. It happened when Bush took over from Clinton, Clinton from Bush Sr, and so on.
No, Mr. O’Neill, wrong again. President Clinton was extremely popular when he left office. And serious random-sample opinion polls are, in fact, scientific.
9/11 would have been prevented if we had had a president who didn’t ignore warnings and actually cared about national defense more than “My Pet Goat.”
A1,
Jason O’Neill is somewhat right about the firewalls put up by Gorelick. More like the firewalls she maintained. You can’t deny that fact, although Jason should probably read this.
And, contrary to left-wing nuttery, I don’t believe 9/11 could have been prevented by a Democrat in office. I think it’s wholly irresponsible (and ridiculously dumb) to make such a claim.
The last paragraph in this article really tells the tale . . .
For helping drive a stake in the heart of conservative governance for years to come, Bush actually deserves all the credit and thanks in the world
We must not lose sight of the fact that, while Bush was totally incompetent, it wasn’t just Bush. The core problem is with conservative governing policy. They just can’t do it. The paradox of believing all government is bad and then trying to run government just doesn’t work. The conflict of interest inevitably leads to corruption, cronyism and corporatism.
I am always amazed that the USA feels compelled from time to time to go back to the conservative well. And then, we are all shocked, shocked when the whole country comes down with cholera. Doesn’t anybody study history any more? Oh wait, nope, too busy learning to pass the NCLB tests. Maybe that was the goal? Do ya think?
Mike,
I don’t think that it is “left-wing nuttery” at all to think that 9/11 would have been prevented under a Gore administration. It is pretty much undisputed in the record that Bush-Rice-Cheney ignored the terrorist threat prior to 9/11; just Google and read what Richard Clarke had to say about the Bush response to terroristic threats pre- and post- 9/11.
For example, Gore had helped write a report prior to 9/11 that said terrorists might use planes as weapon. Condiliar said “nobody could have predicted…” that because she didn’t care enough to read the report. Bush was warned on vacation in August that Bin Laden wanted to attack and did nothing except tell his briefer “now you’ve covered your ass.”
I am not going to dispute that the organizational bureaucracy in the intelligence agencies wasn’t in need of improvement. It was. But 9/11 could have been prevented if we had had somebody like Gore who would have taken the warning seriously and could have connected the dots or even just increased airport security. After being warned, Bush just continued his vacation and DID NOTHING. And you can be sure President Gore would not have sat in a classroom for 20 minutes reading “My Pet Goat” while America was under attack.
So it isn’t “wholly irresponsible (and ridiculously dumb) to make such a claim” at all. This is an administration that has screwed up everything that it has touched. It was incompetent and dishonest before 9/11 and it has been shown to be dishonest and incompetent ever since.
too busy learning to pass the NCLB tests
Or raising their Wii score. Or watching “American Idol.” Or on and on and on…
Most Americans just want Bush to go away. I think a president Gore would have been much more likely to have prevented 9/11 because he wouldn’t have ignored the warnings like Bush did. Ashcroft even cut the funding for investigating terrorism, I guess he had better things to do, like make sure the naked statues had drapery or something.
Contrary to wingnut beliefs, Gorelick was not responsible for the “wall.” That was St. Reagan.
Well… if Gore had won we wouldn’t be in Iraq. We would also have invested in green energy and have dealt seriously with Global Warming and Stem Cell Research.
Jason O’Neill is not right about the firewalls — and insisting on that was the first salvo in letting the CIA spy and listen in on Americans. If Able Danger was working (which it wasn’t) it would not have been subject to the firewall rule anyway.
But all of those who don’t think that the modern GOP mind doesn’t work on utterly created McCarthyite fear has only to re-read Jason O’Neill’s post.
Pres Obama’s numbers will be lower than this in less than a year, all that ‘change’ will come to nothing when unemployment is over 8% and the national debt has gone $ 2 trillion under Obama and the budget is almost one trillion short next year.
Now for Pres Bush. It has been over 2,000 days since 9/11 and we have been safe at home, no small feat. I know you will give him more credit but if we had been attcked you would have blamed Pres Bush.
Pres Truman, one of our greatest Presidents had lower numbers than Bush does now.
Pres Clinton was not overwhelmingly popular at the end of his term. Within the Dem party he was, at about 65% but not nationwide, less than 40%. If Clinton had been that popular VP Gore would have been elected in a breeze.
Please read this memo from Sen Cornyn.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s042804b.html
Mike P,
You’re entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. Clinton’s general popularity at the end of his term was 66% among ALL Americans, higher than all Presidents except Eisenhower:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/112810/LameDuck-Presidents-Usually-See-Approval-Ratings-Rise.aspx
And Bush’s rating today (29%) is lower than Truman’s (32%).
Gore won the popular vote and the election was stolen in Florida and by the repubs on the Supreme Court.
It has been over 2,000 days since 9/11 and we have been safe at home, no small feat.
Yes, the anthrax attack never happened, right?
And Bin Laden has been found and captured or killed, right?
And our military is strong as ever, right?
And North Korea didn’t develop nukes, right?
And Iran isn’t developing nukes, right?
And Russia isn’t saber-rattling, right?
Feeling safer at home because of Bush, right?
Why are you so fact-challenged?