What Bush Got Right

Almost like praising Mussolini for getting the trains to run on time, or Hitler for building the Autobahns. Basically you're saying he put band-aids on some of the things he broke...

"Of course, I would celebrate that fact rather than condemn it." Huh? Perhaps your magazine will rename itself Opinionweek. Who is this Zakaria, and when did his personal agenda gain equal footing with the topics of your reports? Your editorial staff needs a wake-up call.

"Of course, I would celebrate that fact rather than condemn it." Huh? Perhaps your magazine will rename itself Opinionweek. Who is this Zakaria, and when did his personal agenda gain equal footing with the topics of your reports? Your editorial staff needs a wake-up call.

I salute Fareed Zakaria and I fully agree with the points he raised. So is Obama going to change Bush's second term policies of engagement or the first term policies of 'you are either with us or against us'? The Afican Americans and the Arabs and Muslims see Obama as one of them and their savior. But they will soon be disilluted with him just like some Afican Americans are feeling right now, that is why he is re-thinking the issue of Affirmative Action and the Muslim world are starting to get a taste of a Obama presidency during his Europe and Mid-East tour where he stood shoulder with shoulder with leaders like Angela Merkel, Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, which means status quo because all three are strong supporters of Bush's policies!

More nonsense. In fact,Bush disrupted the neo-con strategy by first sidelining,then terminating the further involvement of Rumsfeld,Bolton, and Feith. These are the actions of an independant mind. Not one bound by ''party line''considerations,as we are now seeing in Congress with Pelosi and Reid or the lockstep mentality of the liberal-leftwing,which marches to a KOSSACK drummer.[these hypocrites in the ''antiwar''Dept.are curiously keeping their heads low in the foxholes with no mention whatever of the crisis now being played out in Georgia,as it is their ideological betters,who are making war this time around[The Russians].
Bush,for all of his faults,shrewdly recognizes that engagement with China is better than rattling sabres at them. Oddly enough,the shrillest voices to countenance treating China as a pariah all come from the far right,and the far left. Even the next president will stick to a Bush gun on this front continuing dialogue,the dialogue,we will remind readers,that liberals demand of Bush as regards Iran.
Back to Israel,and an ominous development reveals itself. In todays Middle East Times,it is observed that HAMAS members are leaving this wing which can offer at least a mere minimal face of ''Palestinian independance'' ,legitimately arrived at, and are joining al Qaeda-structured radical jihadists now lurking in Gaza under the banners of ''Brigades of Allah''and ''Armies of Islam'',two brand-new groups that are devoted to not merely the destruction of Israel,but the wiping out of all cultures not deemed authentically ''Muslim''including Copts,Christians,Phalangists,animists,and others. Thus,a HAMAS that may drift to a centerline,is being supplanted by diehard jihadists only guaranteeing more problems,and more explanations by a Euro/American leftwing left to defend the ideology of jihad,while covering themselves with the phony cloak of an ''antiwar''label.

The Republican agenda failed the nation, President Bush was just along for the ride. He did what he was told, said what he was suposed to say; and let the disaster unfold without the slightest hesitation. He was the token good old boy who could be counted on the stick to the party line while his experts went about their mission to gut all parts of the goverment that were deemed anti-business. He willingly became the head cheerleader for the ' War on Terror' because the party brain trust wanted to flex some mustle and kick some butt. President Bush did what was expected of him. For that he has earned the eternal gratitude of the Republican party. The rest of America may not be quite as grateful, but the important thing is they can be fooled by a stooge again. Just ask Mr. McCain

I will surprise many on this blog, but I do not blame President Bush for his policies, at least not during his second term. Tar me, feather me, do your best. We are in a Republic, not a Democracy, and we elected this man, not once, but twice with the understanding that he was incompetent. We can win Iraq and Afghanistan militarily, but we have lost stability, and have created future terrorists who will remember us as the country
that destroyed their lives. Even with all the warnings from the international system, even with all the warnings here at home, in our arrogance, we re-elected this man....here we are. Now, we are so arrogant we are willing to possibly elect a man who will carry the same policy torch as the failed President Bush.

The logic in this article is unbelievably flawed. It is the same logic that teenage defendants I work with use. "I know I stole that cell phone, but I returned it so I shouldn't be punished." We are in this mess because arrogant, megalomaniac, greedy men decided they could just take over this country and nobody would notice. If they respected other people and understood the basic concept of if you hit someone they will hit you back, they would have thought through this a little better and had a real plan. Wait a minute now my logic is flawed. If we hit back the person who hit us, we would have mounnted a campaing against Afghanistan

This article is a sickenly appologetic rant, that paints a separate reality to salve the mental wounds and embarrassment that are the result of appointing in blindly supporting one of the most incompetent and dictitorial administrations of the past 75 yearns. Economic policies of free market and hands-off regulations are a proven disaster, with CEO's and CFO's all garnishing multi-million dollar incomes, with no consequence for their failure. As has been stated, with the broad bail-outs, As has been stated, "Socializing failure while rewarding the elite". They have staffed the bureaucracy with incompotent, inexperienced cronies and sycophants from fundamentalist institutions. The result has been the recurring complete failure of governmental agencies established to protect the public health, safety, and security. They've failed to secure our borders and condone mass illegal immigration, while touting lies about concertn for american jobs. They keep talking about the success of the 'Surge'. It is rather the success of payolla; dolling out $200+ million to the tribal leaders and mullahs to stop attacking us. A point the media fails to make. It is legacy of deciet, deception, and repression that no simple facial shift in policy can ever reverse or dispute.

Fareed, I have the utmost respect for your knowledge, intellect and remarkable ability to impart your wisdom to the public. If you were running for president you would absolutely be my first choice. But I think that we need to be very clear about these arguments in your article. Although it does make a good deal of sense for the next president to avoid re-inventing everything the way Bush has tried to do, and to pursue some of the good things he's tried to establish, in NO WAY does it absolve the man or his administration from the horrors they have deliberately wrought. Cheney, Rice, Addington, Bush, and all the slimes that Bush finally was forced to get rid of -- most notably Gonzalez, Ashcroft, Bolton, Rummy, Wolfowitz, Bremer, et al (the list is way too long for what this site allows) should go down in the history books for what they really are -- criminals, thugs, and mountebanks. They deserve to undergo whatever the worst punishment is that any of us can think of. Since it's very unlikely that that will happen, they do have themselves, and their innermost hearts and souls, to face on a daily basis. That is the worst punishment of all.

How can you make excuses for a man who has knowingly killed, raped, incensed, and bankrupted thousands? He can be saved by God alone; and he'd better start praying now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is sometimes things really are worse than they appear. We're looking at a Nixonian or Hoover level of failure as President here. Praising Bush's few good accomplishments is like praising Benedict Arnold's achievements as a general before he became a turncoat. Some leaders ares such catastrophic failures that whatever few successes they might have had simply cannot stand in the face of such massive failure. That's Bush. In other words Zakaria is missing the forest from the trees here.

Most of his speeches were a crock. Either to mislead or cover-up. BUT, There was one and maybe one thing only that I agree with. I don't have the exact quote right now, but it was something to the effect that THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE TOUGH AND WILL COME TOGETHER. WE need to after his policies have almost created systemic failure.

I have a saying. Take the best and thrash the rest. I don't think there was/is much best, so a lot needs to be thrashed.

I always say take the best and toss the rest, I don't think there was/is to much best.

Bush did more for Africa than any other president. Did he get that right? I'm not surprised that Newsweek left that off their list.