The Enigma In Chief

ANYONE CLAIMING THAT ANOTHER PRESIDENT WOULD HAVE MADE AS BAD DECISIONS AS BUSH DID IN THE WAKE OF 9/11 IS SERIOUSLY BIASED, MISINFORMED AND MAYBE DELUSIONAL. TO SAY THAT ANOTHER PRESIDENT WOULD HAVE INVADED IRAQ BECAUSE OF AN AFGHANISTAN-BASED TERROR ATTACK DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. BUSH WAS SERIOUSLY INCOMPETENT, AND IDEOLOGICALLY DRIVEN TO THE POINT OF BLINDNESS. THE PLANS TO INVADE IRAQ WERE DISCUSSED BY THE "PROJECT FOR A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY" (OR PNAC) AS EARLY AS 1996. OH YEAH: THE MEMBERS OF PNAC? CHANEY, RUMSFELD, AND WOLFOWITZ. THE SO-CALLED "LIBERAL MEDIA" RARELY IF EVER REPORTED THIS LITTLE DETAIL.

I completely disagree with your unwarranted attempt to completely smear this Bush Presidency by your slanted personal opinion on hiis past eight years. The only reason he is perceived by the ignorant masses at this time is because of the mass media's continuous feeding of propoganda to the people of this country AND the rest of the world too!

1. The decision to go to War with Iraq was reported on heavily back in those pre-wartime months - while his administration consistently tried to convince Congress that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in the country. It was during this time interval that these weapons were buried and/or re-moved to neighboring countires so that by the actual congressional authority to go to war occurred, many, if not ALL had already been moved out of the country.

2. Framing on the War on Terror: Take a look around you, beyond your shiney nose. It is out there and it is real! When they come knocking on your front door some time during this upcoming administration's reign of "Obamanation", please remember to report the "I told you so" BEFORE you run like a coward screaming that our country did nothing to protect YOU!

3. Current dismal financial state of affairs - Congress legislates our laws, not the President. Noone else in Washinbgton, D.C. has any responsibility in this? Bush's biggest mistake is his SUPPORT of the $700,000,000,000 bailout - with worse oversight flaws than a poor babysitter!

Lets write the news even handedly. Now, through the massive media orchestration of your love and support for Obama, you are wholeheartedly sanctioning another four years of your purported incompetency! Get another job with less brain load.

I live in suburbia and would have to called conservative in financial matters. On issues of civil rights and human interest I am as far to the left as I dare to go, basically exclusive of special intersts I do not believe in. I supported Obama in the election and support his general idea of change. I wish him well and an emlightened presidency for the good of our nation. I note that the focus of your article rightfully does not pin the blame of the economic tragedy that befalls our country on Bush, since the economic woes of our country are seeded in democratic doctrine and big government adminsitrative failures. I liked Clinton and voted for him once. He was a centrist in my view, but his special interest ties talked or pressured hm into legisation that resulted in the biggest worldwide interconnected fraud in history. I do not beleive Bush was a good president. I did not like his ingorance and arrogance when asked and refusing to explain himself. It may be argued that Bush's failures as president pale in comparison to the failures of the Congress with which he had to work. Why don't you write about that? I'd be interested in having an opportunity to scrutinize what you may have to say in that regard.

THANK YOU MR PRESIDENT AND OUR GREAT AND WONDERFUL BRAVE SOLDIERS. Comments
In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and, North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people. Thankfully after 9/11 President Bush and our Great Soldiers have prevented another attack on American soil by taking the war back to SADDAM,THE GODFATHER OF ISLAMIC STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM.

Those of us that love American and the freedom that we have can never thank you enough!!!!! More truth at: http://www.commandments.us No matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they are no protection from the Terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing -- by their own pronouncements -- killing all of us "infidels." I don't blame the peaceful Muslims. What would you do if the choice was shut up or die? So who are we at war with? There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists.

Trying to be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win if you don't clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting. We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom the answer to the second question: What does losing mean? It would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business, like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is: We would no longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us over the past 18 years. The plan is clearly for terrorists to attack us, until we are neutered and submissive to them, If we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war, and therefore are completely committed to winning, at any cost. We'd better know it too!!

I don't have to wait for history. Bush was the worst oresident in the history of presidents. Not one of the worst - the absoute worst - dead last. Besides the obvious points in your article, you forgot to mention the following: 1# Bush hired arrogant , blatent incompetants such as Cheney, Rumsfeld & Brown #from FEMA# & then stood by them as they sank their ships like a bunch of bafoons. 2# Bush oversaw the largest transfer of wealth from one group to another in the history of the earth. Under Bush, the super rich got richer & everyone else got poorer. They raped & pilliged the economy. Then, they corporate thieves hid behind Bush's coat tails and I suspect that didn't ocur without some secret gain on the part of Bush 3# Under Bush, the US went from a highly respected #world wide) power to a tarnished & blemished nation full of arrogance, lies & suspected corruption. I for one am really happy to see him go. I hope the door doesn;t smack he or Cheney in the ass on his way out of our lives. The only promise I expect from Bush #the 2nd most dangerous human on this planet) is that he's take the single most dangerous human being on the planet #Cheney) with him when he leaves.

DONT' FORGET ANOTHER MESSUP - K A T R I N A !!!

I regret that I have only two feet, and thus only TWO shoes to take off and throw at the screen when he gives his farwell address!!! I LOVE this country, I LOVE our military soldiers who trust their leaders to send them to the CORRECT places to fight for us, I even like those who disagree with me about BUSH, but i hate the man to the depths of my soul for what he has done to ALL OF US!!! He did not protect us, he put us at increased risk from those who hate us, and it is likely only competent soldiers and other unsung heroes that prevented our enemies from hitting us harder after he invades the WRONG country for the WRONG reason for God's sake!!!

Add to that list of messups - Katrina!

It is time for nation building, and definitely too late for impeachment proceedings, or hang the imbecile of a president. The new administration has a lot of work ahead of it. This is the time to support the administration, and give a better image of the formerly highly respected and loved country.

I agree Bush and Cheney made up their minds before 2003 to invade Iraq. Bush's reason for doing so had nothing to do with terrorism. It was about oil and the ending of the UN's Iraqi sanctions. Once the UN lifted the sanctions, Saddam Hussein would never sell oil to America again.

In general, Bush cared little about domestic policies unless those policies interferred with America's energy companies. Thus, most of our environmental policies have been reversed or eroded during his Presidency.

And yes, like Nixon, Bush wanted to eaves drop on his contractors, not terrorists. Hence torture was ok, wiring tapping was okay, etc. etc.

The only thing Bush had to do was sell his agenda to the American Public. He followed, oddly enough, FDR"s strategy, by allowing the terrorists to bomb New York City the way Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and then using that bombing to persuade America to vote for war. As long as the war was going well, people unanimously backed Bush whatever the cost, just like people did when FDR was President. And if the economy improved, like it did in 45, that was icing on the cake.

Divine intervention stepped in however, by not allowing America to prosper during this war, and by having the long protracted struggle more similar to Vietnam than to Japan. Bush's evil will not allow him to go down in history as one of the best Presidents. Thank God for being, well, God.

The President of the United States has very little to do with the economic policies of the country. The financial meltdown has almost nothing to do with the current President. Get an understanding of economics, finance, and political science before you run your mouth and write your garbage column. I am sorry I read it. No President did more for Israel, your home country, or the continent of Africa, than the man your column attacks.

With the closing of his piece:

"Once the country is rid of Bush, perhaps we can start developing a more nuanced understanding of how his presidency went astray. His was no ordinary failure, and he leaves not just an unholy mess but also some genuine mysteries"

Mr Weisberg illuminates that his judgement about this President and his administration was never framed by fact rather by ideology. The housing crisis and financial sector meltdowns surlely cannot be laid soley at the feet of the President. The last two years have been under the auspices of a Democratic controlled House and Senate, do they not have any culpability in this mess? I hope that President Elect Obama can begin to guide us through these tumultous economic times we are enduring and that he can help guide us to a more stable financial era, yet we should not forget that while this crisis was developing many of our congressional political leaders were failing to perform the duities they were elected to perform and were out chasing the presidency. It would serve all of us better if we could get true partisanship from our elected officials and zero partisanship from those who pontificate on the events of the world.

When are we as Americans going to take responsibility for our own actions and the effect they have had on our economy and on the country? Did Bush stand there with us when we signed our 0 down interest only subprime mortgages? No! We made those bad decisions for ourselves and contributed to the financial decline in the US. What about the Democrat majority in the House and Senate? Some of the blame must go to them as well. When the tragedy of 9/11 hit America I can???t remember 1 person I know that didn't support us going to war. If you were in support of it at that time and didn???t realize that it was a long term commitment then you didn???t make an informed decision and again some of that blame must lie on us. What about the 6 good years we had during his term? What about all of the money we made and the big fancy houses and cars WE bought???? As a country and as a people we have to at some point stand up and take some responsibility for our own situations even if it is easier to blame someone else.