Watch this video compilation.
It’s entertaining, in an OMG-are-we-screwed sort of way.
http://www.wimp.com/presidential/
“I believe that the human being and fish can co-exist peacefully”
George Bush
What happened? Did public opinion polls suddenly change?
Otherwise, it’s a trick question. I didn’t think he was doing “good” before.
I think Bush has done some good and some evil. If nothing else, he’s been around long enough, so he’s bound to have done some good, right?
Name one thing. Please.
I think it is a relevant question if it is addressed to the people who voted for him. Take me, for instance. I voted for him. I did not see him as an outstanding candidate, but for me anyway, he presented himself to be a person of more integrity and principle than either Gore in 2000 or Kerry in 2004.
I also think that his leadership in the immediate moments following 9-11 was helpful. But I think that since the 2004 election, he has proved himself to be incompetent and untrustworthy.
I wouldn’t vote for him again if the elections were today. But I don’t think
it would be an issue because I don’t think the Republicans would put him forward as a candidate again even he was eligible to run.
I think you’re too cynical. Do you really believe Bush’s intentions are purely evil?
I don’t think enumerating Bush’s good and evil actions are worthwhile because:
- Each of us potentially has his/her own ideas about what is good and what is evil.
- I believe more of Bush’s actions are unknown by the public than those that are. So our judgments of Bush are largely based upon very narrow views of what he has done.
Thus, I will leave my comments in the abstract. And since I believe Bush has some good intentions, I don’t believe that he has gone 6 years without at least getting lucky in having a good intention bring forth a good end.
I’m sure there has been much good done along the way. I like his very tough approach to dealing with terrorists/enemies. I do not agree with most of the actual actions. I like that he finally fired Michael Brown. I do not like that he was hired in the first place.
Evil? Possibly. Some of his actions seem to be aimed more at making people rich than serving the larger population. His hiring/appointing choices seem to have been weak, and smelled of cronyism. Some of this we will have to live with for many years after his term is done.
the terrorism policy is one of the worst things about his presidency. he completely squandered all the goodwill we had with other nations following 9/11 by going into iraq, a war that was planned before he even took office. democracy is never going to fly in iraq, he’s just pissing the entire middle eastern world off and making it easier than ever for these terrorist groups to find new recruits. he’s the greatest thing that ever happened to them, they’re bigger than ever. you kill one innocent person over there and suddenly their entire family and everyone who hears about it might be willing to join the fight against us. these people want to be ruled with an iron fist, they need it. look at the recent pelestinian elections, they have no idea what is in their best interest, they’re just pissed off morons. bush has never been doing a good job. he wants tax cuts for the wealthy, war in iraq, corporate welfare, and all these other things that do nothing good for the majority of americans but they’re happy because he doesn’t like abortion or gays. let the future generations work till they’re 90 to pay for these things because we’re just having too much fun right now.
Other nations, even friendly nations who are our allies, do not have the security and safety of the US as their priority. They aren’t going to make policy or decisions or public opinion based on some sort of fiduciary or benevolent responsibility to the US. Other nations have their own needs and they make decisions and form public opinion based on those needs. They aren’t going to make decisions good for the US out of the goodness of their hearts, just like the US doesn’t make decisions based on some benevolent or altruistic feeling of responsibility to other nations. Every nation tends to put their own needs first. And yes, that tends to cause strife between nations but that’s they way the world works and the motivation behind why things get done.
So what if we squander a bit of goodwill to accomplish what we need to do. It needed to be done. We and the rest of the world can deal with the consequences. It’s better than sitting around doing nothing or letting all the other countries go on doing the same old thing that made the situation what it was.
Iraq is a gambit. If it works out successfully and they get a functional democratic style government that meets the needs of the diverse groups in the country then that is a very good thing. It would be the best way to get peaceful coexistence in the middle east and the best way to get people over there to at least tolerate the US and the Western world. It is also a gambit that is just the opening move in a very long term process. It’s not going to make great progress in a short time. It is going to be a long term commitment to keep Iraq and other areas in the middle east moving in the right direction. It’s not going to be over when the troops come home. That will only be the middle game. Still have a long game ahead.
I hope that by the time you really are 100 years old, you’ll learn not to be a racist.
That’s the kind of answer I’m not suprised to hear from somebody who is always preaching their religious shit on a forum. Listen, you made an ok post, but it also made you cliched as just another cristian white guy.
And you’re just another atheist who wishes he was an ethnic minority. Talk about cliched.
Jethro has never preached here. I have not seen any posts here by him that quote verses or were all preachy. God forbid that he publicly admit that he’s a Christian. If publicly announcing that you’re a Christian and publicly talking about it amounts to preaching then you’re going to have to develop a thicker skin and learn to be more tolerant.
Your never-ending quest to say something informed and intelligent will have to continue.
Though I’m a confirmed jewish atheist (!), I’ve never been offended by or seen a post from Jethro that wasn’t thoughtful. He never preaches here, as far as I’ve seen. Take a step back.
Your never ending quest to say moronic things on forums will continue, even though you and people like john_childs are the “minority” who want it too. John_Childs, you have no right to say I am a specific religion, I am not a redneck like you are, actually, I’m Jewish. So take back your loudmouth accusations, because that is a minority, and that is not atheism. And Jethro has made posts. He made a post about redemption and being a preacher. Use the search function. It was mildly annoying but they went on and on. And before you reply smartass John_Childs who I’m guessing doesn’t have a life because all he does is post on this forum, ask what religion I am.
I have a question for you…
What since the 04 election has changed your opinion from good leader to incompetent??. 9-11 was 3 years before the election so that couldnt have been on your mind.
You also say somewhere in there that you wouldnt vote for him again but dont think the repubs would put him back up either, does this mean you just vote on party lines typically?
I have only been alowed to vote in one presidential election and as a new voter I am disgusted at the way that this country only has two views (that are often so close to each other I want to puke) and anything outside of the dems and pubs is concidered too extreme for anyone to stand a chance at winning an election.
Even if your not jethro please just chime in as I do want to hear from some older voters on this.
Cheers.
Jethro and john_childs want their own never-ending quest to say moronic things to continue even though they want it to? That doesn’t make sense. Or is that “too” not a typo, as in “also?” It doesn’t make sense that way either.
Didn’t you just say you’re jewish?
Geez, if you’re going to start and participate in a flame war, at least grab a clue before you go in swinging.
Rich
Your post says more about you than I ever could.
Interesting debating technique. I’m going to guess that you learned that style of informed debate in middle school.
I would suggest staying away from the threads about politics and religion until you’re ready for discussing controversial topics in a civilized manner. Till then just stick to controversial pop culture issues like who is going to win American Idol and you’ll do OK.
iraq didn’t need to be done, afghanistan did. if we would’ve kept going after legitimate threats like al-qaeda instead of finishing up the bush/hussein family feud, then maybe we wouldn’t have such a pathetic list of supporters like we do in iraq. bearing the burden of this “war of terror” alone is compromising our ability to defend ourselves at home and it creates a terrible image of the u.s abroad. this bad rep brings new hatred that manifests itself in more attacks. he’s done us no favor, the country is a bigger target than ever.
don’t be so sensitive that you block out the truth 
dirty jews… (that one’s for you jf) unign i think you might be mistaking jethro’s politeness/decency/whatever for preachiness because of his occupation.