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Singing the Praises of George W. Bush
Imagine my shock this morning, as I fell into the humming rhythm of the treadmill, when I saw Al Sharpton and Nicholas Kristof on MSNBC lauding George W. Bush’s humanitarian work in Africa. Bush had decided to provide AIDS treatment to Africa:
That was two decades ago. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, soon become a greater triumph than experts like El-Sadr had dared imagine. It’s the largest health commitment ever made by any country, now totaling more than $100 billion in more than 50 countries. And its work continues.
At a time when Bush’s presidency has come under severe scrutiny, a reminder of his commitment to the African people is noteworthy, although many may believe it was not the place of the US to take such an action.
But most surprising was listening to Nicholas Kristof celebrate Bush for his work, and to hear Al Sharpton admit that he was critical of Bush on just about every one of his policies, but he felt that partisanship should be put aside to honor his work in Africa. I’m not sure if Bush’s decision to primarily help black people influenced Sharpton’s statement.
Still, when so many on the Right are criticizing Bush, it was refreshing to hear something positive about his work coming from the Left.
Published in Culture
The fastest way for a Republican president to be rehabilitated is to not be able to run for office again. I suspect that despite all the sturm and drang surrounding Trump now. It will all disappear once there is a Republican President or Nominee not named Trump.
Yeah – hard to say, of course…
When someone from the other political party is or has recently been president, it’s hard to look past the partisan divide and give them credit for the things that you actually find agreeable. It’s only once they are safely in the rear-view mirror that it becomes comfortable to admit that they weren’t wrong 100% of the time. Barry Goldwater was the maniac who would blow up the world if he became president. After he died, various Democrats said they sure wish the Republican party were more like Goldwater. I never heard any Republicans say a positive thing about Jimmy Carter for many years after he left office, but today many will acknowledge that Carter did some good things.
Gotta say Randy, I can’t remember one single good thing of consequence that Carter did.
I’m more cynical about this praise, Susan. Bush pushed a globalist neocon foreign policy, which the mainstream Left supports, in contrast to the more realist position of Trump. Those on the Left also have an incentive to drive a wedge between the Bush and Trump portions of the Republican Party, in which most of Trump’s ideas are ascendant.
Ronald Reagan is rightly given credit for a fair amount of deregulation, but Jimmy Carter started the ball rolling. He made it easier for small brewers to make beer. Carter deregulated the trucking industry so that small independents had an easier time making a living. Jimmy Carter helped deregulate airlines, making what was once a luxury service more affordable.
My praise was limited only to that action.
I know that George W. Bush is persona non grata on the right today, but I am thankful that he saved us (for eight years at least) from Al Gore’s green agenda. Bush at least tried for Social Security reform. Democrats wouldn’t hear of it, but at least Bush tried. Donald Trump rejects reforming it as much as Democrats did and do.
It just fits the pattern: Republicans who are willing to stab other Republicans in the back are always welcomed and praised. There is a reason John McCain was every lefty’s favorite “maverick.” But when they had the chance to vote for him? HA!
Twenty years ago he was “Bushitler.” But he refused to go to the RNC in Cleveland in 2016 and he was getting hugs from Michelle Obama so he was rebranded as a useful idiot, just like Bill Kristol, just like Nicole Wallace, Heath Mayo and all the idiots at the
PedophileLincoln Project.I guess W is about to poop on DeSantis.
Based on…?
Based on the left praising him. Just guessing.
It you think that was nice, just wait ’til he’s dead.
But perhaps some help for South Sudan could be included.
Not while he was in office. It was the humanitarian efforts with Habitat for Humanity that helped rehabilitate his image a bit, that and some of his foreign election monitoring. He was a sincerely terrible executive.
That’s unfair. W isn’t particularly useful.
Not to Conservatives. But then he never was.
Remember, when W was running in 2000 he didn’t like the moniker “conservative” to begin with. He thought it need to be re-branded as “Compassionate Conservatism.” That was code for surrender to the left right then and there.
Yes, because the none-too-subtle implication was that conservatism is inherently cruel and uncompassionate. In that way he was useful — to the Left.
In 2036 Trump will be heralded as the best President of the 21st century.
If he’s not running again.
Everything that happens or is said in the world is not about Trump. Everything doesn’t need to be analyzed through that lense. It’s ridiculous to me that so many Trump lovers and Trump haters do it. It was a simple compliment of someone doing a good thing not a strategy with Trump in mind.
I remember when Trump tried to get Bush impeached. Why would he have wanted to go to Cleveland? Trump has built his entire political career stabbing other Republicans in the back. Where’s his praise from the left?
How many times did MS-NBC hosts call W the worst person in the world.
Can’t wait till 2040 when they will be saying the same about Trump
Hmmmm. What’s the difference between Trump and Bush? Gee, that’s a toughie.
For the same reason Bob Dole went. For the same reason Ronald Reagan showed up to the convention that nominated Jerry Ford in 1976. For the same reason that everyone that thought John McCain was slightly “off” in 2008 held their nose and voted for him anyway.
Trump is an equal-opportunity front-stabber (and it’s usually deserved).
The maddening thing about W was he never stood up to the Left when they did it. And by never defending himself, he gave proof to the lie that conservatism is inherently evil and raaaaacist (remember Katrina?). Yeah, the Bushies are no friends of conservatives. It took me a long time and Donald Trump to figure that out.
The complexity of “W” is that when you do “good” things in “bad” ways, too often you get “bad” things, not “good” things. What do I mean by that? The Patriot Act had a good object with lots of bad potential, and we got a lot of bad, with supposedly some good. The Africa initiative is a good, conducted through federal power of the purse. Praising it encourages politicians to use more federal power of the purse –extract more money from the people for priorities that may fit politicians desires more than taxpayer priorities.
“W” was a central government guy. He may have wanted some reforms that were consistent with a fiscal conservatism, but he never attempted to seriously address the overreach of federal power.
I remember volunteering for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign against John Kerry and John Edwards.
Dan Rather cooked up a fake story about Bush’s national guard service in attempt to discredit Bush. The media was completely against Bush and supporting Kerry-Edwards.
But George W. Bush knew how to persuade moderates and independents to vote GOP. The result was not only that Bush got reelected in 2004, but the Republicans gained seats in both the US Senate and the US House.
Now people call George W Bush a RINO. But as one guy said, “The R in RINO stands for Reelected.“
You’re too kind. He made the federal government more intrusive, not less. Now it looks like the TSA will be collecting biometrics on all passengers. Slippery slope, give ’em an inch. . .
Amid all the Bush-bashing that is going on today, I might remind everyone that Donald Trump was never a conservative, even when he switched from the democrat to the republican party. On social issues he’s practically a no-show. He was the most pro-gay marriage president we ever had and when the “men going into women’s bathrooms” debate started, he supported the left’s side. That was the beginning of the current transgender madness. Trump was always pro-abortion til he made a sudden turnaround when running for president. Despite nominating three conservative Supreme Court Justices, he warned that overturning Roe vs. Wade would be a bad thing. Then when it happened he took credit for it. After the weaker than expected republican surge in the mid-term elections, he blamed republican voters for it by being too strict on abortion. One gets the feeling that he is just playing to the shifting winds of politics the way democrats routinely do.
On federal spending, Trump is no different than any run-of-the-mill democrat. He is in fact, the most profligate spending President we’ve ever had, and that includes Joe Biden, I hate to say(!) So every time I hear complaints about W Bush not being quite conservative enough I just roll my eyes in astonishment, even if it is true. But I also cringe, because it reminds me of what I’ve read about leftist and Communist organizations from people like Solzhenitsyn and Orwell. The lefties always purge themselves of members that they do not see as pure, except of course for the current leader in charge. Past leaders are always denounced as being impure and corrupt and a groundswell of hate is encouraged against them.
I don’t want our party going that way.