Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
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
But Trump didn’t personally insult Bob Dole, as he did to both Bush presidents. I don’t remember Ford insulting Reagan in public, either.
Are any of these criticisms untrue? I won’t lie, even for my own side. W meant well. Lots of lefties do, too. I don’t credit good intentions much — the road to hell and all that.
Trump has driven people who normally have no trouble voting Republican away from the GOP whereas George W. Bush was able to move from his wafer thin 2000 victory over Al Gore into a 3 million vote victory over John Kerry in 2004.
Trump lost reelection. George W Bush won reelection.
But much of the Trumpist Republican party doesn’t care about winning anymore, preferring whining instead.
I hope we have limited discussion about Trump on this post. So boring. . .
Are you talking about criticisms of W Bush? If so, then it is a mixed bag. His two biggest faults while in office in my view, and the prevailing view at the time among republicans, was that he was a profligate spender and lax on Southern border control. As for the recent criticisms leveled at him, I have rarely seen one that I agree with.
No one said W was treated fairly by the press. That’s a totally different issue. I came to age politically during Watergate, I’ve never expected the press to act differently.
I frequently emphasize the fact that elections are, in the long term, meaningless indicators of where the country stands beyond the snapshot of Election Day. 2004 said as much about John Kerry as did about Bush. Same with 2016 or any other election.
That said, the conundrum remains: one cannot insist on loyalty to Bush because he was “our” guy unless one is willing to do the same for Trump, who was also “our” guy. We should be able to criticize both or we should shut our mouths over both and we all know the latter is not going to happen.
Whatever their merits as individuals, the Bush family has been a disaster for the country. Those that wish to paint Pappy Bush as the heir to Reagan are shameless. He never believed in the Reagan agenda. It was, in his words, “voodoo.”
W proved to be even worse. They may have won elections but they both managed to break faith with the rank and file consistently. They raised taxes, they grew government at the federal level and pushed policies that eroded freedom and economic security for the common man. Every bad thing that the Democrats said could happen under the Patriot Act has happened – partly because they’re the ones making it happen – but we own it. We own the ever growing and unaccountable security state. We own the threat from China. The same donor class that waves Reagan’s stance against the Soviets in our face over Ukraine is the same donor class that sold out the American worker for cheap Chinese labor and put themselves in the pockets of a Communist party apparatus in Beijing.
I have no trouble disowning my own past support of both of them.
When did Ford try to get Reagan impeached? Trump never attacked Dole.
With respect to fiscal conservatism, Bush was terrible. Trump was worse by light years.
Bush in 2004 was also the last Republican since his father did it in 1988 to get more than 50% of the vote.
I agree with that 100%
I didn’t see our country as a disaster from 1988 – 1992 and 2000 – 2008. How do you figure that?
You must have gotten something mixed up. Daddy Bush raised the top tax rate from 28% to 31 %. Bush Junior, cut taxes for all Americans. He was roundly criticized by all the liberal pundits and press for years. It was referred to as “The Bush Tax Cuts.” It is almost inconceivable that you could have missed that. I even questioned Senator Joe Lieberman in person about John Kerry’s proposal to get rid of the Bush Tax Cuts if he got elected in 2004. Lieberman did not dispute me.
I totally agree, but unfortunately so did Trump.
That’s a matter of opinion, but I didn’t sense any erosion of freedoms under either Bush. As far as pushing policies that eroded economic security, W Bush warned everybody about the looming housing crisis and tried to reform Social Security against the wishes of other republicans and the general public. Few listened.
It is hyperbole to say that “everything” democrats said that could happen under the Patriot Act has come true. They were saying that we would have concentration camps. But “we” do not own it (republicans). Doesn’t Joe Brandon and the democrats have anything to do with it?
Again, “What do you mean ‘we’, White Man?”
Dubya didn’t raise taxes. Reagan raised FICA taxes, though. Reagan’s record on SC justices was mixed as was Pappy Bush’s and Dubya’s. Reagan gave us Scalia (a homerun) but he also nominated O’Connor and Kennedy. Bush 41 hit it out of the park with Thomas and failed badly with Souter. Dubya gave us a solidly conservative justice in Alito but Roberts wasn’t nearly as stellar a pick. Trump’s record for SC picks is superior to all three of his GOP predecessors. That’s because he read from the list the Federalist Society gave him but three wins are three wins. It’s Trump’s most significant conservative legacy but he hates the man who made it possible – McConnell. He also hates the man who crafted his tax cuts and shepharded them through the House – Ryan. Ryan also would have funded the border wall with his border adjustment tax proposal but Trump rejected that idea. It is a far larger conundrum to insist on loyalty to Trump while disowning the rest of the GOP.
In Pappy’s case it was a vote for a continuation of Reaganism, which he did not deliver on. That 50%+ meant little in 1992 when he pulled just 38%.
And again, 2004 says as much about Kerry as it does about W.
As for the “impeachment” argument, that I don’t get. Trump wasn’t even an elected official before January of 2017. He had no power in that regard whatsoever.
If personal loyalty to W is the question maybe we should let Scooter Libby enter the conversation first. And telling me W would have preferred Hillary in the Oval Office because Trump shot off his mouth about him as a private citizen on Larry King Live is not the selling point you think it is.
George W. Bush cuts taxes twice, in 2001 and again in 2003.
When the Democrats took over both the US House and the US Senate in 2006, the Democrats proceeded to pass legislation to expand SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program).
George W. Bush vetoed this expansion.
Trump endorsed Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package, saying on Fox Business Channel that Obama knew what he was doing.
He also grew the Federal government by 18% and Federal funding for abortion rose every single year he was in office. Is your conservatism confined to the tax tables?
No.
But when you compare that to Trump’s support of Barack Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus plan and Trump saying that he won’t touch Social Security or Medicare even though those programs are on track to bankrupt the USA, I’ll take George W Bush in a heartbeat.
Related: One of my favorite stories is, at a concert in Philadelphia I think, Bono (lead singer of U2) addressed a huge arena at a time when people were just “done” with George W., saying [roughly] “There’s one man who’s done more to fight AIDS in Africa than any other person. And you know who that is? George W. Bush!”
Say what you will about U2/Bono, but I’ve always loved his fearlessness, whether it’s in sharing his faith or standing in front of a crowd and saying something that maybe they wouldn’t want to hear.
When did Dubya endorse Hillary? He didn’t. As for impeachment, what’s not to get? In the interview he praised Pelosi saying he was “very impressed” with her. He also said impeaching Bush “would have been a wonderful thing.” Trump also defended Bill Clinton saying his impeachment was for something “totally unimportant.” Did Trump also talk about impeaching Bush with Larry King? This interview was with Wolf Blitzer, not King.
Is there a CNN pecking order that controls this? Wolf Blitzer was never more important than Larry King. Who he said it to is an irrelevancy. He could have said it to the Pope for all I care.
If you’re not impressed with the former Speaker’s ability to control her caucus and get things done for her side I don’t know what to say. Being impressed is not synonymous with agreeing with her. John Boehner and Paul Ryan should have been so effective in pushing the desires of the people who elected them.
Looking back on the larger picture you disagree?
And Bush accomplished what in that regard?
You said it was King. So I asked because I thought there was a possibility Trump also said something similar to King. If he did, that is not irrelevant.
His disagreement with her was that she didn’t impeach Bush. Beyond that he didn’t say anything about disagreeing with her. He also said he liked her, a LOT (his emphasis). He had no criticism of her. ALL his attacks were directed at Bush.
Yes, there’s a reason Clinton lost his law license. Perjury by a president is not a trivial matter.
He lied about oral sex. This attention to all the important details in trying to maintain a free society is what made the GOP second to none in accomplishments. Looking at the state of the nation in particular and the world in general today has a way of clarifying just how screwed up our priorities have been since January of 1987. We fiddled while they lit the fuse to Rome. We truly deserve everything we get.
Neither would Republicans.
Right, and Jerry’s comment isn’t even really about Trump. It’s about the motive a lefty would have for complimenting Bush. Jerry’s saying that it’s a strategy which has dividing the right in mind. Trump is incidental to that.
Really? I don’t. How did Trump “try to have Bush impeached”? Did he introduce articles of impeachment in the House? Did he command his followers in the House to do that since he wasn’t actually a member of the House? Did he frame Bush and plant evidence where members of the House would see it and initiate articles of impeachment? Or is it just that he Tweeted or the then-equivalent?
There was a time when I thought the Clinton impeachment was right on, and truly I still want the world where it would mean something real and important. However, you’re correct that the bigger picture which emerged since then shows that the world is much different than the way I want it to be. In this world the Clinton impeachment hurt the conservative cause; in this world the fake impeachments of Trump didn’t hurt the lefty cause. One Way Ratchet, and if our guys aren’t aware of that and acting on it then they are part of the problem.
Is this the definition of ‘center-right’?
You seem to be agreeing with the democrat take on this, that lying about having sex in the oval office with an intern is no big deal and we should overlook it. I don’t see how the act of prosecuting Clinton for his lying has anything to do with maintaining a free society, or the state of our nation and the world. If anything, it helped to promote equal justice under the law, no matter if you are Joe Shmo or the President. I long for those days.
Again, if you are unhappy about the state of our nation, or the world, why do you blame the republicans instead of the democrats?
I think neither would most Ricochet members.
This is the great divide.
I’m not so sure about that. The issue itself is more complicated, but I think the main point is that no one believes that the Republicans have a real plan or will to make a change. If that is the case then it’s not an issue of relevance and it’s refreshing to drop the act and concentrate on actually relevant things. That was the problem with Bush (1 or 2), big talk on irrelevant things and faulty moves on relevant things.
Oral sex that took place in the Oval Office that he lied about in a court of law. I expect the lie. Not saying it was okay but the lie, when first told, was a political act. Lying in a court of law showed contempt for the law. Overlooking that was not optional.