Bush: Where do you stand?

[Tom]

Poll:
How satisfied have you been with the current, US president, George W. Bush, and why, (if you are satisfied) or, why not (if you are dissatisfied)?

(Feel free to elaborate on the--why, or, why not?)

[Ihsahn]

I like his foreign policy, can't stand however his handling of domestic issues. He also surrounds himself with a bunch of morons.

As far as the war in Iraq goes, if he'd just listen to the generals in the field who actually know what the hell they're doing, instead of the suits in D.C. who do everything for the sake of votes, we may be okay.

[Matt Cruea]

I like his foreign policy as well. I also like his gutsiness. The war in Iraq probably would've come eventually, Bush or no Bush.

I do not like his domestic policies. The Patriot Act, his Social Security measures, and the worst offender of all, NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.

[Ihsahn]

Man, the Patriot Act has screwed me so bad. I can't even tell my family crap about what I'm doing or where I am, even during training missions.

[Zankoku no Yami]

Worst president in the US history. Haven't agreed on one thing he has done yet. 'Nuff said.

[Matt Cruea]

Bush is certainly not the worst, but I'd put him in my top 5.

1 Harding
2 Grant
3 Hoover
4 George W Bush
5 Carter

[Masahiko]

what did harding, hoover and grant do to be bad? wasent harding the guy during the depression?

[Ihsahn]

Hoover was the president during the depression, and he was the main reason for it. Ever heard the term "hooverville"? When people lost their jobs and became homeless, this is what they called the makeshift shantytowns they had to build out of garbage.

[ClymAngus]

It does seem that you guys are having some fairly important rights erroded. To my mind there is no such thing as total security, life by it's very nature has risk built into it. Ok do your best to protect against catastrophic events (man made) but yeah is the cost you've all got to watch.

It all about perspective and getting the balance right. Not seeing a lot of that at the moment :(

[fukkatsu]

I like his foreign policy, can't stand however his handling of domestic issues. He also surrounds himself with a bunch of morons.

As far as the war in Iraq goes, if he'd just listen to the generals in the field who actually know what the hell they're doing, instead of the suits in D.C. who do everything for the sake of votes, we may be okay.

I really cannot agree with you more on this. I think that for the most part he is luke warm for me. There are so many things that he has done right out of the country and I wouldn't have it done any other way... except maybe not poked our heads in other people's business in the first place...but in our country he has pretty much fell down a ditch and died in the hearts of many people.

[Lady Plantagenet]

I think someone on MSNBC said it best when debating about Bush that, Bush should not have been president. He is simply not qualified enough for the job. The trouble with Bush is that he is a man with these large visions but has no leadership skills or plans to get there. Bush acts totally on impulse. Bush and his adminstration are also stubborn. They take advice from no one, but people who tell them exactly what they want to hear. Bush, in my view, acts more like a King then the President of the United States, as he seems to care little about how the American people feel about him and does what he wants to do above Congress and the Senate. Ex: The domestic spying issue.


However, I would say that the fault also does lie with us, the American people. I did not vote for Bush during the election, but many people voted and decided that Bush should be around for a second term. If people are not happy with him, they should have thought about that and gotten educated on other issues before voting for the man simply because of "Moral Values".

[explosivoooo]

He definantly makes the top 5 worst presidents

1. Current Bush(failure in domestic and foreign policy)
2. Hoover (Yes, lets let the people deal with their own problems during the GREAT DEPRESSION!)
3. Grant (He didn't do anything!)
4. Taft ( He ruined everything that Teddy put in place did before him)
5. Nixon(only his domestic, i find him to be one of the greatest foreign presidents in history. First president to step foot on full communist soil, and go to Moscow)

[explosivoooo]

I think someone on MSNBC said it best when debating about Bush that, Bush should not have been president. He is simply not qualified enough for the job. The trouble with Bush is that he is a man with these large visions but has no leadership skills or plans to get there. Bush acts totally on impulse. Bush and his adminstration are also stubborn. They take advice from no one, but people who tell them exactly what they want to hear. Bush, in my view, acts more like a King then the President of the United States, as he seems to care little about how the American people feel about him and does what he wants to do above Congress and the Senate. Ex: The domestic spying issue.


However, I would say that the fault also does lie with us, the American people. I did not vote for Bush during the election, but many people voted and decided that Bush should be around for a second term. If people are not happy with him, they should have thought about that and gotten educated on other issues before voting for the man simply because of "Moral Values".
Well in regards to the election there was also the message that people should vote for Kerry because he's better than Bush and thats not a very good thing to set a campagin on. Honestly i think all the propeganda about kerry got to the people of conflicted states like Florida and Ohio. It takes a very strong candedate to convince people to change their government. Alot of conficted people probebly belived Kerry's views wern't presented well and they really didn't know what he was going to do once he got into office. So they decided to stay away from change and stay with a horrible president that made them feel safe. Safe from what i don't know. My point is Kerry would have been a great president if his party had made his views and policies alot more clear.

[Zankoku no Yami]

I still think Bush hasnt done one good thing for our country. He is responcible for all condition. Not to mention my generation and the next. He has SCREWED over my generation with his lies and deciet.

Clinton got America in the best economic condition ever! One term in office and Bush got us in the worst economic state ever! We owe more money than we have ever before! Bush screwed us over. Now my generation and many generations to follow are gonna have to pay off his debt for a war that should have never been. A war i believe he started. A war just to get revenge for his 'daddy' the freakin pussy.

Thats my outlook on him.

[James N.]

I'm in the middle. I don't think he's the worst president we've ever had but he's definantly not the best.

Just so everyone knows, I'm neither democrat nor republican.

I'm more Libertarian than anything. The less government interfering with our lives and businesses the better.

James :-)

[Hikuro]

Let's not forget Yami, If I remember right, Clinton cut our military and intellegence by half, he also let Binladen go several times, and if we had someone like Clinton again the way things are today, we'd probably be screwed.

Then again I felt very bad for Clinton that they tried to impeach him cause he lied about his relationship with women.....I honestly think what a man does on his own is his own affair, he shouldn't of lied he did nothing and then came out with it, but when he's sworn under oath as president, he should set an example and tell the truth.....but still felt sorry for him there.

Bush.....well......I'm not that happy with bush overall.....but I think if we had Kerry we'd been no better off, he would of done a cut and run tactic with our troops and made all of us look like a bunch of wussies infront of every country in the world.

The last good thing I think Bush has done was placing Tony Snow as the main guy for the press....sorry to see his show go since it was a pretty good show though short....still good. And Tony doesn't beat around the bush.
Maybe Tony should run for president? lol

[Cordelia LeFay]

Bush: Nice guy, means well, but fails horribly. Of course, I think if he was president during the 90s instead of Clinton, he would have been an awesome president. However, his presidency has gotten shat all over with 9/11 and Katrina and he just does not have the abilities to surmount these obstacles.
Of course, he could change things around with our energy and immigrant crises, but he's a classic Republican (hands off!)--and that's really unfortunate because I think he knows a lot and cares a lot about these two issues, but his Republican ideology doesn't allow him to do anything drastic.

[Tamu Ali]

bush is the anit-christ and that's all i'm going to say.

[Ihsahn]

bush is the anit-christ and that's all i'm going to say.

He's not the antichrist. The antichrist will be much more clever. Kinda like me :twisted:
j/k

Anyway, it takes three things to be a politician:
1. A lot of money
2. A huge ego
3. Connections

[shadowsvoice]

When I voted for him, I thought it was the right choice. Now, as time has passed and I have seen how lax he has become with our borders and other things, I seriously with I voted for someone else. He just does not have the initiative and drive that he used to. Its sad really. What really gets me is that in the works is a plan to erase all borders and create a North American Union. That is just begging for trouble.

[frogs]

I could go on for pages, but will try to sum up:

Bush alone is not quite so dangerous. What is really scary is the group of zealots and sociopaths he brings with him into his administration, many of them familiar faces from his father's presidency. A supposed democatically elected leader in America is compelled to act as "servant to the people" (look it up). Bush and his people and his policies neither serve the people, nor the common good of the world. Only serves those they decide are worthy. IE: the wealthy and powerful. The theory goes "Whomever is worthy in the eyes of god are already rewarded here on earth", so anyone who is poor is assumed to be pathetic and weak. Why should we help them, they might ask themselves...

The war in Iraq is a complicated issue. The old Saddam regime was bad news. But it was stable (even Bush's father knew to leave him alive with reduced power). Now you have an occupation and INstability. I'm all for freedom, but FORCING freedom on people isn't freeING is it? And besides, it's fairly clear to me that we didn't go to war to liberate the country. No I won't say "it was for oil" as you often hear (although that IS a part of it). Ok, consider this... currently there are dozens of countries around the world ruled by fairly bad/evil dictators. There are countless more countries where there is genocide and ethnic cleansing and other humanitarian atrocities. Yet we don't send in the troups. In fact, we rarely even hear about this events at all. All Bush talks about is Iraq (has oil), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran (has oil), and Hugo Chaves in Venuzuela (also has oil). Why doesn't he ever talk about the dozens of other countries with people in need of liberating?

And what I worry most about is the future. Bush (and the Bushies) seem to have an almost End-Of-Days attitude towards making policy. If you feel the "end is nigh" then it's understandable that one wouldn't think twice before bankrupting America. Go on, run up the national debt! After all, WE won't have to pay the credit bill when it's due... and who cares about death in war? If they were good christians they'll end up in a better place anyway! Burn through oil as fast as you can! Forget about getting a good education! Eat junk food til you're 893 lbs! Global warming/the environment? Pishaw! Soon enough all humans (except the terrorists and the poor, basically animals anyway) will ascend to the kindom of heaven to take our rightful place as the chosen species in the eyes of god. I mean com'on... why else would he have hand picked lil' ol' Georgie to be president?

In the name of the father (Bush Sr.), the son (dubya Bush), and the holy white male judeo-christian ghost.

amen

[Masahiko]

Brilliant.

[Menchi]

i'm so glad he's not going to be president any more...because let's face it...he's an idiot

[soundcage]

Let's see... As a combat veteran I can honestly say that if that man ever told me that I would be leaving my family to go to a country we have no business being in (remember, it's Iraq, not a US State), that several of my closest friends would have parts of their bodies shot off, most would die, all of my benefits would be cut by 75%, that I would be "liberating" enslaved people by bombing their cities to hell and back killing 150 civilians but officially labeling it a success because we managed to kill the ONE man we were after, I would be pis.... Hey... wait a minute...
I wore the uniform. I was a soldier in the United States Army, Infantry. I carried a large weapon and I intimidated foreigners by going to their country and telling them what to do, as is my God given right, according to the Lord Jesus H. Bush, yes? (<--- Sarcasm)

I am an American and I am proud of who I am, but I am not proud of who makes the decisions. The man and his entourage of anal retentive assclowns are all pontificating bastards, Bush with billions in financial ties to the Bin Laden family, has a corrupt administration and quite possibly orchestrated 911 as a deterrant. I was in New Jersey that morning, and somehow, we had spent the previous evening setting up stations for FEMA workers and recieved orders that we would be conducting various patrols and border security as part of a terrorist drill. Our drill orders? Yes, you guessed it... "Reaction to a Devistating Terrorist Attack via Commercial Airliner". Weird how that happened. Mainly, I hate the man because I was in charge of a 19 year old kid who was sent to Iraq and came home in three bags and all we could tell his mother is that he died defending our freedom when in fact he died because we were trying to take over an oil pump, and all his mother got was a bill for lost equipment for her late son which totalled to $5K. Yup, he's a good man, that thar' Bush...

[Bunny-Chan]

I'm satisfied with Mr. Bushy...I mean, President Bush. His term in office was one of the worst known. He happens to go to war, which no one actually declares, and then everything that nature has is thrown his way and he's blamed for it. I actually have heard some blame him for the hurricanes happening. I was all like, "Everyone knew about, no one left, deal with it. Other cities can take care of themselves, why can't you?" That and alot of people like to compare/contrast his term with Clinton's. My mom said this morning during Bushy's news conference, "Well, at least he's TRYING. Clinton just coasted along and spent all his time having an affair." She comes from a democratic family. My family is upper-middle class. My aunt's family is alot worse off and their children are living off the government. Funny how the world works, huh? My ideas on the economy are as follows:
If we took care of all the poor people, who would work?
Our economy would be alot worse off if everyone lived of welfare.
Gas prices are high because no woman sleeps with bus-riders. If women slept with bus-riders, prices would go down.

I've always said that I would rather have an idiot with only short-term power than a brilliant-mind-with-a-hidden-agenda running the country. I think it's Congress we should worry about...

[frogs]

Sorry to do this too you Bunny-chan, but it much be done:

War - It has been well documented that Bush did everything he could to go to war in Iraq as opposed to doing everything to avoid war. And consider this: when al Queda declared Jihad on us, we sent 150,000 troops to the wrong country and only 20,000 to Afghanistan the right country.

Hurricanes - Despite the need for additional funds to complete the levee projects and fully protect the city of New Orleans, Bush in 2004 cut that budget short by $76 MILLION. Less than a year later Katrina ravaged the area causing exactly the kind of damage he had been briefed on. And it took FEMA 48 hours to almost a full week to assess the damage, and even longer to deploy relief. Typical emergency response is 6-24 hours. Since it's creation in 1979 FEMA has successfully opperated in all kinds of disaster situations. Why the delay this time? I dunno... it happened on a weekend? Michael Brown had been appointed FEMA head as a reward for helping the 2000 and 2004 Bush campains. As a horse breeder he previously had little experince in disaster relief.

Clinton - Coasted? Clinton was more productive (go and check the very availible public records) during his second term than he was in his first, beating the so called "lame duck" phase of two term presidencies. He accomplished this despite a Republican majority in Congress. The econimy flourished, educational standards rose and schools modernized for the 21st century, destruction of the environment slowed and even some areas recovered somewhat, our international standing was elevated by our involvement in peace talks in Ireland and the middle east, and most importantly millions of deaths were avoided in civil wars and genocide in Rowanda and the Balcans. Yes he had an affair, yes it was wrong, but you honestly think running around with some intern took up all his time? You can't get away with doing nothing when the eyes of the world are on you. Please do your research before making random accusations.

The poor - Did I say welfare? No. Making sure people can actually get a job and make a fair wage? Hells yes. In 2004 when the national unemployment rate started to drop Bush claimed his policies (massive tax cuts for million/billionaires) was finally working. What you need to understand is that after 18 months you no longer qualify for unemployment. That means that while the unemployment rate dropped THE NUMBER OF ACTUAL JOBLESS PEOPLE CONTINUED TO RISE. Not only that, but the 1.2 million jobs that he created paid significantly less that the nearly 3 million he had lost. This was all while the cost of gas, food, clothing, heating, housing and education continued to climb at an alarming rate. Compassion is not charity and free hand outs, but making sure everyone can afford to keep living on their own is.

"brilliant-mind-with-a-hidden-agenda running the country" - Sounds to me like you just described Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donal Rumsfeld and a host of other lesser known administration officials. But you're right, I do worry about Congress as well. I worry about Bill Frist, now retired Tom Delay and Dennis Hastert. I also worry about the newly unbalanced Supreme Court with justices Roberts and Alito, and I worry about Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

But who I really worry about is the mostly unknown faces behind Corporate America. Those people who feel that their interest are more important than the common interest just because they weild the money (and therefore power) to push their agendas. What they fail to see is the damage their greed will do. Every powerful nation and empire throughout history has toppled itself in the end. In our suprisingly fragile pyramid shaped system the elite stand on the back of the middle class and the masses on the bottom. As they blindly reach upwards they spread the base too thin to support the pyramid and the whole thing collapses on itself. The last time this happened the fall of the Roman Empire plunged the world into the dark ages. I shudder to think of what would happen to us now if our precious global economy collapsed in a similar fashion.

Sorry for the long rant, those of you still reading. I hate to get all doom and gloom on ya, but I do feel that un-checked greed is truly the most destructive force on earth. And it is depressing to me to watch the current American (and others too) attitude embracing it.

[Moose]

I don't know if this has already been said, but I think he's like President Hoover. Hoover had to deal with the Great Depression, and no one else had before, so he had no idea how to handle it. Then everyone thought that he sucked because he did not handle it the best way, which is understandable. Same thing happened to Bush. He had to deal with the second (i think) terrorist attack on the US by another country. I think he was right to go to war with the terrorists, but he was just trying to please everyone, and ended up looking like an idiot in the process because he made some bad decisions. Could you make the best decisions if you were under the pressure of about 4 billion people?

[Hikuro]

Ya know moose I think you got a good point, it's hard to deal with something new when your the leader and got no experince in the manner.
This isn't a war against a specific nation, this is a war against a specific group of people, be it Al Queda or Terrorists.....I don't know if I could of done anything better if I were the president of this country other then saying "Shit, screw it just drop the nukes and we'll rebuild." But that action itself would of done some major damage to everyone and I might of been responsible for the death of 6 billion lives in no time.

What I'm curious about is how things are going to handle with North Korea now arming its first nuclear weapon and getting it ready to launch any day now, and then Iran stating it's now capable of creating a nuclear weapon since it now carries nuclear power.
These are both countries which can't even take care of their own people and perfer having power in their grasps.

I don't know how bush is really gonna handle this situation....I guess he's "Trying" to be a diplomat....I dunno.....it's like comparing Kirk with Picard.....Kirk was shoot first ask questions later, Picard was try everything THEN shoot later........is Bush really Kirk?

[Tom]

I don't know if this has already been said, but I think he's like President Hoover. Hoover had to deal with the Great Depression, and no one else had before, so he had no idea how to handle it. Then everyone thought that he sucked because he did not handle it the best way, which is understandable. Same thing happened to Bush. He had to deal with the second (i think) terrorist attack on the US by another country. I think he was right to go to war with the terrorists, but he was just trying to please everyone, and ended up looking like an idiot in the process because he made some bad decisions. Could you make the best decisions if you were under the pressure of about 4 billion people?

If I was the president of the United States of America, you better fucking believe that I will make the best damn decisions I can; especially if I had an entire administration of my very own, advising me on my options.

If you are going to be a president, you should ACT like a president. If you are president, you should known enough to understand that you have responsibilities and what YOU do affects everyone--and making excuses for poor performance has no place in something as important as the presidency. You make excuses when you're six and get caught stealing a stick of Fruit Stripes Gum; not when you're the president.

You can't say that Bush "tried to do his best, but he was under pressure and it was his first time" in order to excuse his behavior. If you saw a lion in the wild for the first time in your life, would you A) Get the fuck out of there and head in the opposite direction -or- do you, B) Try to pet the big, pretty kitty? It doesn't take multiple occurrences of such a situation to tell me that I should be running for my life and not pissing off a goddamn lion.

If someone shoved you down the stairs and ran away before you could see who did it, would you declare war on every single person in the building who had access to the staircase and had arms to push people down them with?

No. Fighting terrorism is fine, but, don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. Bush's war isn't about terrorism OR weapons of mass destruction. It's about ego and lying to the population (including the people who voted for him--FOR THE SECOND TIME).

It is very clear that Bush's agenda was TO GO TO WAR, do it regardless of actual proof suggesting that war was necessary and to turn "the war on terror" into a distraction from his very apparent un interest in social, political and economical issues withIN the country. The only time Bush isn't trying to destroy a country, or, focus on some other foreign scapegoat, is when he's trying to make a fool out of the founding fathers by changing the constitution to suit his own, personal, fundamentalist, religious opinions to take away civil rights and liberties from perfectly good citizens that deserve to have a president that doesn't try to rape them of their basic, human rights.

[Masahiko]

ppl who like bush are obviously delussional.

[Tomoe]

Masahiko, DON'T SAY THAT!

Some people just think he's TOTALLY ZOMG EFFIN' CUTE.

And that's totally respectable.

And if they don't think he's cute, or if they aren't totally delusional, then they are totally religious zealots.