The Ongoing
The George W. Bush presidency is about to end. I watched his last news conference, Larry King interview, and his final address to the nation.
- He doesn’t seem to second-guess himself much; “Presidents don’t get do-overs.” and stands by his decisions.
- He seemed disconnect from the feelings of the majority.
- From the heights of his leadership immediately after the attacks to the continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, September 11th will define his presidency.
- Only time will tell how history will look at the Bush presidency, which to me, is defined so much to 9-11. Current historians are predicting “not well.” Meanwhile, an unofficial news poll showed that 39% of Cincinnatians say the opposite. Check on this column from a Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Presidents have post-presidency causes they champion, and serving the Katrina region could be a significant contribution.
- Mr. President, I voted for you once, and disagreed many times, but nonetheless, thank you for serving the country.
The Incoming
- Intentionally, I’ve posted very little about President Obama. The reason was simple ─ I refused to comment on the president that had served zero days. After today, he’s open game.
- The amount of change I’ve seen in my lifetime is amazing. I’m proud that we’ve come a long way, but realize there is still a way to go by all.
- Voters place too much importance of voting for president and too little on congressional seats. We give the president more power and transformational expectations than they actually have.
- With expectations so high, the many current messes, and a fickle public, this could be a one-term presidency.
- I continue to be amazed by those who hope President Obama fails.
- Good luck Mr. President. If you are successful, so are we.
A Frank Angle 
Very well said. President Bush took us down a bad path, but I couldn’t think of any other person I would rather have had in office following 9/11.
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President Bush sure had his ups and downs … and I agree … those early days after 9-11 he was solid.
Watching today’s event was interesting. Historic as it was, ad amidst all the other stuff in the world, the continuation of a peaceful transition is still amazing to me.
Thanks for your thoughts.
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I agree with you guys as well. He did take us down a very bad path, but he had some good moments. I’m certainly not into politics, but he handled 9/11 so well as you guys said. I’ll never forget that.
And I like your point of not passing judgement on anyone until they’ve taken office.
Good stuff as always.
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Let’s face it, the presidency is a no-win job because no matter how good you are, someone is going to be unhappy. Of course it’s usually rooted in partisan politics.
Thanks David.
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Great post…But I’m not willing to say anything nice about Bush yet…You are correct in saying the presidency is a no-win job…That’s why I haven’t run..haha!!!
All presidents have their ups and downs, and I don’t think they can be truly judged until some time past, and things play out….
A Frank you’ve been tagged in my latest post…”Image Game”….You too David Funk.
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Thanks BEEZE – glad we’re on the same page!… and yes I saw the tag, but haven’t looked into it yet.
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Great post..I agree with your statement that people do not take voting for the House is that important, I would add voting for stae and local elections are just as important if not more than any of the elections.
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Larry … totally agree about state and local elections. I almost had that in the post, but decided to keep it on a national level.
Thanks!
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In the waning days of the Bush Presidency, he truly seemed to be making the argument he was relevant. It is sad to me that he felt he had to. But like so much that has gone wrong in the last 2 years or so, on the day he makes his speech, a plane crashes in the Hudson River.
Let us not forget that 4-years ago, we were inaugurating a man who had one of the highest approval ratings in history. When we say we’ve had 8 years of failure, we forget and discount his leadership on 9/11.
Had he run his entire Presidency from his gut the way he demonstrated on that rubble pile in New York City, we may be having a much different conversation now.
Frank, you are so right about Obama – if he succeeds, we all do. He is at a unique crossroads in history where his presidency can literally rewrite everything. My hope is that history shines brightly upon this man.
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MO: Great points and well said. Yep, his approval ratings around 9-11 were off the charts. Interestingly, so were his dad’s after Kuwait. Of course, the high sets up a fall.
On the day of the Iraq invasion, I told me wife if they find the WMDs, ok … if not, I disagree with the action.
Your opening sentence is a good one – which is where I made the statement about disconnect.
I’m sure of this … the new President has a mess, and we must look forward, not backwards.
Thanks Mo for visiting & commenting … good stuff.
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I saw that Rush Limbaugh has said he hopes President Obama Fails
My Question to the Village Idiot aka Rush Limbaugh) is,
Do you want America to fail?
Do you hope that there are 100’s of millions of people out of work and homeless?
Do you hope that there are terrorist acts in this country that results in hundreds of thousands or millions of people killed?
Rush your are a “Great American” Thanks to you The Democrats will gain at least 100 more seats in the House and at least 10 more senate Seats!
Thank you Rush for your service to the United Stares of America!
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Larry … yep … and here’s the transcript from his own site.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_011609/content/01125113.guest.html
Also from Rush: Let us today and from this day forth, turn our backs on over 200 years of human progress, on national greatness, on economic wealth and opportunity unmatched in world history, and let us lower our sights.
Keep in mind .. .Rush cares most about is ratings, thus himself.
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