At What Point Did You Realize Bush Was a Disaster?

[Ryan O'Dine]

For those who didn’t vote Bush (or live outside the U.S.) but were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, what was the final straw?

For those who voted Bush, at what point did you regret it, if ever? Are you approaching the upcoming election any differently? Any insights beyond the obvious caveat emptor (have you changed sources of info, for example)?

I actually feared for the country pretty early on. I guess the point at which I lost hope was when the head of his VP search committee decided the head of his VP search committee would make the best possible VP. After which he surrounded himself with industry oilmen and Texas loyalists.

But I’m sure most people were more generous than that, and I’m interested in all perspectives.

 

[PogoPedant]

I've no idea what the final straw may have been, in fact, the final straw may not have fallen yet. Perhaps Bush has some clever master plan to save us all from the space invaders we're just not ready to know about yet?

However, I do remember having grave doubts when I heard about the office of Homeland Security being instituted (or was it merely strengthened? I don't know). It appeared to me to be a power-grab straight out of some political horror show.

 

[Upchurch]

For those who didn’t vote Bush (or live outside the U.S.) but were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, what was the final straw?

The moment for me was when Bush first started talking about Saddam Hussein in context of the 9/11 attacks. You know, the guy he had had the mad-on for before the attacks.

That's when the theme to "The Empire Strikes Back" started playing in the back of my head whenever I heard Bush speaking.

 

[fuelair]

The moment for me was when Bush first started talking about Saddam Hussein in context of the 9/11 attacks. You know, the guy he had had the mad-on for before the attacks.

.

It's ok to write/say "hard-on" for.

 

[TheDoLittle]

I had a run in with the then "Second Son" George W. that creeped me out slightly.

Back during the middle of Reagan's second term, and Papa Bush's second term as VP, I had been doing some volunteer work with Reading Is Fundamental, or RIF, and which was a favorite charity of Barbara Bush, George W.'s mother. I was a VERY young artist/writer who had won an award on a paper I had written about "The Importance of Dr. Seuss" (please don't ask me to post or re-type the paper here! It was 20 years ago and I have long since lost it!) and was to attend a luncheon with Mrs. Bush. Or course, all the members of the school board were there, my English teacher (who I believe was named Mrs. Lacky), our principal, some other students contest winners and their parents, and several sponsors of the contest of whom I can't really remember outside of Jim "Mattress Mac" MacInvale, who is still fondly remembered for his furniture store commercials.

Then Mrs. Bush arrived. Aside from the two Secret Service agents, she was being escorted by her eldest son, George. For some reason, he didn't sit at the dais table with his mother and everyone else, and decided to sit with us kids. I don't remember the particulars of the conversation (other than he was boasting he bought/was buying the Texas Rangers ball team. At that time Nolan Ryan was still an Astro so I didn't care about the Rangers) but I got the impression early on that during his grade school years, this was one of the guys who rode the "special" short bus to school. He also apparently bathed in his cologne. Though I can't say for certain anything happened during that luncheon that would point to his future governorship or presidency, or any warning signs to prevent it, he just always left me with the impression he was just an everyday jerk.

So my straw would have been that luncheon, 20 years ago and 12 years before his election.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I had thrown my salad tomato at him.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Hm...

I don't really recall a certain date. But it was after the 2004 elections.

And though I was too young at the time, I would have voted for Bush in 2004.

 

[Pardalis]

Katrina.

 

[FireGarden]

Knowing what I know now, I wish I had thrown my salad tomato at him.

I have a time machine....



I was against the war in Iraq. I thought it was a huge mistake. But when it seemed over, and Saddam's statue was brought down, I thought things could actually go well. There seemed a chance of it.

Some people were telling me America would be in Iraq forever. "They didn't go to all that trouble just to go home again." But I didn't believe it.

I was even hopeful on this forum:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3954&page=2
But things went from bad to hopeful to bad to worse.

Now...
I think the plan was always to stay in Iraq.

So when did I lose all hope? When did I decide that there was no doubt left from which Bush could benefit? I really can't tell.

At some point Bush invaded my avatar space. I saw him as a complete and utter barstool by then.

 

[Undesired Walrus]

How did Bush get the nomination, let alone the Presidency in the first place?

Surely the Republican party wasn't that stretched for Christian Fundamentalists. The man is like a slightly less charming Huckabee with the mind of Alan Keyes.

 

[NobbyNobbs]

I think that "I am the decider" decided it for me.

 

[Almo]

For me it was the handling of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. I was doubtful about invading Afghanistan, but I despise the Taliban so I remained ambivalent about it.

The stuff about WMD was never convincing to me, and Bush's apparent lack of respect for world opinion made me sure he wanted to invade and would find an excuse any way he could.

 

[Policenaut]

Bush won in 2000 because Gore was a robot back then and he won in 2004 because Kerry was Candidate D. Not GWB. Even with all the crap that has happened in the last 4 years I think it would have been worse if Kerry was elected.

 

[Loss Leader]

The moment Elizabeth Dole dropped out of the race in 2000, I knew we were screwed.

 

[ZouPrime]

This is a good question. In my case, I don't think there has been a specific moment when my opinion of him changed drastically - it was a slow process - but if I had to provide an answer, I would say that the whole justification presented for the Iraq war really left a sour taste in my mouth. I remember hearing about the "better to fight them there than here" claim and laughting it off, never thinking that the US could seriously push such an obviously flawled argument, and then ending up completely dumbfounded when they actually did. But still, I thought it was just an explanation for the masses - the administration had to have a rational, underlying motive to do this. I remember arguing with myself over the true justification for the war. My liberal friends were claiming that it was all a question of oil, but I remember treating this with heavy scepticism. Surely the americans wouldn't be as stupid as to start a war in the most volatile place on Earth just for the irrealist hope that somehow they could seize all this oil without the rest of the world flitching. Not when the russians had their collective asses kicked in Arfghanistan not even a decade ago.

In the end, I trully believed that US intelligence knew about something they didn't want to tell us regarding Iraq WMD capabilities. In the end, it was the only thing left that made any sense. I was the first surprised when they ended up finding absolutely nothing. In my worst nightmares I never expected Bush to be so stupid, and when I finally realized the truth it kind of hit me hard.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

For those who voted Bush, at what point did you regret it, if ever?

There is something that I remember that nobody else seems to. Back in 1988, after Bush Sr. had secured the nomination, attention turned to who his running mate might be. At some point, the media's attention focussed on a bright young senator, “a Robert Redford look-alike”, who was being portrayed as something of a political prodigy. The media was building him up and praising him, and soon, that was who Bush Sr. picked. As soon as it was announced that Bush had picked Dan Quayle as his running mate, the same media that had been praising him suddenly turned very viciously against him, and for the next five years, the media took every opportunity to portray Quayle as an immature idiot; and to make him the butt of every joke to that effect.

It was an impressive demonstration of the media's power to manipulate public opinion and perception. In truth, Quayle may not have been the brilliant prodigy that the media first portrayed him as, but he wasn't the immature moron that the media later portrayed him as either. And he certainly didn't go from being one to being the other once he was chosen as Bush Sr.'s running mate.

It seems to me that ever since the 2000 election, there's been a similar attempt to “Quayle” Bush Jr.; and that this effort, though not quite as successful as the earlier effort against Quayle.


Bush Jr. also, has had the misfortune of being the one who was President when the 9/11 attacks took place. No matter who was President at that time, and no matter what response was offered to 9/11, the President was unavoidably going to make a lot of enemies. If Gore had been elected instead of Bush Jr., then most likely he would have responded about the same way that his predecessor did to the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center (that is, not at all in any meaningful way), and by now, we would surely have seen several more similar attacks, and thousands more Americans killed on our own soil; and Gore would be blamed for allowing it all to happen. Instead, we've got Bush Jr. who has taken us into the war that was needed to prevent further such attacks, but that war is becoming unpopular, and he is being blamed for it.

I voted for Bush Jr. in 2000, and again in 2004, and if he were able to run again, I'd vote for him again now in 2008. I would prefer him over McCain, and I certainly would prefer him over Obama.

 

[Mark6]

Bush won in 2000 because Gore was a robot back then and he won in 2004 because Kerry was Candidate D. Not GWB. Even with all the crap that has happened in the last 4 years I think it would have been worse if Kerry was elected.

Same here. I voted for Bush in 2000; by 2004 I was fairly disenchanted with him, but Kerry is, if anything, more stupid. (And has FAR more sense of entitlement and self-importance.)

[Edit] I just realized I did not actually answer the OP. So the answer is: I do not regret voting for Bush Jr. in 2000 or 2004. I regret not having had better choices.

 

[President Bush]

For those who didn’t vote Bush (or live outside the U.S.) but were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, what was the final straw?

For those who voted Bush, at what point did you regret it, if ever? Are you approaching the upcoming election any differently? Any insights beyond the obvious caveat emptor (have you changed sources of info, for example)?

I actually feared for the country pretty early on. I guess the point at which I lost hope was when the head of his VP search committee decided the head of his VP search committee would make the best possible VP. After which he surrounded himself with industry oilmen and Texas loyalists.

But I’m sure most people were more generous than that, and I’m interested in all perspectives.

The feeling is mutual. Get me the **** out of this dump.

 

[epeos76]

Bush Jr. also, has had the misfortune of being the one who was President when the 9/11 attacks took place. No matter who was President at that time, and no matter what response was offered to 9/11, the President was unavoidably going to make a lot of enemies.

I think you're wrong here. 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, but it was also an unparalleled opportunity for American leadership. In fact, I remember getting the chills when Bush gave his "graveyard of history" speech, though I was not a fan of Bush or the alleged "clash of civilizations". I imagine a strong president would be going down in history next to Lincoln and FDR.

 

[quixotecoyote]

It was an impressive demonstration of the media's power to manipulate public opinion and perception.

...

Instead, we've got Bush Jr. who has taken us into the war that was needed to prevent further such attacks, but that war is becoming unpopular, and he is being blamed for it.

Bush invaded Iraq. Self-pwned.

 

[Marquis de Carabas]

When he traded Sammy Sosa.