Bush Derangement Syndrome, V2

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Went after the Taliban.

Nice. Bonus points for picking a military action, too.

 

[fishbob]

That's nonsense on steroids. I've been critical of Bush, at certain times, and yet no one ever accused me of BDS. Why is that, do you think?

Most Bush criticisms: policy, competence, constitutionality, secrecy

Typical BPSCG Bush criticism: What an ugly tie,

 

[davefoc]

Name one good thing you think Bush has done that you supported and respect him for.

If you can do that, you probably don't have it.

And yes, you can put that same question to conservatives and republicans to see if they have Obama Derangement Syndrome.

I thought this thread was funny and I'd like to think that my sparkling wit had played a small role in that. So it is with mixed emotions that I will attempt to provide a serious response to your suggestion:

First, let me digress for a moment on why I think I have at least something like BDS. During the last six years or so a considerable amount of my time has been devoted to thinking about the nature of the Bush presidency and to what the motivations of Bush himself might be. Generally, my thoughts about the various issues results in a sense that Bush has really screwed up. But I also have spent quite a bit of time wondering why I care and to what degree anything I happen to have come to believe about the situation is the truth. So all in all I have probably spent more time thinking and learning about the Bush presidency than all the other American presidencies put together.

It has been a time of considerable personal transition for me and I have wondered how all that fits into my thought process. I often wonder whether I have changed, the Republican Party that I voted for my entire life has changed or all that has happened is that I have developed a more cynical and realistic view about the nature of organizations and the people who lead them.

At any rate my response to your thought is that I don't think there is much that Bush has done particularly well. I was hopeful at the beginning of his presidency that his administration might be the one to make significant progress with regards to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. My sense of that is that he made a brief effort and then quickly caved to the neocons in his administration and that doomed any hopes of an Israeli/Palestinian peace during a Bush presidency.

The two things that I give him credit for both happened towards the beginning of his administration. I thought his upbeat, confident approach following the 9/11 events helped the country significantly. Personally I was quite shaken and I admired, what I saw as Bush's confident approach.

The second thing I admired was the organization and execution of the Afghanistan invasion. This looked like it was going to be incredibly messy and Rumsfeld (who I came to see as desperately bad at his job) and Bush seemed to do the right things and that led to a successful decisive military outcome. The result so far of the civilian occupation and rebuilding efforts have not gone particularly well, but it looks to me like the Afganistan occupation has involved great difficulties and risks and I'm not aware of anything that look like glaringly stupid or corrupt actions by the Bush administration that have contributed to the difficulties in Afghanistan (except of course to the issue of whether not diverting troops and resources to Iraq might have helped).

I would contrast the Afghanistan occupation with the Iraq occupation where it seemed like some combination of corruption and incredible ineptitude has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, a massive relocation involving millions of people and a huge economic blow to the US.

 

[uk_dave]

And yes, you can put that same question to conservatives and republicans to see if they have Obama Derangement Syndrome.

No you can't, because apparently ODS is only manifest through an irrational pro-Obama stance.

 

[I Ratant]

Name one good thing you think Bush has done that you supported and respect him for.

If you can do that, you probably don't have it.

And yes, you can put that same question to conservatives and republicans to see if they have Obama Derangement Syndrome.

.
Obie didn't do squat as a Senator in Illinois, or from Illinois.
He'll blunder just like most of them do, but W set the bar pretty low.

 

[Skeptic]

...A willingness to use vicious, if not violent language to portray political opponents...

The Bush-hating crowd are hardly in a position to criticize anyone for using vicious and violent language against political opponents.