Over at his blog Shaun Mullen makes the case that Bush edges out Johnson, Harding and Buchanan for the coveted Worst President Ever trophy. The basic argument goes thusly: 1) the other WPE contenders held power when America was either at peace or a relatively small world power, 2) he has failed to achieve practically any of his policy agenda despite controlling both houses of congress, a commanding public approval mandate (at one point anyway) and a compliant press and 3) declaring that a major war will be the most important thing that he does as president and then screwing it up. Of course there is more so go read the rest.
To me the scope of Bush’s awfulness is simply too cinematic to fit into a blog post or even a single-volume reference text. As I have pointed out before we need something more like a wiki to catalogue it all. With a wiki people interested in say, the gutting of congressional comity rules, our bizarro-world science policies or the underpants gnome planning for postwar Iraq (1. Defeat Saddam. 2. ??? 3. Profit!) can hash out what they know without taking personal responsibility for the whole story.
The rationale here is that each medium has strengths and weaknesses. Blog posts are great for percussive bursts about a specific topic or event but bog down when the writer tries to get too comprehensive. Books are great polemical tools because you can really get into the weeds of an issue but even then you have page limits and the specific interests and disinterests of a particular writer. Ask fifteen experts why Bush is WPE and you will get ten or twelve answers based on their personal area of interest, and I am not buying that many books. For that sort of question it seems like a wiki is really the only way to go. If RedState wants to start their own wiki about how Democrats are worse than an Earth-killing asteroid then great, the more the merrier.
***Late Update***
Ask and ye shall receive! Via a commenter, this wiki from PFAW could be very promising.
Pb
Well, here’s a timeline, but it only covers the first term, and of course it could use a lot of fleshing out. Fortunately there’s a lot of material out there as well.
Andrew
It’s clear that Bush is the worst ever, not just because of his (lack of) accomplishments and/or malfeasance/idiocy/etc., but the because the gap between his present state and what he could have achieved is so high.
Right after 9/11, he could have done the single most important thing for national security in decades: increase the gas tax.
Of course, that was the last thing on the mind of the Texas oilman running the show, and Bush didn’t like it either.
The Other Steve
I think I’m going to buy into the Bush IPO, just based on that business plan.
kchiker
And to think that Bush REALLY does think that history will vindicate his presidency.
I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think we have any clue how far off the map we’ve wandered. Anyone who voted R and who has children might to start lying about that fact now. Or maybe get a good hypnotist–if memories can be recalled, perhaps they can also be erased.
Punchy
He’s the worst largely b/c it’s painfully clear that he doesn’t want to BE prez anymore. His press conferences are a insane mix of pauses, stutters, repeats, and bullet points.
There’s no charisma, no charm, no flair….He’s bored, tired, and being manipulated at several levels, most notably the Vice-Prez. If he at least CARED, I’d cut him a bigger break, but since he wont even try to hide his disinterest in being Prez, that makes him dangerous, and surely the worst.
Keith
Bush has already told Brian Williams that you can’t judge a president until 50-60 years later, so there! (unless the president in question is “Darth” Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan I)
The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me
Yeah, but it’s not as if Gore would’ve done anything differently.
Democrats are no better than Republicans. Tweedledee, and Tweedledum.
xoxoxoxox,
Ralph Nader
zzyzx
Come on, he’s going to be added to Mt. Rushmore. National Review repeatedly has called him one of the greatest presidents ever and they couldn’t be wrong, could they?
The Other Steve
Punchy – Interesting point on his being bored.
His main concern seems to be passing the estate tax cut so when papa dies he doesn’t have to pay any taxes.
Otto Man
I think that’s the important point. We’re all pretty much agreed that Bush is the WPE Winner, so the debate will move to exactly *why* he’s the WPE.
So many reasons, so much time to debate them.
docg
Damn, The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me, no use trolling without bait. Please contact DougJ for lessons.
Tsulagi
Yes, thanks for the memories, Mr. President. How right after 9/11 political leaders from both sides of the aisle were standing together saying there are no Democrats, there are no Republicans, only Americans standing together.
A couple of weeks after 9/11 I got a copy of an email that contained a photo of a German Navy frigate that had asked permission to come alongside a U.S. Navy warship in the Atlantic. In the photo all the German sailors were in dress uniform saluting the American ship. The German ship was flying a huge American flag with a large hand printed banner on their bridge saying WE STAND BY YOU. The U.S. captain said there wasn’t a dry eye on his bridge. I got a little misty eyed too.
This president was handed that on a platter. He didn’t have to lift a finger to get it. A united country and almost an entire world standing with us. Any former president of any party could only have dreamed of such a situation and would have accomplished great things.
But what does this retarded fucker, a great counter argument to evolution do? He shits all over it. In a few short years, our credibility and leadership in the world is shot. In large measure, abroad we’re either despised or simply thought of as a joke. In this country, Team Bushtard continue to work their uniting-not-dividing magic. To the point where now in desperation they call anyone who doesn’t fully lobotomize in order to agree with them a Nazi appeaser.
They keep telling us to remember 9/11. I remember. This asshole pisses daily on the people who died in the towers, the planes, and the Pentagon. He is not fit to be in the same room with an American flag.
ThymeZone
What Tsulagi said.
Zifnab
To be fair, Nixon wasn’t all that great either. But before we go writing off Bush as WPE, we need to wait for two things.
1) Will righties errect a Holy Shrine To Bush The King of Men next to their Holy Shrine To Reagen The God Among Presidents?
2) If Senator Allen gets elected President, can he fuck up the country EVEN MORE!
Zifnab
ABC Docudrama: The Path to 9/11
Come to think of it, didn’t Bill Clinton have sex in the Oval Office? Haha. You know looking back, with the hell our country has been through in those tummultus 90s, we should count ourselves lucky that we’ve got such as good President like Bush to bail us out of the mess those damn dirty Democrats put us in ten years ago.
gus
I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say “he has failed to achieve practically any of his policy agenda.” Aren’t rich people getting richer? Aren’t they paying an ever diminishing percentage of that wealth in taxes? Aren’t American workers being squeezed to the point where they’re just happy to have jobs, and not quite so uppity and involved in unions? Mission accomplished!
SeesThroughIt
Well, they’ve already been using the “Bush is the new Lincoln” talking point with absolutely no irony–look for the frequency of that talking point to ramp up as the weeks pass.
Also, what Tsulagi said.
DougJ
Come on, as TAFKAG4M says, you know Gore would have done the same. You think he wouldn’t have allowed a huge terrorist attack to happen, started a disastrous war based on false pretenses, cracked down on civil liberties, given billions of dollars of tax breaks to the oil companies, gutted FEMA, taken 2 month vacations every summer, and pronounced nuclear as nuc-u-lar?
Yeah, give me some of what you’re smoking, moonbat.
Tom in Texas
As gus pointed out, Bush accomplished quite a bit of his agenda, and doesn’t consider himself a failure at all. He may have ruined this country for a decade, and his policies may be abhorrent to most of us (even those who voted for him), but by and large he achieved his goals. There are notable exceptions, such as Soc. Sec. and the estate tax, but for the msot part it’s “Mission Accomplished.”
DougJ
I’m not so sure, Tom. I don’t think civil war in Iraq was one of his goals, for example. It’s a tough question to answer, though, since who knows what his goals really are. If you take the most cynical view, then you’re right he has accomplished his goals. But believe it or not, I’m not quite that cynical. (I probably should be though.)
SeesThroughIt
Yeah, this sort of cuts to Bush’s infamous statement: “I will enact the policy I want, and my administration will be a success.” What he didn’t/doesn’t realize but an ever-growing majority does is that those two things are mutually exclusive.
sglover
This president was handed that on a platter. He didn’t have to lift a finger to get it. A united country and almost an entire world standing with us. Any former president of any party could only have dreamed of such a situation and would have accomplished great things.
Too true, and too damning. But it runs in the blood — it’s the legacy of his whole familiy line of well-connected ticket-punchers. Remember Bush the Elder? After his Gulf War he had something like 90% approval ratings. He could’ve got any legislation he’d wanted. (In my fantasy parallel universe, he could’ve stepped in front of the Congress and said, “We’re going to buy 99% of the former Soviet nuclear arsenal, and in recognition of this new era, we’re going to scrap 99% of our own.”) But the old mediocrity didn’t have the faintest inkling about what exactly he wanted to do. I devoutly hope that, if nothing else, the Bush family is permanently barred from any political office above alderman.
One thing I want to hear from the remaining Bush apologists and dupes: The Idiot Prince has pretty much said that he’s perfectly content to leave Iraq to his successor. Why should he get a free pass for that? If Iraq truly is a “front” in WWIII or the GWOT or the TWAT or whatever the hell it is today, how come Dear Leader is content to just keep shufflin’ along? Somehow I can’t imagine Lincoln or FDR saying, “Aw, hell, the next guy can wrap this war up. I gotta take a vacation.”
sglover
I’m not so sure, Tom. I don’t think civil war in Iraq was one of his goals, for example. It’s a tough question to answer, though, since who knows what his goals really are.
I think it’s pretty clear that back in the 2000 campaign, Bush the Lesser had identified war as a precondition to being a “great” president. I strongly suspect (though I truly don’t want to believe, since I prefer to imagine that I still live in a viable republic) that Iraq is the product of that, and his own Freudian issues with his old man. Osama gave Bush the pretext to make his bid for “greatness”.
Of course, the Iraq disaster mucked that up. Civil war wasn’t part of the plan. But slips like that happen, when you’re too goddam stupid and incurious to consider what might happen when things go wrong in your brilliant scheme…..
sglover
If Senator Allen gets elected President, can he fuck up the country EVEN MORE!
Senator Allen isn’t going to be elected Senator.
The Other Steve
Gotta agree with gus and Tom from Texas.
GW Bush’s goal as President was to fuck up the country. I’d say Mission Accomplished.
Although I don’t think they planned to destroy the Republican party in the process.
Keefer’s Gerbil
It stinks in here, just like the DemoFascists.
Pb
sglover,
Also, he picked the right guy to do it–Cheney had a hard-on for this war since before the *first* Gulf War. If only Scowcroft and Powell hadn’t mucked it up, we could have gotten this quagmire out of the way, way earlier!
craigie
A wiki to consolidate the vast quantity of WPE bullet points is something that has occurred to me many times, but
1. it takes effort, and worse
2. it would be vandalized day and night by conservaloonies. Kinda like the country as a whole, I guess.
KCinDC
WikiThePresidency is a People for the American Way project that seems to be exactly what you’re asking for, Tim.
The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me
Exactly. That’s my point, Nader is right about everything. I’m glad I voted for him in 2000, I’m proud I voted for him in 2004, and I’ll happily vote for him again in 2008, 2012, and 2016.
I’m an asshole like that, you see.
Well, at least he managed to fuck up several other countries in the process. No need to worry about Iraq’s economy overtaking America’s anytime soon. Once Operation: Irani Freedom gets started, I think the entire GDP of the Middle East will approximately equal that of the state of Kansas.
Freedom is messy.
Hot image, Keefer. Thanks.
scs
So the WORST President ever? Low unemployment, strong economic growth, a shrinking deficit finally, no terrorist attacks since 911. Two successful military operations in Afgh. and Iraq, with historically low casualties, with the following occupations experiencing ups and down, but on the whole holding, with two democractically governments hanging on despite of the minority segment of trouble makers determined to do them in. A greater awareness and discussion of democracy in places in the Middle East.
The failures that TimF and Shaun detailed (end of civil liberties, tax cuts for the wealthy) are perhaps part of the successes above -growing economy and no terror attacks, so they don’t count. No new social programs and conservative judges appointed are also part of the Republican agenda- so no failure there.
The one main thing that would be judged a failure is Bush’s failure to get Soc Sec reform. But Clinton had a disastrous failure with health insurance as well, so I hardly count that one thing as a failure beyond all others.
See the thing why you guys are not logical is that you are looking at his presidency through your own narrow leftie prism. For instance, to you, lowering the taxes on the rich would be, by definition to you, a failure, even if the result of such action was a successful spurt of economic growth. It’s kind of like asking a guy who loves country music and hates rap music to judge a rap contest. He’s going to hate ALL of the music, whether it’s good rap or not. So to get polical analysis from leftie slaves such as TimF and others is just a waste of time. Thank god we do have to wait to history to get the final accessment.
scs
excuse the mistaken strikes
scs
Oh and another reason why Bush shouldn’t be considered the worst president ever – the American people voted him in for a second term. If his first term had been so bad, the people would have pulled a Jimmy Carter on him.
The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me
This is why I’ve retired. You just can’t spoof this shit. It spoofs itself far too eloquently.
Katrina was a huge success, too. Too bad Bush has to share some of the credit with those Louisiana Democrats. The lefties are always trying to suck up to him and steal his thunder.
Don’t forget his failure to lock all liberals up in chicken wire cages. History will not look kindly on this lapse; why can’t Bush stop Ward Churchill at a time when Islamic Fascists and moonbats are working hand in glove to weaken American resolve?
Not to worry, scs. Most of us are too busy making money in our new jobs to pay attention to the embittered leftists anyway.
Economic theory is no different than an episode of American Idol, you see.
History is written by the moonbats, scs. Look what they did to poor Harding and Hoover. Even Reagan looks kinda crazy in hindsight, thanks to those damn lefty college history professors churning out books about Iran-Contra and Afghanistan in the 80s. Who knows what they’ll do to Bush? Unfortunately, due to his failure to lock them up or muzzle them, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop the leftists from distortion and historical revisionism.
That, to me, is Bush’s greatest failure as a President.
537 Floridians, 5 Supreme Court Justices, and Ken Blackwell agree- better Bush than one of those interchangeable granola-crunching windsurfers the Democrat Party throws up every 4 years.
This is some priceless stuff, scs. The rest of us are just apprentices learning at the feet of the Master, here.
ape
Underpants Gnomes – very funny. not heard that before.
Re Cataloguing Bush’s errors.. a guy ran a “George W Bush Scorecard of Evil” that had pretty much this intention (might be a reminder of way back when some of you were still supporting him):
jesseberney.com/scorecard_print.html
re Contemporary anti-bushies, is this cartoon at all significant? http:www.ucomics.com/rallcom/2006/05/06/
scs
Doug, you’re just not that funny anymore because all your posts trying to be sarcastic are the pretty much the same routine. If you’re using your computer to break up and block quote a post, it’s just not all that funny anymore. Try to get an updated program.
Darrell
Of course, because it’s only “spoof” BS that unemployment is so low with the economy booming. And yes, casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq are very low by any historical standard and both governments are clinging well to democracy. But no need to actually acknowledge or address any of those ‘controversial’ points, as all the cool kids on the left immediately recognize them as too ridiculous to respond to. How very ‘reality based’.
It’s a tendency of the left to mock and ridicule and absolutely fail to address valid substantive points which dispute their narrative. Because if they ever dared to try, they would be exposed for the fools that they truly are.
Otto Man
Low unemployment? The 2005 average was 5.1%, which was lower than Bush’s previous run (5.5%, 6.0%, 5.8% for the previous three years) but still much higher than what That Evil Clinton had (4.9% shrinking down to 4.0% in 2000).
Strong economic growth? The NASDAQ and S&P 500 are both down for Bush’s tenure, while the Dow Jones has barely moved forward.
Shriking deficit? Bush just pushed through a new ceiling on the national debt, and the national debt clock here in NYC just had to add an extra space because we’re heading into the neighborhood of $10,000,000,000,000.00 debt.
no terrorist attacks since 911
None here, though the State Department’s own statistics show that foreign incidents of terrorism have gone up at an alarming rate since this administration’s bungled response to 9/11.
And, careful. If five years with no terrorist attack means the Bushies are doing a good job, then by your own logic Clinton was twice as good for the record after the 1993 WTC bombing.
Two successful military operations in Afgh. and Iraq, with historically low casualties, with the following occupations experiencing ups and down, but on the whole holding, with two democractically governments hanging on despite of the minority segment of trouble makers determined to do them in. A greater awareness and discussion of democracy in places in the Middle East.
Put down the bong. Seriously.
The American people have never thrown out a president while the country’s at war, but even against that backdrop, Bush had the smallest re-election margin of any incumbent president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.
And re-election doesn’t move you out of WPE contention. Nixon won in 1972, and unlike Dubya, he did it in a landslide. That victory didn’t erase any of the scandal of Watergate.
Look, Bush is already leading the competition by a nose, and that’s only based on the tip of the iceberg that we’ve seen. If the Democrats can retake the House this fall and win back the subpoena power, we’re going to learn a whole lot more about this collection of crooks and incompetents. I’m confident Bush will win the title in a walk.
Otto Man
More evidence of the excellent economic record of this adminsitration can be found here. Heckuva job, Bushie.
Darrell
Even 5.1% unemployment is quite good by historical standards. Unemployment rate in 2000 was so low not as a result of real economic growth, but as a result of a tech bubble (which burst that same year) and smoke & mirrors economic ‘miracles’ ala Enron, Wordcom and others.
Not sure what you’re smoking Cyrus, but it sure isn’t very reality based. The middle east in the 1990’s was a hotbed of terrorism which boiled over on us again on 9/11. Democratic reforms in Afghanistan and Iraq which spawned terrorist threats are a substantial improvement over the situation before. Is that really such a “controversial” observation which needs to be mocked and ridiculed (‘Put down the bong’ etc.)?
The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me
I’m not DougJ, scs. I’m really Tim F. I ain’t saying whether or not I’m John Cole and Darrell too, though. That’s classified. Really, the jury’s still out on whether there’s anyone on this blog besides you, me, and my alternate personas.
BTW, you’re fucking insane. I don’t know if you’re this crazy or not in real life, but if you are I envision a padded room in your homesteading future. I know that’s off topic, and I certainly don’t mean to rub it in, but there it is. Paranoid schizophrenia is not a healthy thing.
That being said, that post WAS priceless. I’m trying to pay you a compliment. Spoofers could work for hours trying to come up with a beautiful piece of work like that.
Will Senator Corky yield?
No wonder he likes pie so much.
Otto Man
Sure, it’s not as bad as the worst we saw under Reagan (9.7% in ’82, 9.6% in ’83, and an average yearly rate in the 7% range) or Bush the Elder (7.5% in ’92), but it’s still nothing to crow about.
You want to talk about smoke and mirrors, Darrell? How about all the people who aren’t even counted in the current Bush figure because they were unemployed for too long now, or the people who are technically employed but working 2-3 jobs with no benefits?
Uh, yes. Because all of that new terrorism is going to wind up back on our shores eventually, while the new democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan decline into fundamentalist rule (see Hamas in Lebanon) or outright military dictatorship (see our ally in Pakistan).
This administration has made us less safe in every way possible — stirring up new enemies abroad and not doing jack shit to shore up our real homeland security here at home.
And as long as you sit there applauding it for doing so, then yes, I will mock you.
BlogReeder
Yes! It was the gas tax that led to 9/11. How could we have been so blind.
Andrew for President! Then we’d have a shoe in for WPE.
sglover
Yes! It was the gas tax that led to 9/11. How could we have been so blind.
Errrr…. I know that right-wingers aren’t seriously interested in events that have happened in this dimension, but just as a mental exercise you might want to bone up on the last several decades of American involvement in Southwest Asia. Pay special attention to how often yesterday’s dubious “partner” or “client” or “ally” became today’s “terrorist”. Ask yourself, what is it about that part of the world that has kept the U.S. thrashing and mucking about for so long? Hint: It ain’t the good baklava.