9/11 Is Why He Is The Worst President Ever by Bob Cesca

[applegrove]

9/11 Is Why He Is The Worst President Ever
by Bob Cesca
at Huffington Post
December 3, 2006{

"In Sunday's Washington Post, Douglas Brinkley opened the official public portion of the debate amongst historians as to whether President Bush has been the worst president in American history. Meanwhile, the debate on this topic has been on-going in the blogosphere for as long as I can remember. Brinkley writes that it's the Iraq War which will place George W. Bush amongst our worst presidents and most of us from the blogs can agree that it's one of the president's leading trespasses on a long, long list.

Iraq, in fact, is a terrible symptom of the president's horrifyingly awful reaction to September 11. It is his mishandling of 9/11, ultimately, that makes him not amongst our worst, but the worst American president.

I've always held that anyone -- even a child -- would've reacted similarly to President Bush during and after 9/11 in all aspects. His stunned inaction during My Pet Goat in Florida; his initial statements; his address before the joint session of Congress; the invasion of Afghanistan; everything. All predictable, all textbook, all ordinary. It was all too typical of President Bush's mediocre nature: do what is basically expected, but not much else. And then, rather than using 9/11 as a means to unify us all through humanitarian legislation and positive, uplifting acts to truly change the world for the better, the president instead exploited 9/11 with the goal of consolidating executive power and selfishly indulging the foreign policy whimsy of his associates.

Almost as tragic as the attacks themselves, President Bush turned the nation and the world down a path of darkness, tragedy and more death. America is more divided than it has been since the Civil War. Many former allies disdain and merely tolerate us. It's difficult to image now that the people of Iran -- an "axis of evil" nation -- held massive candlelight vigils honoring our fallen citizens. As a result of the president's 9/11 reactions, Republicans, in their defense of the president, have tossed aside intellectual honesty, rationality and thoughtfulness, while Democrats, with their patriotism constantly and wrongfully at issue, have either acquiesced or have allowed formerly important issues to sag under the weight of dealing with cleaning up the president's mistakes.

.........SNIP"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/911-is-why-hes-the-wors_b_35465.html

[jgraz]

1. And he doesn't even mention the fact that Bush let it happen

You can argue LIHOP or MIHOP or IHOP, but there is no question that Bush was, at a minimum, criminally negligent in the months before 9/11.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. Amen to all this.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Criminal negligence is really all that needs to be proven.

He failed his oath of office on 9/11. Why? Maybe a real investigation will enlighten us all. But, on the surface, one can point to a pResident who spent 40% of his time vacationing prior to 9/11 as basis for not being prepared. He had all kinds of warnings that were not heeded....for that 3000 Americans paid the price. Justice was not served for these people in that sham called the 9/11 Commission. Perhaps a real investigation on proving that this administration was, at minimum, criminally negligent on 9/11 will address this injustice.

[PATRICK]

4. The "worst" survey

Bush is abominably unique. The very question is too kind, so unjust that foggy students of history think that there ARE possibly presidents as bad or worse than Bush. In or out of context, by any measures past or present and by some measures Bush himself has created there are NO comparisons in results quality or amount of harm done. You might come up with some factoid like military casualty body count which on their face are not so bad as other wartime years until you realize this war is baldly imperial and aggressive. Back in earlier days there was no body armor and restriction to street patrols and sorties either.

But while piling up the bodies in various ways needs some perspective mathwise, nothing can take away from the ill will, intransigent and unfeeling incompetence and self benefit concomitant with the assumption of dictatorial powers.

Bush was never elected. The only other such evident fraud(excluding the dirty tricks of Reagan, Nixon and Bush I) was a terrible president because hamstrung by the disgrace. Bush is the first failed fraud, nearly bungling his two elections so that the fraud was evident, palpable and an open assault on elections per se- for the first time. Bush is the first failed dictator, weakly bungling power grabs even though freely given without much fuss.

Bush so far, is the worst American dictator. My fear, with this precedent of legitimizing his false regime even in the "worst" category, will enable and encourage a more charismatic and gifted dictator who knows now how to get away with things. This new category is now wide open just because it is unrecognized.