Name one decent thing Bush has done in the previous three and

[Veggie Meathead]

a half years? Or for that matter, in the 50 odd years of his life?

[izzie]

1. He spend almost 50 percent of the time on vacation?

OK OK I am working on it.

[fujiyama]

2. He signed the "Do Not Call List"

bill into law.

That's all I can think of.

[sadiesworld]

23. And that was a real no-brainer.

IIRC most states had either passed it, or were in the process, when * decided to jump on the bandwagon. The law was extremely popular and would have gone nationwide with or without the monkey.

[fujiyama]

28. exactly

i dont really give him any credit.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. He did take out Saddam Hussein

At a ridiculously high price, mind you, but he took him out.

--bkl

[Robbien]

4. But now it appears that more Iraqis have died under the US occupation

than have ever died by the hand of Saddam. And under Saddam, Iraqis were not in danger of being blown up by the 50-100 daily insurgent attacks. And Iraqis would not be suffering from heat because of the bad electricity and garbage would have been regularly collected and the women could go where they wanted without being threatened by the fundamentalists.

Sorry, but I do not feel getting rid of Saddam was a good thing compared to what we replaced him with.

[CaTeacher]

5. he read the goat book! Hey it is a big accomplishment

to read a book. Scratch that--actually wasn't it read to him?

Sorry--replacing Saddam not only was but IS a good thing. #1--
the average Iraqi DID face danger from Saddam. Have you forgotten that this was a man who killed people in horrific ways just for his entertainment and enjoyment? He has thousands of tortures (REAL nasty tortures) on video tape--he used to enjoy having a new one to watch to help him get to sleep.

Sheesh--where did people over here ever get the idea to defend that regime as a good one? It does not make Bush look bad--it makes us look like crazy idiots.

And there are not 50-100 insurgent attacks per day either. Gross exaggeration is not going to win any freepers over to our side. The situation IS better over there--now lets get a move on and make things better here in America. Like Clinton and Gore used to say--It's the economy Stupid. I doubt there would be very many honest Iraqis who would want Saddam back. And believe me I know that area of the world, my husband was Egyptian. I have lived in several Middle Eastern and African Muslim countries. Saddam was feared as a maniac throughout the world. He was a mad crazy horrific scary dangerous man. Do not act like his regime was a picnic or a bed or roses. It is so intellectually dishonest.

It is appropriate to point out though that the Iraqi people were in TERRRIBLE misery before the war--and much of the economic misery was because of the sanctions imposed by America (throughout Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2). You say that before the regime change there was no problems with electricity, garbage pick up etc. Do you have any idea how bleak things were under sanctions? To say nothing of even before sanctions during the Iran war? Things have been rough there for a long long long time--this is a chance for things to get better. People please don't idealize a situation which was TERRIBLE. I know people who suffered greatly for many years in Iraq.

Only from a few folks here (who I doubt have ever visited the ME or know anyone who lives there) do I hear about this bed of roses.

[Robbien]

7. Wow, look at all the RW talking points in your post

and you even have the gall to use the term move on.

Also as you know, your Freeper friends would never give up their blind adoration for their Bush-God to come over to "our" side.

[CaTeacher]

11. I don't really know RW talking points--but I do know the

ME. My husband (Egyptian) died too early of a heart attack, but I met him when I served in the Peace Corp in the ME. I am telling you how I have seen it--life was TERRIBLE under sanctions.

I thought that people knew this? Why did everyone change their minds? Food was scarce, medicine was non-existant--Saddam ruled with an iron fist. I have letters from people who actually lived there--these are letters from people who have never heard "RW talking points" in their lives.

I trust and respect that they have lived through much pain. I honor their experience by sticking up for them and telling people the truth.

It is OK-- for you to think that life under sanctions was the best, because that is your opinion. I personally will give more weight to the opinions of those I know who have lived through it--but you are entitled to your opinion.

[Robbien]

15. Do I believe conditions were great under Saddam and our sanctions?

No.

But the conditions have gone downhill from that time. All the same bad pre-occupation conditions remain today and along with those they now have less security and less freedom because of the bad security.

When reading the Iraqi BaghdadBurning and Raed blogs, they both indicate how much worse conditions are now.

[Ruby Romaine]

14. take a look at Mari's post-

"My oldest son met a soldier just back from Iraq...
her words to my son are that there are over 150 attacks and skirmishes per day going on in the area she was in. Non stop."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2014729

[CaTeacher]

18. Antidotal--one person's perception of how things are going

and estimation of the risk of an attack. As a scientist, this is not impressive data--sorry.

I do get letters from people in Iraq who are feeling safer. The attacks that do happen are concentrated in the middle of the country--the people in the north and south seem to feel very much better now.

I would share with you some letters, but I do not want to invade the privacy of my friends. (And yes--I do know that their stories are antidotal too, but they fit in with the ME newspapers--which I read when I can--and my own experiences in the region---so I trust them. Also the account of a soldier is not that of an ordinary Iraqi. Soldiers are placed in the places where the most danger is. Their PERCEPTION of risk (if not the actual risk) is much different. One of my specialties was risk assessment--so please don't go there.

I do believe life was miserable under sanctions--and I do believe things are getting better now. Sorry if this does not fit in with a "talking point" I feel strongly about the ME.

[Robbien]

19. If that were true Fox would be all over that story

shouting it from the rooftops. But they do not because they cannot seem to get any footage to back up that very rosy picture and of Iraqis praising Allah for Bush and his bombs and his cronies stealing all the Iraqi oil trust money.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

43. yeah you know

I wonder about all these "good things" that are supposedly going on. The right has been just SCREAMING about this for literally months and yet I don't see any of it.

Faux news has to BEG viewers to send in stories from soldiers of good things going on (oh and CaTeacher? That's anecdotal, too, so I guess Faux can't use their viewer stories, either, can they?)

Yet you see and hear nothing.

The next thing they say is that it's this vast left-wing media conspiracy to keep any good news coming out of Iraq away from the American people. My white ASS. Anyone who thinks the left wing is in charge of the American media, I got some GREAT land in Arizona to sell you, dirt-cheap, lakeside, beautiful forested view! You can grow anything there!

Must be that there isn't much good to be SAID about what's going on in Iraq!!!!

[Ruby Romaine]

22. Aren't there other regimes far worse (without oil) that the US ignores?

It is true that the Iraqi-American community is really the only group in the Arab-American world still strongly supporting Bush in the election (from my anecdotal evidence-people I talk to) will vote for Kerry due to Patriot Act, Bush lying about WMD & Iraq/911 connection, economy etc.

[RoadRunner]

29. Most scientists spell it "anecdotal"

:shrug:

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Puglover]

50. Wow...what a post for your 2nd!

Welcome to DU! Enjoy your stay however brief it is!

[treepig]

16. too bad the facts aren't are on your side

In key areas, Iraq is worse off now than before the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, a new General Accounting Office report says.

Electricity, country-wide security and the legal/judicial system were among the key areas cited by the bi-partisan investigative arm of Congress.

The report concludes that Iraqis, overall, are worse off now than before the U.S. invasion.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4783.shtml

but thanks for trying!!

[Gman]

17. There was absolutely NO good reason to take out Hussein

whatsoever for all the very obvious reasons. Bush gets no credit here so **********BUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ********** Wrong answer!!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

42. Point out to me

anywhere where someone defended Saddam Hussein's regime as a GOOD ONE.

Seriously. Point it out to me. You can't because no one has or did.

It's a straw man argument and I'm not falling for it.

[ronatchig]

6. The main thing as I see it

Is that Bush has tore the mask of respectability from the republican party. No person who is even moderately up to date on this cabals agenda can say honestly that "conservatism" is anything but a moniker for corporatism and fundamentalism and is a political dead end for it's adherents.
The truly lasting legacy of the bush rule is the fact that unfettered free markets are a three card Monty ruse. I believe that a new populist/progressive era is developing before our eyes and all because Dim Son is a completely incompetent criminal who truly and accurately reflects his base.

[Robbien]

8. Now that is very true

And without Bush we would still be ignorant of the fact that we are being blinded by the Right.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Increased dissent and introspection.....

from some of the most unlikely sources..... this is a good thing.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/071804L.shtml

>>As I write this, the sounds of the World War II Memorial celebration in Washington, D.C., are still in my head. I was invited by the Smithsonian Institution to be on one of the panels, and the person who called to invite me said that the theme would be "War Stories." I told him that I would come, but not to tell "war stories," rather to talk about World War II and its meaning for us today. Fine, he said.<<

[Tuttle]

12. Good point, ronatchig

If Reagan 'put a smile on conservatism', then Bush has replaced that with a smirk!

I think if he were to run on real accomplishments that benefit all Americans, it would have to be the No-Call List and Can-Spam legislation: who says you can't be on vacation on get something done?
<sarcasm off>

Tut-tut

[Ruby Romaine]

24. Bush supports Can-Spam??????

The Federal Trade Commission's decision to not create a national Do Not Spam registry because of technical and enforcement concerns is the final nail in the coffin of the federal CAN-SPAM Act, and points up the need for a new, tougher federal anti-spam law in the United States.(snip)

http://www.cauce.org/news/index.shtml

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dogmudgeon]

30. Like I said ...

He got rid of Saddam. That was good.

The price was unacceptably high. That was bad. Very bad.

--bkl

[louis c]

10. When Saddam Controlled

Iraqi oil the price at the Pump in th U.S. was about $1.09 a gallon. Now that Bush and Cheney control the second largest oil reserve in the world, the price is $1.91 a gallon.

Iraq was the enemy of Iran. The hijackers and al Queda were assisted by Iran, not Iraq.

Saddam gassed his own people, but this Administration conveniently leaves out the time lines. He did it when Cheney was Secretary of Defense and Rumsfeld was Special Envoy to the Middle East, and no one said a word at the time.

Life without Saddam is much better for the Kurds, the Shiites (who hate us), and the exiles (who lied to us). But has his removal benefited America at all?

My answer is an unequivocal "no". The war has been costly in lives and money. It has caused a rift in our strongest alliances. It has divided our nation. It has caused us to lose standing in the world. It has diverted attention from the real war on terror.

Rather than an accomplishment, I would list Saddam's removal as one of the moron's worst failures.

[treepig]

20. of course, at the time bush I (through the cia) told us

that saddam did not gas his own people.

see http://www.adelaideinstitute.org/Middle_East/gassings.htm

now that's one of bush II's main talking points.

one of them is clearly lying.

most likely, both are.

[lumberingbear]

34. No , think again...

the military took out Sadam. They did their job. Bush failed by taking them to war and not having any plans once the military did their job.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

47. Based on everything we now know, so what? Was he a threat? No.

[MODemocrat]

54. It didn't make us one bit safer nor any better off

Bush has not accomplished one good thing as president as far as I'm
concerned.

[Gman]

13. I could name a few things for Nixon, Reagan and Bush I

that they had done right after 3.5 years. Nixon was not really that bad on social legislation. I know Reagan had a thing or two although they escape me right now while on my first cup of coffee. I still feel that Bush I handled Gulf I correctly after Hussein invaded Kuwait and Bush I gets special kudos for not invading Iraq after Kuwait was liberated per the UN resolution.

But this guy, I there is not a single solitary thing he has done right. Not one damn thing

[Ruby Romaine]

25. we had CETA under Nixon-it was a great job training program before the

rightwingers killed it

[louis c]

27. I Hated Nixon

but he created revenue sharing with the states, which brought down state taxes, increased state run programs. This measure also helped cities and towns.

This asshole we have now has done nothing to help. When the Police and Fire Protest the Repuke Convention in N.Y., he'll have quite a lot 'splanin' to do.

[knitter4democracy]

44. Nixon tried to get a national health care plan through

but it was killed by the right-wingers. My husband loves to tell that one to GOPers he works with who get their panties in a bunch over socialized medicine. Seems to shut them up.

[flordehinojos]

21. he called himself "the war president"

Ain't that shameful? To call yourself "the war president" of an invasion that you started on pre-emptive grounds of a defense that was baseless and bogus, ain't it shameful?
;(

[Paradise]

26. Can't think of any, in the last three and one-half years, and

his negatives have been devastating to us, and to the world, at large!

[RichV]

31. Do Not Call definitely

and maybe Afghanistan, though the job still isn't done and it wasn't done properly to begin with. But the Taliban were removed from power, which is good. Removing Saddam is also good in principle, although how we got there and where we've been since are both terrible.

[maggrwaggr]

32. he united us and exposed the corporate RW for what it truly is

Perhaps in hindsight we'll consider him a hero of sorts, for being such a goddamn obvious criminal that everybody finally was able to pull the wool from their eyes.

[Yupster]

33. Created the 10 % income tax bracket

That was a good thing.

[WilliamPitt]

35. Leaned on pro sports to do stricter drug testing of athletes

[charlyvi]

36. He almost choked on a pretzel.

Someone had to say it.

[Geo55]

37. Fell on his face ?

[gulliver]

38. I can't remember a single one that wasn't tainted ...

When Bush does something that seems decent, ask if it is a side effect of some bigger indecent thing he is doing. (Apologies to Nietzsche.)

Help with AIDS? OK. But why delay the money, and why tie it to an abstinence vs. condoms politics in the third world?

Reduce abortions? OK. So one procedure is illegal, but once again, an abstinence-only approach pervades an administration which then fails to sell abstinence. Man, do they think people are going to abstain just because Bush says he is for "abstinence" to a bunch of right wing believers. Bush is not taking it to the streets. He is downplaying condoms and failing to sell an alternative Pro-life people have been had -- as have we all.

Prevent forest fires? Clean the air? Restore trust in our business environment? ...

[Feanorcurufinwe]

39. He pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey

[Geo55]

53. But....

the turkey weren't no dummy....it then proceeded to bite 'em in the nuts.

[merh]

40. I think his drive the day the he was giving his anti terror statement

to the press was a decent drive. (Now, watch this drive!)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

46. Um

caused me, my family and my friends to become incredibly politically active? United the Democrats like they never have been? Exposed the GOP for the disgusting slime they are?

[Endangered Specie]

48. Hasnt got the opprotunity to appoint any supreme court justices yet.

[Endangered Specie]

49. Do we need to start the whole "Bushs Hot Daughters" thing again?

[the_outsider]

51. helped other countries to see through US foreign policies

You cannot blame him for subtlety.

[greekspeak]

52. Well, he DID choke on that pretzel

nt