I think there's a LOT of stuff we've all forgotten about. There's a lot I haven't listed here too!
•
He would have had to have been honestly elected in 2000. He would not have gone to the Supreme Court to stop the voting, but instead would have said "I think all votes should be counted, and even if it takes three weeks, let's make sure every vote is counted so we're all comfortable that the results are fair." Had he still won, I'd accept him, and had he not, I would have at least respected his approach.
•
He would not have clamped down a gauntlet of secrecy. The order sealing all Presidential records (including those of his dad), and all the other efforts to take the "sunlight" out of the government - from the energy meetings to releasing of records.
•
He had not illegally replaced the National Archivist. The National Archivist is in charge of the nations official historical records and serves a 10 year term and is supposed to have the utmost respect of his peers and has to be accepted by Congress and if he is replaced, the President has to explain to Congress why, and it is not to be done lightly. The archivist was forced out in 2004, to be replaced by a Bush appointee with questionable credentials (or at least not highly respected ones), without the proper explanation to Congress, and just in time to oversee the 2005 release (or lack thereof) of records from the Bush Sr. administration, and the Bush Jr. records for the next ten years.
•
He had not spent 40% of his time on vacation prior to 9/11. For chrissake, it's one of the most important jobs in the country, for which he's woefully unqualified - he should have been working his ass off to get up to speed.
•
He had not dismissed Clinton's warnings of Osama out of hand. Clinton & Co. had been working on this for the last eight years, you might want to give their warnings of dangers some credence.
•
After 9/11, he had gone after Osama. And not stopped until he got him. Everyone in the world was on our side. It was an unprecedented opportunity to get Osama, make the world safer, and stock markets would have risen and everyone would have breathed easier.
•
He had not gone into Iraq without the backing of the U.N.. This is not being subservient to the U.N.. Saddam was contained. It was a sovereign nation. We could not go into Iraq any more than I can go into my neighbor's house. If there's a critical emergency, I can go in, but there damn well better be a critical emergency or else I'll have a lot of explaining to do. The U.N. approval is also important for an air of legitimacy - if all nations approved - including Arab nations - it would be accepted. Instead it was not perceived as being sanctioned - indeed, it was perceived as being illegal - and they fought back.
•
He had not been in such a rush, and had taken time to plan. You know the rest. There should have been plans to secure the weapons dumps, the national treasures, all sorts of things.
•
He had not insulted our allies in the process. "Freedom Fries"? Come on. Maybe this is to be expected from someone who never traveled out of the United States before his campaign. He's insulting them to his base, but our allies are listening. I can't blame them for not being too enthusiastic to help later on.
•
He had not maxed out our nation's credit cards and driven the economy into the ground. The only reason it seems like we're doing well is because of all the deficit spending. If I charge a new Hummer, big-screen TV, and a swimming pool, it may look like I'm rolling in cash but in reality I'd just be wallowing in debt. The dollar is at an all-time low, the deficit and debt are at all-time highs, the job situation is terrible and the jobs that are coming in pay a fraction of what they used to. The situation is not good, and he made a point to get the tax cuts passed before announcing the costs for the war. How prudent is that?
•
He had listened to people, not shut them out for bad news. There was a little too much "shooting the messenger" in his effort to maintain his image, which brings me to the final point...
•
Had he seemed willing to take responsibility and change if needed - "Gosh, I hope it's not my administration's fault!". Can you think of NO mistakes, president Bush?
•
He had not put politics before policy. Everything from delaying troop movements and callups until after the election to how we deal with our allies and issues today; everything in that White House goes through the "Is this good for our re-election?" filter instead of the "Is this good for America?" filter.
WHAT HAVE I MISSED?
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
