OK, Maybe There *Are* Some Things Obama Can Give George W. Bush Some Credit For

[bondwooley]

From an outside poll:

Snip ~

Prez Obama announced the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom this week. <...> And what do GOP Reps John McCain, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have to say? They want to know why Obama isn't giving George W. Bush any credit.

<...>

Any talk of giving "credit" to the man who led this country into war -- under whatever bizarre pretense he could pull out of his bum -- leaves us feeling a bit nauseated.

Still, we're not against giving credit where it's due. So we're asking: What would you like to see Obama give George W. Bush credit for?

I voted that we can at least give him credit for Freedom Fries. How about you?

Original poll here: http://www.pledge-drive.com/lesterandcharliesurvey.html

[BeFree]

1. I thank Bush for...

...not pushing the button and launching the nukes.

You know he wanted to, and many of his supporters wanted him to press that button.

So thanks, w, for not blowing us to kingdom come.

Other than that I got nothing but a raised middle finger to the bastard.

[bluerum]

2. restoring the codpiece to its rightful place honor in the fashion world

[bondwooley]

7. Did he wear one? I missed that ... n/t

[Hissyspit]

20. No, you didn't...

Everyone in the world saw it.

[bondwooley]

25. Oh, yes! Blast from the past. I wonder if Dukakis wore one in the tank? nt

[July]

32. Subtle as a Mack truck. nt

[July]

33. Subtle as a Mack truck. nt

[bondwooley]

37. I guess I didn't have my glasses on... nt

[Hissyspit]

39. Not even anywhere near equivalent.

Dukakis hadn't started an illegal immoral war based on lies that would result in 100,000s of deaths.

What's your point?

[scrubthedata]

3. Someone has to take credit for the Bush Twins, I'll give him that. n/t

[Larry Ogg]

16. I think Dick should get the credit for that... n/t

[bondwooley]

35. HAHA! nt

[Ian David]

4. The Do-Not-Call List. n/t

[Ian David]

5. Freedom Fries

Freedom fries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<snip>

On March 11, 2003, Representatives Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-North Carolina) declared that all references to French fries and French toast on the menus of the restaurants and snack bars run by the House of Representatives would be removed. House cafeterias were ordered to rename French fries to "freedom fries". This action was carried out without a congressional vote, under the authority of Ney's position as Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees restaurant operations for the chamber. The simultaneous renaming of French toast to "freedom toast" attracted less attention.<1>

<snip>

In May 2005, Representative Jones, having arrived at the belief that the United States went to war "with no justification", said of the "freedom fries" episode: "I wish it had never happened."<11> By July 2006, the House had changed the name of the two foods in all of its restaurants back to "French fries" and "French toast".<12>

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fries

[bondwooley]

9. Thanks for the snip. It really is hard to believe that happened. n/t

[athenasatanjesus]

6. I don't see how better jokes doesn't win

Especially since he gets credit for Sarah Palin the funniest woman in human history.

[bondwooley]

8. It is about the only thing we got out of those 8 years. n/t

[Alpha Numeric Wanda]

10. What blows my mind...

...is that even after the awful 8 Bush years, Obama seems to be disappointing people. You would think GWBush wouldn't be a hard act to follow!

As for the poll, I voted for Katrina. Thank you for that one, George. (*sarcasm*) (duh)

[bondwooley]

11. I guess Bush was a hard act to follow ...

Personally I think that Bush set our expectations so low that when Obama came in, he was greeted with 8 years of pent up enthusiasm. He could walk on water and people would still, naturally say that he's not doing enough. We've forgotten that politicians change, not the political process. He's working within it like he should. What do we want him do? Ignore the process? Make his own rules? That would be akin to the Patriot Act. Is that what we want, and since he's a Democrat it would be OK?

[Hugabear]

12. He kept John McCain out of office

As bad as Bush was, I shudder to think what a McCain presidency would have been like.

[Chicks With Dickens]

13. McCain? What about Palin?

She came awfully close to being 2nd in command to the guy who would have been our oldest president yet. Shudder. The only thing scarier is that next time around she's probably going to try to go straight to the top. Double shudder.

[bondwooley]

14. Don't worry about Palin 2012. She'll never produce a birth certificate that proves she's human. nt

[scrubthedata]

15. I think that's an important thing to remember as we head to midterms. n/t

[Larry Ogg]

17. He should get credit for being the first

unelected commander and thief in U.S. history...

[scrubthedata]

21. LOL How true! And also for being a puppet under A Vice President. n/t

[Alpha Numeric Wanda]

23. Well Ford wasn't elected, either...

...and he stole from us the chance to prosecute Nixon!

[bondwooley]

24. Good point, but there might be a difference...

... in that:

(a) he was legally appointed by a sitting president, rather than the Supreme Court;

(b) he was a klutz, but not a crook;

(c) he came up with those clever "Whip Inflation Now" buttons!

;-)

[July]

34. And put party over country in pardoning Nixon, who WAS a crook. nt

[Fire1]

18. Not a damn thing! n/t

[bondwooley]

22. OK, if not credit - then responsibility nt

[robinlynne]

19. crimes against humanity.

[bondwooley]

27. That's the CliffNotes version ;-)

[robinlynne]

28. yep...

[totodeinhere]

26. I will give him credit for funding anti AIDS programs in Africa. I will also give him credit for

trying to enact reasonable immigration reform. But that doesn't change the fact that he was one of our worst presidents, he is a war criminal, and he stole two elections.

[bondwooley]

29. Appreciate your balanced view and totally agree on war criminal and election bandit. nt

[Vinca]

30. Give him credit for leaving town when his term was up.

[bondwooley]

36. That WAS an issue I thought about, since his terms were rigged in the first place. nt

[Recursion]

31. The largest set-aside of ocean for conservation reasons in history

That and the AIDS funding are probably going to be the two best legacies of his presidency.

[bondwooley]

38. You think that will be the legacy or what redeems him in history? nt

[Recursion]

40. I don't do "redemption"

I just think those two things will have the most positive impact of what he's done.

[bondwooley]

41. Good to hear! In this case, at least... n/t

[scrubthedata]

43. The thought of "legacy" and "Bush" in the same sentence is ... painful. nt

[Recursion]

47. Yeah, I'm just using it in a very primitive sense

The literal physical legacy of his Presidency will include those conserved ocean areas, which is a good thing.

[old mark]

42. You have to admit, when W starts a war, it's a record breaker!

Long, expensive, unpaid for and totally pointless!
He may have bankrupted our country for a lie!!!

You GO, George!!!


mark

[scrubthedata]

44. And what did he gain for it?

There must be something he got out of it, because no one else did.

[bondwooley]

45. Follow the money...

The people who backed him made a fortune. Thoughtful of him to watch thier back while stabbing the rest of us.

[scrubthedata]

46. Do you think he got any of it? n/t

[bondwooley]

48. See: Haliburton. nt

[Recursion]

53. Qadaffi gave up his nuclear program

Or however we're transliterating his name today.

We also put some pressure on the Iranian regime, though that didn't shake out the way the Bush admin seemed to imagine it would.

[cowcommander]

49. Bush did a lot to stabilize Africa

I even remember reading some articles about conservatives criticizing him for making Africa into his own personal crusade.

[bondwooley]

50. I vaguely remember that ...

... Perhaps part of trying to block out those 8 years. I remember the Gates Foundation doing a lot for Africa. I'm going to have to look this up. Maybe there is something he's due credit for!

[RedCloud]

51. How about giving Katrina relief money to undamaged oil companies?

Those pigs got over two billion dollars of it. lower ward, not one penny.

[bondwooley]

52. Credit where credit is due! Love it! nt