Do you remember in 2000 how virulent the battle was between Bush and McCain for the GOP nomination? Well, Bush STILL harbors bitterness over that fight.
You see, Bush has giving a ringing endorsement of McCain, calling him “a true conservative”. McCain probably spit out his Cheerios and snorted milk out of his nose when reading that headline. Who wants an endorsement from someone who has a 35% approval rating? And the true conservative label would really have helped during the primaries, not before they were practically decided. It’s not like being labeled a conservative is going to help capture the center in the general election.
(By the way, are you someone who generally approves of the current president? Please let me know why! I promise not to make fun of you, but I can’t say the same for Blunderprone.)
Oh, and by the way…we just got out of 8 years of a conservative regime that didn’t exactly make the top ten. And there are people telling me they want ANOTHER conservative in office? (Hi, Mr. Hannity.) Not to be crude, but when I want to be bent over again, I’ll let you know.
Fortunately, Bush is talking out of his behind when he says John McCain is a “true conservative”, and even if McCain is elected, it will be an improvement.
I still think your writing’s boring, but the picture’s pretty funny.
I love the headline and the pictures are priceless.
Oh.. and BTW 324 more days.
I generally approve of bush for various reasons. One of which is his general unwillingness to fudge on his convictions under all the pressure and attacks he has received. Even if you disagree with his convictions I think you have to admit he’s got some.
Also my general impression is that the economy has improved overall prior to the recently elected congress. (Which has an even lower approval rating than Bush.). Also I think the war in Iraq is a net positive considering the alternative of not going in. Maybe most of my reason’s are expressed in what I found some compelling statements on the matter in this Utah state university Q&A(part3) which is 13 minutes and 30 seconds long (Second question I think.):
http://htod.cdncon.com/o2/rzimht/MP3/JT/JTCDQA03-3.mp3
BTW did you here that recent thing on 60 minutes where Hussein admitted to an undercover guy that he wanted to scare Iran by making Bush think he had not destroyed some WMDs, and that he intended to restart devolopment on biological, nuclear, and one other level?
Sadly I’m pretty uninformed when it comes to this stuff, so I would probably make a not so great defender of my views in this area. But I’m working on that, a little anyway…
@Blunderprone: How will you feel if McCain gets elected?
@l3rucewayne: There are a few things I give Bush credit for. There has not been another major terrorist attack in this country since 9/11. I think the war in Iraq probably will lead to long-term good once the mess is sorted out. And I don’t think he is any more a liar than your average politician.
However…
His strength of conviction is a double-edged sword. In his case, stubbornness might be a better word. He does not seem willing or able to change his point of view as circumstances around him change.
The Iraq War was poorly planned and executed. I understand that wars don’t go perfectly, but problems with using minimum troop numbers and disbanding the Iraqi regular army were foreseen even before the consequences were obvious to everyone.
And for a Christian who considers himself a defender of morality, he lapses in defending basic humanity. For example, the lack of anger at the Abu Ghraib incident, and the use of depleted uranium ammunition in civilian areas in Iraq. (Do you want a batch in your front yard?) The willingness to use “aggressive interrogation techniques “(waterboarding, etc.) seemingly without considering morality is at least questionable.
Additionally, the Bush administration has failed to change strategy in a changing world. While the Bush administration has tried to operate from a position of strength (military and monetary), it’s becoming obvious that the United States will not be “number one” for long. Howard Dean was right in 2004: the US must prepare for the day when it is no longer the strongest nation in the world. The current regime seems to believe the US will be #1 forever.
The final thing is that the Republicans were supposedly about government fiscal responsibility–this is what I thought in 2000. But instead of the Dems’ “tax and spend”, we’ve gotten a “borrow and spend”. GOP control has done nothing to slow spending, even if you take out expenditures for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Others will have more beefs and be much angrier than me.
I will need to listen to the speech tonight. I don’t have access to a computer with sound right now!
Small note: Congress does have a lower approval rating than the president and I remember when it was relatively big news. What they didn’t tell you is that historically, that’s almost always the case. I’m not sure why.
I’m impressed, some good points. I just wanted to state my general approval and some reasons, so I won’t be countering yours. (I think I would do poorly anyway.) One thing though, you went from bush to his administration and then to his party (I wonder how Bush personally has been with the spending issue, I wouldn’t know. His tax cuts I think have been good though. But I too think the party has failed in that area.). I did similar tho with the congress thing.
Just thought, a critique of the Bush administration I guess would be a critique in some ways of Bush himself, so I guess that works out.
The president is responsible for appointing positions in the Cabinet, so while not all ideas and actions are his directly, it does reflect on him.
I will listen to the mp3 tonight–unexpectedly only had 3 minutes when I thought I had 30 when I started last night.
lol. I see you kept your photo collection alive.
You could probably start off a whole section of a website on that alone.
Cool, I like his orating skills, maybe especially when using quotes of sarcastic humor.
@Allen: Yes, I still have “the collection”! I was actually considering making it a gallery on donaldbriggs.net, but didn’t know where to go with it.
@l3rucewayne: Finally listened to the mp3 last night. For anyone else that listened, this only goes to show that almost nothing is obvious.
Right now, the world is at a stage where it’s considered axiomatic that the Iraq War was a bad idea.
In my opinion, this is based on results more than principle. If the transition had been smoother, without Abu Ghraib, with better strategy and planning, if people had more reliable electricity and water, the mood would be so much different.
Donnie,
How about Image of the Day? Or Image of the Week and make it a Monday Fighter replacement.