The Real George W Bush Legacy

Posted on January 16th, 2009 by iwaller

President George W Bush has a different idea about his legacy than most Americans. As the President with the lowest approval rating in history, except Richard Nixon, George Bush seems to live in a world of his own and enjoying revisionist history foreign to those Americans who lived through the last 8 years. President Bush does not care about how the country views his time in office. Many Americans will remember him as an illegitimate President, one who ruled much as Nero did as Rome (America) burned. With his parting speeches, we know Bush is a person who thinks about himself and his legacy rather than thinking about the people he was elected to serve.I believe his greatest legacy is that he started a war in another country under false pretenses and yet he continues to articulate he kept America safe for the past 7 years after 9/11. Of course, this is typical Bush ‘spin’ as he did not keep America safe! The World Trade Center was attacked in 1993, and Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice were all warned in intelligence briefings well in advance of 9/11 about Al-Queda attacking the U.S. and yet, they did nothing to prevent it.

Bush assured the economic growth under his tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans set the beginning for the current economic collapse while also removing regulations specifically designed during the Great Depression to prevent this type of economic collapse. His attempt at manipulation of the American people and placing Neo-Conservatives to support his offensive war, his doctrine to attack any country he ‘thought’ posed a threat to the U.S, while engaging in torture and controlling the Justice Department to support his efforts isolated the U.S. from the growing worldwide commitment to human rights as well as support from our allies and friends.

Some facts of today:

Unemployment in January 2001 was 4.2%, in January 2009 it is up to 7.2% and rising, in 2008 alone, America lost 2.6 million jobs.
The U.S. Budget in January 2001 was a surplus of $237 billion, in January 2009 the U.S has a $1.2 Trillion deficit
The medically uninsured in January 2001 was 40 million, in January 2009 Americas’ uninsured has risen to 46 million
Consumer confidence index in January 2001 was 116, in January 2009 it is down to 38

Watch the Majority Leader’s video on how the policies of the Bush Adminisrtation have and will affect the nation. (great visuals)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JEnB5Nywr4[/youtube]

Bush led the effort of the right wing, religious right and GOP in an attempt to take complete and absolute control of Washington, the Presidency, Congress, the Justice Department and the Supreme Court to make the right wing platform the law of the land.

Ironically, the plan by George W Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove backfired leading to a bottom-up economy and mindset by Americans, giving a new Democratically elected President and Congress the opportunity to pass universal health care, create the opportunity to repair and engage in new international diplomacy and bring the U.S. closer to a world where war may no longer be the ONLY option to resolve our differences.

Listed below is a brief summary of the Real Legacy of George W Bush, but first I should mention the one thing America and the world did get from George W Bush was comedy. We were entertained by Bush with:

“We’ve got to put food on our families.”

            “Brownie, you’re doin’ a heck of a job.”
            “Too many OBGYN’s aren’t able to practice their love with their patients.”
            “Fool me once, shame on….Fool me….Won’t get fooled again.”
            “I’m the decider.”

“Is our children learning? Childrens do learn.”
“It would be better if this were a dictatorship, just so long as I’m the dictator.”

“I’m a compassionate Conservative!”
“They mis-underestimated the compassion of our country.”

“I’m a reformer with results!”

“Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions will be caught and persecuted.”

“I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.”

“You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.”

“Dead or alive, I don’t care, dead or alive – either way,” (re: Osama bin Laden)

“I’ll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office.”

Americans should never forget the highlights from George W Bush, this is his REAL legacy:

WAR

1) Ignored Pre-9/11 Terror Memo – A few weeks before 9/11, while Bush was in Crawford, Texas, the CIA notified him about a memo “Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US”. This should have been a show-stopper as Al-Queda had already attacked the World Trade Center in 1993.

Bush, Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld decided not to act and ignored this dire warning.

2) Entered Iraq without a UN mandate - After 9/11 Bush decided to go against the United Nations and unilaterally attack Iraq, touting he had a coalition to assist him. Remember the ‘coalition’ was less than 1% of the total number of the American military and most had support roles in Bush’s war. Bush led this offensive attack on flawed intelligence scaring Americans that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction he was planning on using against the U.S.

3) No WMDs – Bush’s entire premise for going into Iraq was based on what he said was ‘proof’ that Hussein had WMDs. Bush deliberately ignored conflicting evidence to the contrary. Bush’s war single-handedly ruined the U.S. reputation around the world. In retrospect Bush stated on Larry King, January 12, 2009, he was simply ‘disappointed’ no WMDs were found! His disappointment led to the deaths of over 4,000 American young men and women who gave their lives for Bush’s war, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children. I would rather have the 4,000 plus American service men and women back!

4) No Plans for Post-War Iraq - Bush did achieve his goal of ousting Saddam Hussein but Bush had NO PLAN for managing the country after the invasion. To the current day, hundreds of thousands of innocent people are dead, both civilian and military and hundreds upon hundreds of Americans’ money has been dumped, some lost, into the oil rich country of Iraq. All of this even though Bush campaigned he did ‘not support Nation Building’. Iraq is still unstable, as a Muslim country, it is foolish to think American democracy will work long term in the Middle East. Bush leaves office with the war still ongoing.

5) “Mission Accomplished” – Bush’s announcement in May of 2003, declaring victory in Iraq as he stood upon an aircraft carrier was reckless, misleading and dishonest. This was at a time with American soldiers’ deaths we at an all time high. In January 2009, Bush did state this was a mistake.

6) Initiated Torture - Bush, with the support of Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice and the Justice Department’s Alberto Gonzales, authorized the use of water-boarding, which was blatantly against the Geneva Convention, stating the ‘convention’ did not apply to enemy combatants’. Many of the torture techniques authorized by Bush was to treat detainees with months of cold, starvation, nakedness and humiliation, bringing many to near death. During this torture period, Bush lied to the American people stating America does not torture. Bush’s actions brought yet another black mark on the U.S., and should give Americans pause to consider his actions as war crimes. Americans would do well to remember it was the US who executed hundreds of Japanese soldiers after WWII for one reason and one reason only – the waterboarding US troops. Remember Abi Gjraob?

7) Falsely presenting a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda – When it was exposed there were no WMDs in Iraq, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and others began a new round of lies to the American people, stating al-Qaeda was in Iraq and responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Many Congressional investigations and the 9/11 Commission proved al-Qaeda was not in Iraq during the reign of Hussein. If nothing else, Hussein prohibited al-Qaeda from inhabiting his country. Since Bush began his war and Hussein was overthrown; huge numbers of al-Qaeda began going to Iraq causing an escalation of this war and additional deaths of Americans.

Underestimated the cost of the war – Bush told America the price tag of his war would be $50 to $60 billion. Cheney even told America the war would be paid for by the oil revenue from Iraq. Of course, Americans now know the cost of the war is currently over $600,000,000,000,000 and growing with each day. $10 million of America’s money is being spent in Iraq each day.

9) Body armor for US troops was severely lacking – American soldiers did not have adequate equipment to fight Bush’s war. Humvees were not equipped to encounter mortar attacks, body armor was so insufficient that many solders turned to the internet to purchase protective gear for themselves or their families did that for them.

10) Failed to capture Osama bin Laden – Bush announced to America, after 9/11, Osama bin Laden was wanted dead or alive and his goal was to capture this terrorist. Almost seven years later after he made this statement, bin Laden is alive and well and Bush changed his rhetoric. Just 6 months later bush stated “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” March 13, 2002

11) Lost focus on Afghanistan – 9/11 was perpetrated by bin Laden and al-Qaeda and was the first response Bush initiated militarily and was initially successful. Bush however, turned his attention from those who attacked the U.S. opting instead to launch an unprovoked war in Iraq which had absolutely nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Today Afghanistan has become a much more terroristic threat to the U.S. and the world.

12) Awarded lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts to Halliburton – Dick Cheney’s former employer, Halliburton, received the largest nation building and reconstructive contract in U.S. history. Bush refused to allow open bidding for Americans, opting instead to give an exclusive contract to Cheney’s friends. Hundreds of billions of American’s tax dollars have made Halliburton and their executives’ very wealthy people and Americans are still paying exorbitant amounts of money to Halliburton today.

KATRINA

1) Failed to include New Orleans in State of Emergency Plan - Two days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, on August 27, 2005, President Bush declared a state of emergency for parts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, however he did not include on that list the coastal areas of Louisiana that included New Orleans, the city hit hardest by Katrina.

2) “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job”

Although the President does not control the weather, he could control who he named to head up the Federal Emergency Management Association and he appointed an inept Mike Brown to lead the disaster of Katrina. Brown was extremely unprepared and unequipped to oversee and manage the relief needed by the thousands of stranded hurricane victims. So inept was Brown, it was 2 days before he knew there were thousands of stranded, hungry, and hurt people in the sports dome, but Bush proclaimed to America about his friend “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

3) Bush Refused to allow Katrina to ruin his holiday – Bush was on another vacation when Katrina hit, and heading back to Washington he opted not to fly over or go to Katrina to view the damage or offer ‘conservative compassion’ for his fellow Americans. Bush spent 490 days of his eight years in office on vacation, about 60 days a year.

GOVERNMENT

1) Bush appointed his friend Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General – The appointment of Gonzales to the Justice Department assured Bush he could break the U.S. Constitution on many levels. While the Justice Department is suppose to be an independent agency overseeing U.S. law, separate from the Executive Branch, Gonzales became Bush’s insider who rendered legal cover for Bush to perform many violations of law and the U.S. Constitution. Gonzales demonstrated not only his ignorance and disdain of law, he was Bush’s partner in crime who conveniently had amnesia when called to testify before Congress on several occasions. Americans are reeling today from the illegal actions of both Bush and Gonzales. Gonzales also illegally fired U.S. attorneys who did not follow the Republicans manipulation of voter fraud and who did not subscribe to the GOP’s agenda.

2) FISA and Warrantless Wiretapping – Bush authorized wiretapping and eaves dropping of all telephone calls coming into and going out of the U.S, including phone calls between American citizens. He removed the requirement of having the government get a court order, which had been the law of the land for decades. Not only did Bush allow wiretapping of U.S. citizens, he also allowed the government without court order, to read email, U.S. mail, personal computers and other personal information of American Citizens. As typical, Bush used the fear factor to move this effort through Congress, telling Americans this will keep the U.S. safe. Of great consequence, Bush demonstrated retribution against his critics and many of them had their names added to the infamous “Terror Watch List” creating hardships for Americans for airline transportation.

3) Climate Change - In 2001, Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol which is a treaty requiring participating countries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Bush said the treaty’s negative effect on the U.S economy but what he really did was protect big oil, coal and other companies generating massive amounts of carbon emissions damaging the quality and air for all Americans. Of course, his philosophy was severely flawed and the U.S. economy because of Bush is in the toilet today.

4) Tax cuts and the Recession – Following in the flawed steps of Ronald Reagan, Bush granted massive tax cuts for America’s wealthiest and to big oil companies and other large businesses. Bush manipulated again the ridiculous concept of ‘trickledown economics’ which means the richest in the U.S. will throw a few crumbs to the peasants (Middle America) as they collect massive amounts of wealth. It was Bush’s actions, begun by Ronald Reagan that led America to the worst economic recession/depression since the 1930′s. Bush led an effort to remove regulations governing Wall Street and U.S. Financial Institutions which allowed them to spend money while not having the ability to cover their loans and debts. U.S. Tax payers again were put on the hook for bailing out those with the most money, the biggest salaries, the wealthiest CEOs, their corporations and Wall Street. All the while allowing no accountability of how Americans’ money was being spent. Bush stated in a radio address February 24, 2001 “My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economist’s worry that we’re going to run out of debt to retire.” George, tell that to our kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren! On August 9, 2004, Bush stated “The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway”, explaining why taxes on the rich are a failed strategy.

5) Much More - There is so much more to George W Bush’s legacy, Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby outing Valerie Plame comes to mind.

George W Bush is a conservative, leader of the Republican Party. These are the same conservatives who fought against the ending of slavery, women’s suffrage, Social Security, collective bargaining, Medicare, and the end of segregation, decades ago. In the 21^st century they lead assaults on Labor, attempt to privatize social security, abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, they cut funding for the poorest Americans by cutting $50 billion from Medicaid.

Bush, the GOP, the religious right and his conservative party have provided unquestionable proof of the bankruptcy of radical-conservative ideology, and set the stage for a qualitatively different progressive era in American politics. Their greed, philosophy and corruption have come to light in an advanced technological era when Americans are truly fed up with discriminatory leadership.

Americans, both Republican and Democrat, have finally started to stand up against this type of dictatorship and manipulation and we saw with the election of Barack Obama, that volcanic eruption of the American spirit, begin to stand against the enormous and venomous power attempted to be forced on them by George W Bush.

It is imperative to America and HUMANKIND that the entire Greed complex is held accountable for the aggression murder and robbery of innocent Civilizations as we go forward. Not only should George W Bush, Wall Street and Corporate thugs be held accountable, but Americans should demand they be punished SEVERELY, and forced to return every last penny to the civilizations they robbed it from.

Americans should resolve to protect our country, not only from terrorism from abroad but from the aggressive, wanton and insatiable greed which endangers the lives of all Americans.

George W Bush did not keep America safe but he did attempt to ruin the reputation, the lives, the health and wellbeing of all honorable citizens. This is truly the legacy of George W Bush.

Linkback: The Real George W Bush Legacy