GWB farewll speech.
 

Wow!

Three things.
1. IT HAS been over seven years since our last terrorist attack on our soil. I prey tell that number will grow, but have an intestinal instinct of something darker.

2. Thou many may not agree with his decisions, at least agree he made them. Amen!

3. Wishing good fortune to the next administration, who will surely need it after their not even in office yet bumpy start.

Overall, a well written speech that was executed with excellent mannerisms, good articulation, and most importantly, with sincerity.

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

Really...wow? Not the word I would use after seeing the thing.

Horrible speech IMO. Just another pointless attempt by GW to fix his legacy the same way he "fixed" so many things over the last few years (economy, national security, education, federal emergency response-time, republican party, oh, and a war that nobody wanted... need I go on?) After all, he exits with such low approval ratings, mirrored only by the likes of Nixon. His legacy is already been long written and sealed.

I couldn't disagree more with your observations.

1. Whether or not there was an attack on the U.S. is hardly indicative of anything really. It's anyones guess when and where, the same way it was anyones guess before 9/11. I am hearing some media outlets (read: Fox) mention how "he kept us safe" all these years, and it reminds me of a student taking credit for a paper he didn't write but doing so because he knows nobody can prove it. Using the same logic described above, 9/11 actually happend on GWB's watch...so that can't be right, can it. What I do know is America is a lot more unpopular than it was before this man took office.

2. This one, when I first heard it, made me laugh."Though you may not agree with my decisions, at least agree that I made them". Of course you made them, you're the president, and are supposed to make them. The problem is they were bad decisions and that is why the nation can't wait to see you leave.

3. Id expect nothing else than to wish good fortune. It's the least he could do gracefully. And I agree, with the economy the way it is, his predecessor already has his hands full cleaning up GW's mess.

And yes, good diction and articulation. It seems we spent eight years teaching this man how to speak - they even invented a new term for his screw-ups and ancedotes "Bush-isms". At least he finally learned something.

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

1. You are correct, 9/11 did happen on his watch. Why? Because the president before him failed to take action to eliminate the threat before it became what it is now known as.

2. Refers back to number one above, AND, president 42 was sadly, *NOT* the only one to fail to make a tough decision. And, as we can see in the GD forum, the pres elect is already stumbling out of the block worrying about a small percentage of people who have had a couple years to prevent the current situation. Furthermore, GW could have stuck to party principles and not made the decision to use federal money to bail out the failed economy, and just left it to pres elect, but like a 'good' leader, he made that tough decision as well.

3. The economy, wow. You do realize congress in 2003 deregulated the futures market? Which by the way, was padded with Enron money. Yeap, the pres had a lot to do with that. Or was it when the Dems deregulated the housing market allowing people with no means to pay their bills finance a house (every American who wants for a house can now own one)? As well, I'm sure GW was on the board of directors telling the Big 3 not to look into the future and be concerned with the volatility that the now deregulated futures and housing markets brings with it (NOT)? Sure, the economy is GW's fault, and I'm willing to bet the man on the moon told "Aljazeera Satellite Channel" to tell that to the world! Wait, is the world having a tough time of it now, or just the US.

Jimmy Carter has done more for the nation after his presidency than he ever did as president, and has become a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

GW will be recognized for his great contributions in due time, and I hope you are still about when his deeds are recorded in the annuals of history.

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

Dude, wake up. His legacy has already been written. I don't want to create a back and forth here, but I know from all the national polls that the majority agree he was a bad president. People didn't like him while he was in office, and they like him less when he's about to leave (people get ballzy when he is no longer the president, see). Even Fox betrayed him recently, saying they disagreed with many of his decisions and didn't like the way he handled "the whole war issue". Fox news said that about their own messiah.

Do you honestly and seriously think this president was a successful one? And I am not asking for redderick, I am asking you personally. If you were having a drink with me in a bar at 2 am, and I asked you do you really think GWB was good for the United States what would you say? Look at the state of the country. Look at how it was when his predecessor left it. There was a surplus in the treasury!

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

I will tell you this. He was dealt a turd sandwich and did the best he could to keep the enemy of our nation off our soil, and to take the fight into their lair. Was he successful? Yes.

Was he perfect? No!

But everything that some people blame him for, were not his to be blamed for. As far as red tail news, I could really give less than a rat's ass about their rhetoric. IMO, Couric, Williams, Rather, and Fox are all opinionated in their own right, and if you don't agree with their philosophy, then one becomes the butt of their insignificant ridicule. Always remember, life is but a set of choices, and choosing to click the remote is a choice!

Guess you have not seen this report?
http://rpc.senate.gov/releases/1997/FY98CBOR.JT.htm

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

Yes, he was dealt a horrible hand as far as 9/11 goes, but that can't be blamed on his predecessor unless it can be blamed on him too. If there was a lax approach to impending threat, then it was carried on in his term also. According to Condi Rice though, when she was questioned by the 9/11 comission, these threats were so frequent, that they began to become almost routine, like a dog with much bark and little bite. I don't begrudge Bush or blame him for it - it is anyones guess whether today they decide to attack or just continue threatening for another 8 years. But, I will certainly point out that to ignore all this, and to blindly blame his predecessor on something that no-one could accurately predict, is almost as retarded as blaming Bush for it in the first place.

As far as taking the fight into their lair. Well, you know how that goes. The terrorist group is still alive and well. He may have miscalculated or just read the map wrong but ended up in the wrong place - and still remains there.


Elaborate. Briefly, tell me what you did not like.

True, some people simply piled stuff on him. I personally feel there is enough substantial stuff to bitch about and work with rather than make stuff up. A spokesperson for Bush reecently said that around the time of Katrina was when his approval ratings dipped and that he never recovered from it as far as polls go. The stuff that came afterward which I listed above, didn't exactly help. To this day GW still says his reaction time to Katrina was "Pretty quick".

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

From about summer of 1997 until January 20th 2001, the US placed a 'free' reign ransom on OBL. During that time there are "3" known occasions when a US SPEC-OP had him not only in spotting scope, but within the cross lines of his weapon. The call from clinton was hold fire. Also recall, a UAV had OBL and a large entourage located, it took over three hours to deliberate that the spot guided missile should "NOT" be fired. That event made international news, and should be available somewhere on the www. clinton had 4 opportunities and failed to make a decisive decision on any, Bush only had one opportunity, and we are still engaged in that fight.



I dislike the decision not to drill for oil off the US Gulf coast seaboard. Yet there are several foreign rigs just off the international water mark using the old slurpee-straw to extract our resources. Somebody (several Dems, not just GW) seems to think if we don't use it, it will be there, I guess satellite imaginary doesn't always work for everybody!

The bail-outs, should have never even been considered.

Not using total veto powers during the deregulation of the futures market, and then during the housing deregulation.

Not holding the Iraqi's responsible for their actions.

Not funding permanent military structures in Iraq like we have in Germany and Korea. My opinion as well as many others I associate with believe we should maintain a presence for several years to come.


The pres was there within hours, the levy has been an issue for years, I blame the willfully ignorant for being there. I was just a young grasshopper in my birth place of Tampa, FL. when Camille came through, it seems to me if it happened once, it could happen again. Parts of LA are literally below sea-level. What does one do? Completely bulldoze what is there, add tons of cubic feet of seabed and raise the entire area? Or just keep throwing federal many at the problem and hope it goes away like many before him, and more than likely, many after will do. Politicians who don't want something to happen add "pork barrels" to legislation before it is acted upon, many gave real service, many more gave the pen! That is something that may need to be overhauled. To blame GW without blaming the ones who stalled is just as ignorant as believing he caused the event in the first palce.

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

But we're not. The US is here and the terrorists are there *points*. Saddam is dead as are tons of young american kids, tons of Iraqi's and their children too. Meanwhile, Bin Laden is releasing audio tapes and were still in Iraq fighting "the axis of evil". Please. Haliburton was over there faster than most troops, in their words to "Test the quality of Iraq's oil wells for the Iraqi people". How nice of them, to come all that way for free, just to test the oil quality of wells that they have nothing to do with.





Wow and most of those aren't even my beefs with him. Guess we can add these to the list. So you'd agree then, he has made many mistakes during his presidency and made more than a few bad decisions - enough to justify his horrid ratings and to seal his legacy as the man who got us into this mess. See, when he talks about making "tough decisions" even if people don't like them I start to think what is the value in making hard choices if the choices you make are consistently wrong? Even by your own view he dissapointed you, and some of the things you wrote wouldn't even be a priority to me personally, yet he managed to let you down too on many issues.

I do agree though that he was wrong about wall street being able to regulate itself and would also add about him being wrong that tax cuts were the answer to the recession.





I remember it very clearly though, it did take him days to do anything significant. When he was asked why he didn't get out of the helicopter and talk with at least some of the people who lost everything, he said he thought it would be a distraction. Like these people who lost their homes and families have somewhere to be. He got down on 9/11 (I think it was 9/12) - why didn't he at least create a pretense of doing something?

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

I would not necessarily say 4 brigades of boots on the ground in Afghanistan is a non-presence. That number is going up soon after the new president comes on-board. The issue is dealing with neighboring countries who give lip service towards policy, but screams to the US media the moment a UAV guides a missile to target.


Nobody is perfect, and yes he made a couple decisions that were not the best choice, but then again, what politician hasn't who has actually made a decision? To me, no action is worse than an action that may not be perfect, but can be changed and steered into a better choice, whereas in the former never even attempted to act.


Wow, you might want to recheck your memory banks. He was on Air Force One, returning back from a California politicking trip, which started from his Texas vacation home after he took a couple days off. Even ABC, CBS, and NBC said they could not land due to the flood waters, the closet airport to handle a plane that size and still in operation was then inaccessible by motor vehicle back to the flood zone. He flew onto DC, and put forth the measures to react. It took congress 48 hours to vote it into agreement, with many "pork barrels" in tact. During that time he made his visit back to LA, and was on the ground with the victims.

Re: GWB farewll speech.
 

As opposed to how many in Iraq? A place that had nothing to do with 9/11. Now, 8 years later the new guy makes it one of his priorities to up the number where we're supposed to be. I mean, isn't that him jusy saying "enough BS, let's do what we should have done on day one".

Yes he was on air force one, sorry - I did see the widely publicized photo. Helicopter, plane - he didn't land. It wasn't about safety, he was asked recently why he didn't even get down and be with his people, and said because he thought it would be a distraction. Not that he felt threatened.