Laura Bush, Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, the other Barbara Bush, Neil Bush, Lauren Bush -- the nation's supply of Bush is inexhaustible!

I mean, really, hasn't this family done enough damage? Can't they just leave us alone?

Not while there's still some money they haven't managed to steal. Though W has certainly done his damndest to empty the till.

defoliate the bushes!

In retrospect I don't think it's fair to label George HW Bush's presidency a failure. It's true he was not a good communicator. And it's true that he hadn't a clue what to do about the economy and domestic problems generally. And it's also true that he may not have seized the moment of the triumph of containment and the collapse of the Soviet Union with as much vision as he might have.

Yet he managed that situation well enough -- gracefully enough, even -- that many potentially catastrophic outcomes were avoided. And the first Gulf war was a genuine triumph both diplomatically and militarily. And, while our failure to prevent the brutal suppression of the Shi'ites in the south of Iraq afterwards was terrible, nevertheless the decision not to take control of the country seems pretty damn smart in retrospect.

Maybe the bar has just been set so low by his idiot son. But this looks like a pretty credible record to me looking back.

Ahem-- "the more competent one of his generation" ??? Talk about the soft prejudice of low expectations ! That's not saying much in a family full of doorknobs. ;-)

Besides, he shares some of the same character flaws as his eldest brother: arrogance, self-righteousness, impatience, & inflexibility. Several members of the FLA. legislature have weighed in since this trial balloon went up describing the Jebster's dictatorial & dismissive manner. Don't let anyone fool you-- this is just another Bush who doesn't play well with others & thinks he knows best. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt & worthless 401K to prove it...

Some of us are just born booted, and spurred, and ready to ride, and some of us are just born saddled, and ready to be ridden.

Um, they've already had TWO failed presidents in the family. Jeb would be three.

WAIT George! We haven't gotten out of this recession yet - we're not going to be ready for another Bush-generated one for decades!

9/11 was a result of Bush inheriting a sloppy national security establishment from Clinton. After 9/11, we have not had another terrorist attack, we have Osama Bib Laden cowering in a cave somewhere, and our enemies fear us. If that's a failed presidency, I'll take one any day.

"I mean, really, hasn't this family done enough damage?"

Emphatically, yes. They have done more than enough damage.

"Can't they just leave us alone?"

The Bushes are our own personal stalkers. They'll never leave us alone and they'll never stop trying to get back into the house. Kind of like Bill Clinton.

When the plutocracy was on a roll in their plundering of capital, what kind of candidate would best serve their interests? The system was ginned to select the candidate that was least likely to upset the money changers' tables on the temple steps. Bush's backers had the bucks and gave him the front runner status early on. The big moneyed interests will maintain this power to pick and choose and most people will be deluded into thinking that they really have a choice in this "democracy".

There are plenty of "Bushes" out there with many other assorted names -- Clinton, Schumer, Rangell, etc.

...have the t-shirt & worthless 401K to prove it...

I liked the part where Jeb had the state teachers' pension system buy the failing Edison Schools.

Gotta get those damned Democrat-voting, union-loving, evolution-teaching godless teachers coming and going.

That Al, he makes me laugh.

If Jeb is so smart, why didn't he stop his idiot brother from getting elected? Even if he wouldn't do it to save the country from the inevitable result, he should have done it to preserve his own shot at the office.

Jeb must only be smart in comparison to George and Neil.

Old Bush: "We've had enough Bushes in there."

That's the first thing a member of the Bush family has ever said that I've agreed with.

Bush III. Brings new meaning to third time a charm. I mean Bush one "softened-up" the middle east just enough to afford his idiot son an opportunity to solidify their vast oil wealth. Shameless but nonetheless "successful" even if it's going to be short term due to peak oil.

Bush III. Jeb'll arrive at the presidential foray just in time to solidify the Bush next excellent adventure to finish the job started by Bush II to accumulate the fresh water rights to South America. They presently have those rights in Chile and only a sharp stick in the eye from Hugo Chevez thwarted the scheme to grab those rights in other South American countries. No wonder Bush II labeled him an enemy of our Republic even as Hugo was doling-out free heating oil to the poor in New England.

Those Bush's. What an excellent family. I guess you might say their struggle for wealth on the backs of the poor and oppressed is the antithesis to the legacy the Kennedy's will leave. Ted may have a manslaughter case attached to his Karma but the Bush's? Untold death and misery with more on the horizon as smiley Jeb takes a stab at increasing their vast wealth, this time controlling something we really can't live without. Keep your notebooks handy. Fresh water. The next oil...

What kind of president would JEB be? Two words:

Terri. Schiavo.

Don't like JEB Bush, but the governership career track is pretty screwed up. Why can't a good governer take his skills from small states to larger states like footbal coaches? A governorship is a good place to run for president from, but you have to make sure your two terms as governor coincide with a viable presidentail election. Imagine a presidential candidate who had governed progressively larger states in different parts of the country. Now that would be a qualification for president much better than being a senator .

Make that we've had way too many bushes in here.

The Democratic Party voters did their part to end monarchies by picking Obama over Clinton. Now Republican voters need to signal they feel the same way and reject Jeb, or any Bush, in perpetuity.

I hope that this is just wishful thinking by the elder Bush about what might have been. Remember, Jeb, as "the smart Bush son" (not that he has much competition in a family with Dubya and Neil), was the one originally expected to return the family to the White House. But because Jeb lost his first run for Governor in 1994 (a surprise) while Dubya won the Texas governorship the same year (bigger surprise), the smart son got pushed aside for the chronic screwup.

Sorry, Bush, but I think Jeb is much wiser than you. Thanks to Dubya, NO Bush will EVER be considered for President again, much less elected. He's poisoned the family name for all time. I imagine that must eat away at the elder Bush (I mean, having the Bush name synonymous with "worst president ever" must really sting) and he holds out hope of Jeb someone capturing the White House and redeeming the family name. Nice thought, but not gonna happen. Ever.

Indeed, GWHB wasn't awful I suppose. But he followed that patrician impulse to serve the upper crust, pushing cap gains cuts etc. like any other Replutocan. Also, isn't he the one who said, atheists shouldn't be elected President/etc?

The evil spawn of Barbara Bush will be with us always.

They said that Bush II really wanted the presidency so he could finish the work that Bush I started. Bush I made a start at destroying the economy and little George came by ten years later and finished the job.

Jeb would have nothing to do.

"Jeb probably realizes that he's the more competent one of his generation, and his older brother has ruined any chance he might have had at national office."

Yup. So did Poppy and that's why he broke down crying at the Farewell to JEB fest they had when he left office as Florida Gov.

It was a truly mesmerizing moment, drama turned farce.

Can't they just leave us alone?

No, they can't. And they won't. So, we must leave THEM alone. The Bush family is a political hydra. If Jeb fails, there is a Jeb-in-waiting. So, voters must do all they can to limit the damage. Perhaps FLA wants JEB. Perhaps that cannot be helped. But, I pray that no other Bush holds national office again.

The only consolation is that W is going to drink himself to death with the same unshakeable resolve that helped him wreck the planet and we can watch.

A slight correction to the arithmetic here: there ARE two failed Presidents in the Bush family. Jeb would make it a hat-trick.

wait

Isn't it silverado Bush's turn?

For the last eight years George W cleared brush, for the next eight years we'll be clearing Bush!

...and Kennedys, the Jukes and the Kallikaks of the American political landscape.

"9/11 was a result of Bush inheriting a sloppy national security establishment from Clinton. After 9/11, we have not had another terrorist attack, we have Osama Bib Laden cowering in a cave somewhere, and our enemies fear us. If that's a failed presidency, I'll take one any day".

Oh, you clueless one.

George W. Bush ignored every single warning that terr-sist might possible attack in this country.

Bush also ignored the August 6, 2001, (PDB)presidential daily briefing of August 6, 2001, entitled Bin Laden determined to strike in US. More important to clear brush on the little ranch for photo-ops.

Dick Cheney, the terr-ist czar never held a meeting to discuss terr-ism UNTIL AFTER 9/11/01.

And as far as Usama bin Laden cowering in a cave somewhere, get a reality check or learn to use the google. If Usama is still alive it is precisely because George W. Bush couldn't find or catch him. Many believe that the intent was never to catch Usama.

I won'e even waste space commenting on "and our enemies fear us" since Bush has been the biggest recuriter for the terr-ist of all times.

Had Bush been doing his job BEFORE 9/11, we would not have had that terr-ist attack.

The only fun thing about a Jeb run for the White House would be watching Karl Rove stab his former employer in the back 2,570,892 times.

"Eh tu, Karl? Heh."

That and when Iron Babs bitch slaps Karl for talking about her baby and spanks Jeb for letting him.

And the Anthrax attacks slip down the memory hole once again.

It's kind of convenient how so many people have forgotten about them. If it hadn't been for those attacks, there is a good chance there isn't the political or popular will to pass and do a lot of the things the Bush Administration did in the name of "protecting us".