This is an important point to make. Bush is not a failure because he didn't get to do what he wanted to do, but because he did. I can't think of anything other than privatizing Social Security where Bush set out to do something and was stopped from doing it. He got to do what he wanted to do. But the things he wanted to do were the wrong things to do.

That look on Bush's face -- kind of like he just can't conceal that he was the one that just farted and stunk up the room. Kind of amused and mortified at the same time.

What president goes around trying to undermine the country

More importantly, what president feels the need to defend himself against the charge that he did intentionally undermine the country? In this case I think it was a poor defense against a valid charge.

Take Norquist's "drown government in a bathtub" quote. Or John Bolton's "If the UN lost 10 floors it wouldn't make any difference" Add the manipulation of science at EPA and NASA, the deliberate outing of a CIA agent, Brad Schlotzman's gutting of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, giving FEMA to a fund raiser, etc. Bush didn't just do a poor job.

People have argued for years that Republican ideology put into practice will NOT work.
Bush put Republican ideology into practice.
Republican ideology failed miserably as a governing strategy.

This is NOT just a failure of Bush. It is a FAILURE of Republican ideology. This is why Republicans are so defensive.

Could not watch the address. Krauthammer (WaPo) is convinced that Obama will continue Bush's policies - "The very continuation by Democrats of Bush's policies will be grudging, if silent, acknowledgment of how much he got right."

What a joke. I think Krauthammer should be charged with crimes of aiding and abetting the enemy during a time of war.

"What president goes around trying to undermine the country, making decisions he hopes are wrong?"

My conservative coworkers believe this is the socialist Obama's intent now. Well, I don't know if they believe it so much as it was their initial, pained reaction to his winning.

No no -- he didn't fail *intentionally*. He DID fail *deliberately*. Look at the way they threw out the Pentagon's war plan. Plenty of deliberation went into that decision. They knew exactly what the risks were, because the Army War College told them, and various generals no longer employed told them, and Rummy had to reject the repeatedly downscaled plans each time they were brought to him.

The difference between deliberate and intentional is the difference between embarrassment and prosecution. As we can see.

This guy's story is as close to the epic "Casey at Bat" as ever there was one. After 911 (which, by the way he ignored warnings for) he took that microphone (bat) and stepped-up to the plate. Three spectacularly missed swings later and here we are. No joy in Mudville. Nohow, nowhere.

Unfortunately we won't be missing him. He'll be the topic of everything this Republic tries to reverse, every moral, ethical, monetary, political reversal will be drenched in his smell. Loathsome fellow that Bush,and his ilk. Loathsome.

that line you highlighted is a dog whistle for the evangelicals who believe that Bush is right with Jesus and that is what matters most.

Hey Steve,

I was really annoyed with that quote too, but for a different reason. I would not give Bush even that much credit. Bush is intellectually incurious. He did not just make the best decisions that he could with the information he had. He limited the information he took in - that is when he wasn't deliberately ignoring it. He maintained a short attention span, and used his role as "the decider" to go with his gut, turn away people who attempted to offer a differing view on anything and maintain a stubborn position, lest he be seen as less than decisive. He often conflated the best interests of the country with the best interests of his ego, his cronies, and the oil companies.

He did what he thought was right? Right for who?

To grinning cat-

Bush is not "right with JESUS"?He is the antichrist as he started 3 wars (Israel vs Gaza included). Murdered people in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and neglected America and Americans to provide for the wealthy and corporate. Hitleresque he is!

There are strong arguments all around. Pete Peterson says between national interest and special (crony) interest they chose crony interest.

If best interest means intentionally making people suffer so the country can remain pure adhering to their dogma then I guess that wasn't deliberate failure, but it was clearly ideology over country.

Yet, Bush was a spectacular failure even where his motives aren't suspect. And, Republican policies have been on a collision course with reality for a long time.

The answer is All of the Above.

What JoyceH said. GWB perpetrated the greatest transfer of wealth upward in the history of the US of A. That was his goal, and he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

To PS, the wealthy were the intended beneficiaries of his policies. After all, the wealthy are God's Elect. How do we know? Because they're wealthy. Circular argument? Of course, but that doesn't matter.

Which ties in with this 'right with Jesus' thing. Secularists do not appreciate the significance of this. For Bush, the last 8 years wasn't about the country. It was all about The Lord testing George. Like Yahweh testing Abraham by ordering the sacrifice of his son. Abraham went along. So did George.

George was tested, and he was Steadfast. That's what matters.

Just more alcoholic narcissism--judging everyone else by their actions but expecting yourself to be judged by your intentions.

just another asshole rehearsing his testimony for the hague...

obama will probably weasel out of it. or get some of it out extra-juridically in reports and commissions -- distancing his admin from it so as not to appear 'distracted' by the past.

we can only wait for the books the books the books -- the telling of the stories and the tabulations of the books...

i cant stop trying to understand an analogy of the pilot who slid into the hudson yesterday and bush's major claim to suck-sess: nobody else got killed after Sept. 11 -- as if the goddess of the geese wanted to comment on his crimes...

But that's just it. For a lot of people in this country, remaining steadfast is all that matters. They interpret rigidity as integrity. And the negative view of Bush gives them the opportunity to view him as a martyr, suffering for his beliefs. As long as those beliefs are "correct," the outcome doesn't matter in the least.

He's effectively asking the nation, "How about an 'A' for effort?"

Actually I think he's wondering why he isn't getting the "gentleman's C" that he's used to getting when he screws up beyond belief.

I mean really, this isn't the first time the man has failed in life. But it's the first time people are seriously looking at his record and calling it a failure. In the past, Poppy would have bailed him out, or there would have been someone else to pin the blame on, or his failures wouldn't have been so ... overwhelmingly obvious ... that his defenders would have been able to paper over them and make it look like it wasn't him.

Honestly, I think this might be the first time that the fact that he's a miserable failure who would be lucky to be a (probably lousy) middle manager at a middling-level corporation if his last name wasn't "Bush" has finally started to sink into his brain. Maybe the lesson will take and he'll decide to try to rehabilitate his image by going off to Africa and doing charity work. More likely he'll crawl back into a bottle and find a way to blame his failings on someone else (probably America - conservatives love to blame Americans not just for the failures of conservatism, but also for their own personal failures).

Krauthammer (WaPo) is convinced that Obama will continue Bush's policies - "The very continuation by Democrats of Bush's policies will be grudging, if silent, acknowledgment of how much he got right."

This is the right's general talking point now--you see it here in the posts of Bush apologists like Mike K and Matthew Marler--and it doesn't seem to occur to them that not only does this not vindicate Bush; it's openly hoping for continued national failure so that the speaker can avoid having to admit he bet on the wrong pony.

What kind of person wishes for additional death, misery, lawlessness and international disgrace rather than say, "I called that one wrong"? Today's Republican.

i cant stop trying to understand an analogy of the pilot who slid into the hudson yesterday and bush's major claim to suck-sess: nobody else got killed after Sept. 11 -- as if the goddess of the geese wanted to comment on his crimes...

It was a fascinating juxtaposition of events. The cool and ultracompetent leader quietly did what was needed and ended up dominating the news while the abject failure at leadership continued to make excuses and was largely ignored. Both of them had the "best intentions," but look at the difference in results.

The telling word is conscience. I am all for conscience as one aspect of informed judgment, but it is not a substitute for judgment. Bush is demonstrating yet again that he really is a very shallow, simple man. He has substituted the laziness of quasi-religious conviction for the hard work of informed judgment. Couple that with a contempt for governing and you have, well, the last eight years.

God Bush America!

and he did.

Look back at the wasteland of these past 8 years.

Is our Country learning yet?

Don't misunderestimate the greed of George and Dick.

They never once worked for the good of the country, only themselves and their cronies.

To believe otherwise is sheer lunacy.

Yeah, and he didn't set out to fail in all his past failures either! I'm anticipating with great glee that Texas Ranger feeling of liberation, back when ol'Shrubbie was removed from corporate operations! -Kevo

he looked HORRIBLE... a little man thoroughly beaten.
my initial reaction to the speech was that it came way too late. but when he was done, it occurred to me: I'LL NEVER HAVE TO HEAR THAT SLURRING INARTICULATE VOICE AGAIN!!!

>>Bush seems to think having the right intentions, as he perceives them, should count, regardless of the results.

If that's the case, then liberals should love him, for their whole ideology is built around the premise of "Judge us by our intentions and not the results."

JoyceH has it right.

The only reason that Bush's approval ratings are so unbelievably high is that he DIDN'T get his privatized social security passed. If he had, even those 30% or so of mind numbingly stupid republicans currently approving would want his head on a plate.

Let's not forget Bush claims not to care about his low approval rating.

Riiiiiiiiiight. [/Bill Cosby]

he followed his "conscience," but not the constitution

"This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores, some people call you the elites; I call you my base." - George W. Bush addressing supporters at a fundraiser during the 2000 campaign.

When you consider just who it was that his policies and actions were intended to benefit, this sorry excuse for a human being was a great success. The results for us peons? Not so good.

Bush had few real "tough decisions" to deal with in his eight years. He did exactly what he and Cheney set out to do. The Iraq war was a dream before 9/11 and an easy pitch after. The tax cuts, corporate protections, consumer screwings, military waste, ignored environment, energy profiteering, and so forth were all decisions he made well before his first week in office. Torture, privatization of military and security, nation building, executive privilege, rendition, all of it, are standard neo-con policies, not tough decisions.

To say that his miserable leadership is the result of making "tough decisions" in a time of crisis is pure bullshit. There was never an instance when, after weighing the policies he was tasked with pushing against the good of society, that he wavered from his money-grubbing, exploitative operating system.

"Decisions" my ass!

Steve Benen wrote: "He did what he thought was right? Well, of course he did. What president goes around trying to undermine the country, making decisions he hopes are wrong?"

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are career white collar crooks masquerading as "neoconservative" ideologues. They gained power by stealing an election with massive voter disenfranchisement, intimidation and fraud. Once in power, they systematically misused and abused their authority and the resources of the US government for corrupt purposes of personal financial gain for themselves and their ultra-rich cronies and financial backers. They have spent the last eight years deliberately running the country into the ground for the enrichment and empowerment of the rich and powerful and corrupt, at the expense of and to the detriment of everyone else.

You might as well ask whether Al Capone "did what he thought was right" or "went around trying to undermine Chicago".

It just occurred to me that PE Obama should immediately retain soon-former-President Bush's services as personal advisor, and listen to his advice closely. Bush's experience and unparalleled ability to identify a solution to a problem should be extremely valuable to the new president; one hopes it will simplify the decision making process and quickly eliminate dead ends from consideration.

On Sept. 17, 2002, Bush took the podium in Nashville to speak before a group of schoolchildren, parents, and teachers. "There's an old saying in Tennessee," he began. A series of awkward pauses followed. "I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee that says, 'Fool me once, shame on (pause) shame on you. Fool me (pause) You can't get fooled again!" For the record, the correct rendering of the aphorism is: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." It wasn�t Mr. Bush that failed this country, it was the American people who failed by allowing him to serve himself for 8 years.

We really need a swearing out ceremony for Bush.

That address last night was about as effective as OJ's plea for leniency before sentencing a few weeks ago. And about as sincere.

What stuck out for me was Bush's 'vigilant' moment:

"As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our Nation. And I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe"

The way he phrases it here makes it sounds like most Americans reverted back to their shiftless, spoiled, insulated pre-9/11 lives, as he endured tremendous sacrifices to watch over our nation. It would be forgiveable had he done a bang-up job of keeping the country safe and sound. But, he didn't do that.

Bringing up the morning security briefings was inartful, to say the very least, and is likely to tickle many people's memory of the daily briefing warning of Bin Laden trying to attack America that Bush so easily dismissed on August 8, 2001.

And using the phrase "I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe" probably won't help anyone forget the piss poor job he did with Katrina

It sounds like Bush wants his "gentleman's C", not an A for effort. It's how he's gotten through his entire life, why should this phase be any different.

Of course, I don't teach at an Ivy-League university, so my students get the grades they deserve (and some of them are a little surprised by that)!

AJB: more like a swearing-at ceremony for him.

-Z

He wants us to give him credit for making tough decisions, as if making tough decisions wasn't exactly what we hire Presidents to do.

He probably also wants credit for having to live in a house with tourists tromping through it all the time.

Prez Bush wandered and stumbled all through his address. I found this speech totally weird, from the polished door behind him, to the introductions of the people in the audience, to the rather odd triumphant story about the doctor's wavor to serve in the military in Iraq due to his son's death.

My feelings on Krugman's column parallel his and I think a commission should be set up, aling the lines of the one in South Africa, to discuss this and obtain information from everyone involved -- and give them immunity from prosecution, so Americans and the rest of the world have a reasonsonable idea of how Bush and Co said, in essence, "What's the constitution between friends?"

Put that way, kind of an odd sense of what's "right" when chaos, inaction and incompetence took over while New Orleans drowned.

It was an effing weather report for krisesakes.

Watch his "tough" decisions the next day or two when he issues his pardons.

isn't this the 'soft bigotry of low expectations?"

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060720.html

September 11 , 2001 happened while Bush was President. Considering how incredibly INEPT his administration was, I have no doubt they ignored all 9/11 warnings. Condolezza Rice ignored the memo about terrorists using airplanes as weapons of terror.

Also, Bush also kicked out the UN weapons inspectors, who were on the ground and DOING THEIR JOBS in his RUSH TO WAR in Iraq.

Proof?

Google:

"U.S advises weapons inspectors to leave Iraq"

BUT- He was very successful- Lots of money was made by lots of Repub cronies. National Security? - not so much.

The biggest revelation in his departure speech was his admission that he hadn't worked to keep America safe before 9/11. And after that he was on the job 6 days a week - but only during regular office hours. The guy needs his sleep you know.

President T-Ball.

"....For the record, the correct rendering of the aphorism is: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." It wasn't Mr. Bush that failed this country, it was the American people who failed by allowing him to serve himself for 8 years."

Damn right, Tinkeroom. Bush DID fail miserably, but I blame those who voted for him (and those who voted for him TWICE) just as much.

I have a new perspective on the "Fool me once ..." brain fart Tinkerdoom referenced.

I now realize that Bush could not pull up in his mind "Shame on me." His ego put up a brain block. "Shame on me" is just not allowed to burble up in his brain.

"It just occurred to me that PE Obama should immediately retain soon-former-President Bush's services as personal advisor, and listen to his advice closely. Bush's experience and unparalleled ability to identify a solution to a problem should be extremely valuable to the new president; one hopes it will simplify the decision making process and quickly eliminate dead ends from consideration."

Yes, and then do the exact opposite of whatever "solution" Bush suggests. I think you're implying this, Nasruddin, but just to make it crystal clear...

Bush has been a terrible failure for the country, and a resound success for the ultra rich.

Bush implemented Republican ideology and it failed. Eight more years of Republican ideology would have wiped out the Middle class and bankrupted our country.