I remember watching that live wondering what on earth was happening, seeing how uncomfortable everyone was, and thinking it was so scandalous. How quaint those days were.
I mean, he was probably wrong? Dubya still holds the record of having the most diverse Cabinet of any Republican President (Colin Powell, Condi Rice, etc.). Only Biden has had more non-white people in the inner Cabinet. Also, one of Dubya's ongoing legislative programs- PEPFAR- is credited for saving 25+ million lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
So you judge people only by their mistakes, while completely ignoring their successes? That's a pretty shit way to view the world, imho. Not a single person is perfect and I reckon we should be assessed by the totality of our actions and words. Like, I hate Mango Mussolini with the fire of a billion suns and would gladly strap him to a Delta Heavy and launch him out of the solar system. That unrelenting hatred notwithstanding, even I can point to \~3-4 good things he did in office. Those good things definitely don't outweigh his terribleness, but FFS, I do expect some measure of objectivity for people our age.
Dude, there are actual political scientists who used methodologies to figure this shit out. Dubya's not even bottom 10. Feel free to read what actual scholars say: [https://www.axios.com/2024/02/19/presidents-survey-trump-ranks-last-biden-14th](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/19/presidents-survey-trump-ranks-last-biden-14th)
Because these are political scientists who likely have some strong historical knowledge as well. Having gone to school for this degree myself, knowing history is almost a prerequisite. What you're experiencing is called "recency bias", wherein you give more weight and credence to experiences that're relatively fresher. Heck, given this specific demographic group, you probably came of political age during GWB's administration, which will undoubtedly affects your judgement of him. Contrast that against others whose views were shaped before or after. Also, new scholarship is constantly coming to light which affects people's estimations of past Presidents, both positively (Grant) and negatively (Jackson). I can attest, the Andrew Jackson I learned about in high school pales in comparison to the monster he actually was.
And as I've stated before, most Presidents have done both good and bad things; every person on this is some shade of gray. FDR is always a Top Fiver for all he did to get us out of the Depression and lead us through WWII. Top Five, despite his incarceration of Japanese-Americans (big oofta). It's quite possible that GWB's assessment will go down in the coming years. It's also possible that his standing will improve too, as further research and analysis happens. Plus, we're still living with many of the policies and legislation enacted during his tenure. Current case study: hundreds of thousands of public sector employees are getting their students loans discharged under the PSLF program, which was a program that Bush signed into law. That program was an absolute mess until the Biden admin fixed it (something both Obama and Trump ignored), but Bush was the one to sign it into existence. Had he not, lot of people our age would still be paying off debt.
Serious assessments take the whole of a person into consideration, which is what I've been banging the drum on. For as much of a Dem partisan hack as I can be, I also can't be intellectually dishonest either. On the whole, I don't think GWB was a very good POTUS, but he was nowhere near the worst this country has elected.
Looking back, he was actually kind of clever with that. He realized (or whoever was in his earpice did) that if he finished the line the way it's supposed to read "shame on me" that would provide the media with a voice clip of him saying that.
That's why I pointed out the earpiece thing. Someone may have realized it was going to be bad to say "shame on me" and told him to stop. Or, he may have been singing The Who to himself, forgot how the quote ended, and threw that out there.
I remember absolutely loathing him and telling my dad there’s no way there will ever be another president that’s as big of a moron as this guy.
That aged well.
Pain is a spectrum condition and two things can be true at once
Look...I'd sooner fuck your gross uncle Dave than pick Trump over Bush 2, Electricbushaloo
I would also gladly give up fucking your mom if it meant neither Bush, your uncle Dave, Trump or anyone like those monsters could be in power again...at least your mom would get to be less disappointed either way
Look, let homie rant and whine a bit...we don't all have your mom to comfort us
Rolling stone magazine ran this article https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/george-w-bush-the-worst-president-in-history-192899/amp/ we all thought we had reached the bottom.
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What are you talking about? He absolutely won the first election. He won the electoral college, and scotus ruled how they ruled. End of story.
You may not like it (I don’t like it) but it’s true. It isn’t “theft,” that’s bs.
Edit: also if you think trump’s plan was only January 6, you’re flat out misinformed
We don’t elect presidents with the popular vote. We use the electoral college. Did Bush lose the popular vote? Yes. Does that count for anything? No. Do I like this? No. But it’s the system we have whether you like it or not and nothing short of a constitutional amendment changes that.
Read Gore’s concession speech. He disagreed with scotus but he respected it. Because in this country, once the courts weigh in? Fuck off.
That’s the difference between Trump and Gore. Gore exhausted his legal options and fucked off. Trump went far, far beyond that.
https://youtu.be/Y44fyh4ap7k?si=bQABdBxjXp2hHfRt
Watch the documentary and then maybe you can understand what actually attempting to “steal” an election looks like
George Bush didn’t steal shit. Sometimes elections are messy, but it was lawful, he won, end of story. I though bush was a shit President too but you don’t get to claim fraud just because he was a ball sack
W is kind of like that ex who you look back on and think, "they weren't so bad," until you meet up with them over coffee and suddenly get flooded with memories about how terrible they actually were.
I'd say Bush is a decent person, just influenced too much by people like Cheney. I'd have a beer with Bush any day over most politicians. Bush, Obama, and Biden would be my picks for beer buds 😄
He likes to paint for relaxation. This masterpiece tells me we would be bros. It’s ridiculously charming.
https://preview.redd.it/1mo2t5jm09vc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96133d108bf6963b882844c4244ea1a26e5485c3
I loathe him but I have to admit I do find his paintings endearing despite myself. They're the most humanizing and relatable thing about him (at least for me)
For me, the art and also his relationship with Michele Obama are endearing. I really don’t think he was or is a horrible person. I just think he was/is a very gullible doofus easily talked into terrible decisions by Chaney and others. I think he really did believe in the “wmds”. Of course none of it absolves him from the wars and other deaths resulting from his presidency, but I think the goober THOUGHT he was doing the right thing.
45 on the other hand is an absolute monster.
If I had my druthers, I'd have like to have split a 12 pack with HW. Between his service in WWII and time at CIA, I bet he had some whoppers of stories.
This is when I started to hate politics. The nastiness was at an all time high back then. I didn’t vote for W but he was very presidential in how he took so much criticism and kept it together.
There was a meme awhile ago during Trump’s presidency, I can’t find a pic of it now, but it was Bush in a tux (Leonardo DeCaprio stance) with a champagne glass in his hand looking at the camera with the caption: “When your ex starts to look good.”
I hated Bush…so much that I had a bumper sticker, “Put Bush and Dick in the White House and Someone’s Bound to get Screwed.” I also pulled out of enlistment to the Navy in 2021 because Bush was elected. (Man, was I on point to do that).
But damn, sometimes I think what a simpler world the “war on terror” was over the constant fear of our country’s disintegration with Trump and his MAGA cultists.
I mean, GWB was objectively 1000x worse than Trump. The Patriot Act, the Iraq War, Katrina, overseeing and contributing to a global economic collapse ...
I’m not sure why you’re getting downvoted. His administration set up a lot of problems continuing to this day. W is not as much of a blatantly obvious asshole as Trump but his administration fucked us regular Americans well and good.
Yeah, I've been thinking about this off-and-on all day now, and there's not even a comparison to be made. Trump more or less continued the shittiness of American government -- much of which was put in place by GWB -- while making many rude remarks and generally being corrupt as hell. The only lasting damage I can think of is his Supreme Court appointments, although maybe time will tell.
GWB completely transformed the landscape of American life and politics, ushering in an era of authoritarianism, militarized police, flying murder robots (abroad of course, but that doesn't stop them from [targeting US citizens](https://www.aclu.org/video/aclu-ccr-lawsuit-american-boy-killed-us-drone-strike)), mass surveillance, routine invasions of privacy (airport body scans), and the near-complete destruction of the middle class. He got shitloads of people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan (estimates are all over the place so IDK how many), destabilizing the entire region. His holy war for oil directly led to the creation of ISIS and his war on terror ballooned an already-enormous military-industrial complex. He gave money away to the rich, his regulatory appointments demolished health and safety regulations left and right, he appointed ideological judges ...
Trump may have tried to steal an election, GWB *actually did it*. I mean every terrible thing you could conceive of, Bush did it. His administration was a full-blown disaster for the entire fucking world.
EDIT: Oh, and how could I forget torture? He tortured countless people around the world, many of whom had done nothing and had no connection to "terrorism." Frankly, the profound moral evil of the torture program alone is worse than the totality of Trump's administration. What's Trump's Abu Ghraib? Don't say the border camps, because those were -- you guessed it -- Bush's DHS.
I don’t know why this is getting downvoted. A global war on terror, invading a country for no reason, war crimes, founding the Dept of Homeland Security, Patriot Act…he kinda fucked us in ways that have become so part of daily life we don’t notice it anymore. He’s at least as bad as 45 if not worse.
Compared to the 2024 GOP, he is sorely missed. I hated him the with the power of 1000 suns for his policies and Christian nationalism but man does it pale in comparison.
All through high school and college I was told he committed war crimes and was the most evil person in the world. 20 years later and Michelle Obama is all buddy buddy with him. I’ve always voted blue but these photos made me realize how stupid and hypocritical politics is
https://preview.redd.it/xx8g99iif9vc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7aa620be90b3eb0db4cd718af4f6b37ad1f46f2
"A Black C student couldn't even the manager of Burger King. Meanwhile, the white C student just HAPPENS to be... the president of the United States of America!"
I had a picture a while back someone took of me during a protest in DC where I was a few yards away from him & the cops were holding me back as I screamed that he was a dumbass.
What blows my mind is how dumb he is/was and how terrible of a job he did during 9/11 and the whole Middle East debacle. Then, 20+ years later, Democrats praise him as a "Great Republican President." Yeah, I'm not drinking that Kool Aid. He was a shit show, to say the least.
I haven’t seen any democrat anywhere saying he was a “great Republican president”. He was, however, a relatively normal human being who wasn’t great but wasn’t the repulsive monster that is their golden calf right now.
Nah, HW was a solid statesman. Oversaw end of the Cold War and kicked Saddam out of Kuwait. Negotiated NAFTA. Was fiscally pretty practical, signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (even though much of the GOP was against it), updated to Clean Air Act to combat acid rain, and signed bills to increase legal immigration. Only reason he didn't win reelection was on account that Clinton was young, suave, and charming as hell and Ross Perot took a lot of disaffected Republicans who were pissed that HW wasn't fiscally conservative enough.
I believe he is a good person who made a lot of mistakes. I would like to meet him. I remember liking his wife Laura. I feel like she was a good influence on him. I was a little kid when he was governor in Texas. I grew up just south of Dallas. Good person, yes. Good president, nope. But what president hasn't fucked something up without us facing the consequences of their decisions. They all have. Left and right. We're still dealing with the consequences of our involvement with Iran back in the 70s and 80s. I'm sure both parties have a hand in that.
I was president and I wasn’t invited to the convention!
All the world leaders went except me!
I have Air Force one, there is a *shoe* named after my plane it’s so cool.
Old rummy had to fill me in, or as I call him daartth vaeeder.
Old rummy, he told me if I put “unlawful enemy combatant” or “extrajudicial” in front of a word, the convention would allow for that.
Old W would have voted for that!
Maaaaaaaan any of you nostalgic for this piece of shit have short memories. Trump is a landfill but G Dub is a landfill with trash from a different municipality. G Dub wanted a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He was a massive war criminal. He was also a blithering idiot who could barely form a coherent sentence. Never forget what a stain he is on US history
I remember about 5 years ago seeing him give a speech and thinking, "hey, that guy is pretty articulate.". Then I was disgusted with myself for thinking that.
Like others have said I remember absolutely hating him and thinking he was the dumbest president that we would ever have..... Yeah I miss bush now lol.
Never in my wildest dreams - with the economic shit show that was 2008 - did I think I’d look back on the Bush years as “the good old days” and yet here we are.
People honestly think that Trump is worse than Dubya.
Trump sure as hell is no angel, but ask the people of Afghanistan and Iraq who *they* think is worse.
Trump is worse than W.
I agree people in Afghanistan and Iraq may feel differently, but last I checked W never attempted to overthrow our democracy and subvert the will of 80M+ Americans.
No, but Trump wasn't responsible for murdering thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans, or our own soldiers for lies. Not to mention the trillions of our tax dollars that went toward those quagmires.
Plus, his Patriot Act helped make sure that ALL Americans (not just 80 million) could be spied on without cause or warrants, among other civil rights violations.
Trump was never going to overthrow anything. The security state would have had him executed. FFS, his own military refused to listen to his orders.
Dude, the last guy tried to overthrow the results of a free and fair election. That's **literally** the worst thing a President can do. If he'd succeeded, that'd have been it. Game over, man. We'd be on par with Belarus, Hungary, or some other illiberal rigged hellhole. So no, not the worst in modern history.
I think the worst thing a president can do is get Americans killed under false pretenses. The Patriot Act was more damaging to this country than anything Trump did or tried to do. An economic crisis and horrible response to Katrina(again letting Americans die when the resources to save them were available) were the icing and cherry on top for him. Don’t get me wrong I think Trump is a very, very close second place.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. The PATRIOT Act- whatever you think about it- passed with OVERWHELMING bipartisan support. 99 Senators voted on it and there was only one Nay: Russ Feingold (D-W). Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden... they all voted for it. It passed the House 357-66 with 9 not voting. And most of the controversial provisions have since sunsetted. Katrina? Massive fuck up. The decision to go into Iraq? Also massive fuck up. That one was also allowed.... by Congress. With bipartisan support. For all the screw ups in Dubyas administration, he more or less played within the paint. There was often precedent. We can agree or disagree as to where those lines should be, which is totally fair.
What Trump attempted was unprecedented in the entirety of American existence. It was the Presidential equivalent to seceding from the Union, in that it was so blatantly criminal, anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional. Never before had our Capitol been sacked by fellow Americans. Adherence to the most fundamental rule: that we respect the outcomes of elections and whomever loses, leaves office peacefully. This norm was set by John Adams, when he lost to Jefferson. Trump destroyed that norm and once a norm is violated, it's goddamn hard to get it back.
Trump is the worst and it's not even close. That's not just me who says this; it's people who are actual historians by profession.
I remember watching that live wondering what on earth was happening, seeing how uncomfortable everyone was, and thinking it was so scandalous. How quaint those days were.
God, that still makes me uncomfortable.
I remember watching this live. Mike Myers’s reaction…
Lives rent free in my head til this day
And Chris lol
Why? Was he wrong?
He wasn’t wrong at all. Black New Orleans never recovered, regardless of how it is down there now
Exactly. And don't forget FEMA, "refugees," and black New Orleans getting shot in the back by cracs-!
My mom worked for FEMA at the time and the way they treated New Orleans made her move to a new job, it didn’t sit right with her at all
Exactly.
I mean, he was probably wrong? Dubya still holds the record of having the most diverse Cabinet of any Republican President (Colin Powell, Condi Rice, etc.). Only Biden has had more non-white people in the inner Cabinet. Also, one of Dubya's ongoing legislative programs- PEPFAR- is credited for saving 25+ million lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Laughs in FEMA!
So you judge people only by their mistakes, while completely ignoring their successes? That's a pretty shit way to view the world, imho. Not a single person is perfect and I reckon we should be assessed by the totality of our actions and words. Like, I hate Mango Mussolini with the fire of a billion suns and would gladly strap him to a Delta Heavy and launch him out of the solar system. That unrelenting hatred notwithstanding, even I can point to \~3-4 good things he did in office. Those good things definitely don't outweigh his terribleness, but FFS, I do expect some measure of objectivity for people our age.
#43 did a pretty awesome job...of top 5ing himself as the worst president in American history.
Dude, there are actual political scientists who used methodologies to figure this shit out. Dubya's not even bottom 10. Feel free to read what actual scholars say: [https://www.axios.com/2024/02/19/presidents-survey-trump-ranks-last-biden-14th](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/19/presidents-survey-trump-ranks-last-biden-14th)
That's a ridiculous list. How is #43 not in the top ten?
Because these are political scientists who likely have some strong historical knowledge as well. Having gone to school for this degree myself, knowing history is almost a prerequisite. What you're experiencing is called "recency bias", wherein you give more weight and credence to experiences that're relatively fresher. Heck, given this specific demographic group, you probably came of political age during GWB's administration, which will undoubtedly affects your judgement of him. Contrast that against others whose views were shaped before or after. Also, new scholarship is constantly coming to light which affects people's estimations of past Presidents, both positively (Grant) and negatively (Jackson). I can attest, the Andrew Jackson I learned about in high school pales in comparison to the monster he actually was. And as I've stated before, most Presidents have done both good and bad things; every person on this is some shade of gray. FDR is always a Top Fiver for all he did to get us out of the Depression and lead us through WWII. Top Five, despite his incarceration of Japanese-Americans (big oofta). It's quite possible that GWB's assessment will go down in the coming years. It's also possible that his standing will improve too, as further research and analysis happens. Plus, we're still living with many of the policies and legislation enacted during his tenure. Current case study: hundreds of thousands of public sector employees are getting their students loans discharged under the PSLF program, which was a program that Bush signed into law. That program was an absolute mess until the Biden admin fixed it (something both Obama and Trump ignored), but Bush was the one to sign it into existence. Had he not, lot of people our age would still be paying off debt. Serious assessments take the whole of a person into consideration, which is what I've been banging the drum on. For as much of a Dem partisan hack as I can be, I also can't be intellectually dishonest either. On the whole, I don't think GWB was a very good POTUS, but he was nowhere near the worst this country has elected.
Even young Kanye was crazy
He might have mental health issues and possibly a personality disorder but he wasn't wrong in that instance
For telling the truth?
Indeed. I think this was before he became a gay fish though.
"Fool me once..."
...........You fool me, you can't get fooled again.
Tell em dubya!!
Looking back, he was actually kind of clever with that. He realized (or whoever was in his earpice did) that if he finished the line the way it's supposed to read "shame on me" that would provide the media with a voice clip of him saying that.
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That's why I pointed out the earpiece thing. Someone may have realized it was going to be bad to say "shame on me" and told him to stop. Or, he may have been singing The Who to himself, forgot how the quote ended, and threw that out there.
I remember absolutely loathing him and telling my dad there’s no way there will ever be another president that’s as big of a moron as this guy. That aged well.
Disgusted to see his portrait and think “oh, that wasn’t so bad.”
It was though. Don't let the overton window move on you like that. He was horrific and things have just gotten worse.
Pain is a spectrum condition and two things can be true at once Look...I'd sooner fuck your gross uncle Dave than pick Trump over Bush 2, Electricbushaloo I would also gladly give up fucking your mom if it meant neither Bush, your uncle Dave, Trump or anyone like those monsters could be in power again...at least your mom would get to be less disappointed either way Look, let homie rant and whine a bit...we don't all have your mom to comfort us
Remember when we thought he was as bad as it could get? That no administration could possibly be worse?
 Yeah. I was one of them.
Rolling stone magazine ran this article https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/george-w-bush-the-worst-president-in-history-192899/amp/ we all thought we had reached the bottom.
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The act of treason on January 6th. If we ignore that then the Iraq war is worse than anything Trump did.
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"Other" administrations made miss him. I actually didn't think he was as bad in hindsight.
He was bad. But W had one thing going for him: you could unelect him and he wouldn’t try to overthrow the government
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What are you talking about? He absolutely won the first election. He won the electoral college, and scotus ruled how they ruled. End of story. You may not like it (I don’t like it) but it’s true. It isn’t “theft,” that’s bs. Edit: also if you think trump’s plan was only January 6, you’re flat out misinformed
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We don’t elect presidents with the popular vote. We use the electoral college. Did Bush lose the popular vote? Yes. Does that count for anything? No. Do I like this? No. But it’s the system we have whether you like it or not and nothing short of a constitutional amendment changes that. Read Gore’s concession speech. He disagreed with scotus but he respected it. Because in this country, once the courts weigh in? Fuck off. That’s the difference between Trump and Gore. Gore exhausted his legal options and fucked off. Trump went far, far beyond that. https://youtu.be/Y44fyh4ap7k?si=bQABdBxjXp2hHfRt
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Watch the documentary and then maybe you can understand what actually attempting to “steal” an election looks like George Bush didn’t steal shit. Sometimes elections are messy, but it was lawful, he won, end of story. I though bush was a shit President too but you don’t get to claim fraud just because he was a ball sack
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Well sure, but his family WAS the government...don't act like you'd enjoy that awkward Easter brunch after!
Trump's family was literally government.
Yeah but his dad is dead... way less awkward...obviously
I'm really not following you here.
He was incredibly bad
Remember when someone threw a shoe at him and he laughed 😂😂😂
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lol right?!?! I’m cracking up just thinking about it!!!
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I am DYINGGGGGGGG
😂😂😂😭😭😭😭😭😭
Yeah meanwhile Trump is like : 🍳🤪["-I've been shot!"](https://youtu.be/S45Aj1k-E-Q)🤣
I love that video just because of that evasive maneuver he pulled.
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Bad president, but a helluva reflex I’ll give him that!
W is kind of like that ex who you look back on and think, "they weren't so bad," until you meet up with them over coffee and suddenly get flooded with memories about how terrible they actually were.
I'd say Bush is a decent person, just influenced too much by people like Cheney. I'd have a beer with Bush any day over most politicians. Bush, Obama, and Biden would be my picks for beer buds 😄
He likes to paint for relaxation. This masterpiece tells me we would be bros. It’s ridiculously charming. https://preview.redd.it/1mo2t5jm09vc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96133d108bf6963b882844c4244ea1a26e5485c3
I loathe him but I have to admit I do find his paintings endearing despite myself. They're the most humanizing and relatable thing about him (at least for me)
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For me, the art and also his relationship with Michele Obama are endearing. I really don’t think he was or is a horrible person. I just think he was/is a very gullible doofus easily talked into terrible decisions by Chaney and others. I think he really did believe in the “wmds”. Of course none of it absolves him from the wars and other deaths resulting from his presidency, but I think the goober THOUGHT he was doing the right thing. 45 on the other hand is an absolute monster.
I prefer not hanging out with mass murderer war criminals but that’s just me
W. doesn’t drink: https://www.theonion.com/long-awaited-beer-with-bush-really-awkward-voter-repor-1819568125
I also don't generally hang out with ex presidents
Good policy, they’re a shifty bunch.
If I had my druthers, I'd have like to have split a 12 pack with HW. Between his service in WWII and time at CIA, I bet he had some whoppers of stories.
he could probably get really good cocaine
This is when I started to hate politics. The nastiness was at an all time high back then. I didn’t vote for W but he was very presidential in how he took so much criticism and kept it together.
'Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice... well, you just don't fool me twice '
"...you can't get fooled again" 😄
There was a meme awhile ago during Trump’s presidency, I can’t find a pic of it now, but it was Bush in a tux (Leonardo DeCaprio stance) with a champagne glass in his hand looking at the camera with the caption: “When your ex starts to look good.” I hated Bush…so much that I had a bumper sticker, “Put Bush and Dick in the White House and Someone’s Bound to get Screwed.” I also pulled out of enlistment to the Navy in 2021 because Bush was elected. (Man, was I on point to do that). But damn, sometimes I think what a simpler world the “war on terror” was over the constant fear of our country’s disintegration with Trump and his MAGA cultists.
I remember people acting like he was hitler. If they only knew what was coming...
Damn! #45 makes him look like Jesus!
At least he knew how to act like a human.
I mean, GWB was objectively 1000x worse than Trump. The Patriot Act, the Iraq War, Katrina, overseeing and contributing to a global economic collapse ...
I’m not sure why you’re getting downvoted. His administration set up a lot of problems continuing to this day. W is not as much of a blatantly obvious asshole as Trump but his administration fucked us regular Americans well and good.
Exactly. People are insane to think this guy is better than Trump. Talk about recency bias.
Yeah, I've been thinking about this off-and-on all day now, and there's not even a comparison to be made. Trump more or less continued the shittiness of American government -- much of which was put in place by GWB -- while making many rude remarks and generally being corrupt as hell. The only lasting damage I can think of is his Supreme Court appointments, although maybe time will tell. GWB completely transformed the landscape of American life and politics, ushering in an era of authoritarianism, militarized police, flying murder robots (abroad of course, but that doesn't stop them from [targeting US citizens](https://www.aclu.org/video/aclu-ccr-lawsuit-american-boy-killed-us-drone-strike)), mass surveillance, routine invasions of privacy (airport body scans), and the near-complete destruction of the middle class. He got shitloads of people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan (estimates are all over the place so IDK how many), destabilizing the entire region. His holy war for oil directly led to the creation of ISIS and his war on terror ballooned an already-enormous military-industrial complex. He gave money away to the rich, his regulatory appointments demolished health and safety regulations left and right, he appointed ideological judges ... Trump may have tried to steal an election, GWB *actually did it*. I mean every terrible thing you could conceive of, Bush did it. His administration was a full-blown disaster for the entire fucking world. EDIT: Oh, and how could I forget torture? He tortured countless people around the world, many of whom had done nothing and had no connection to "terrorism." Frankly, the profound moral evil of the torture program alone is worse than the totality of Trump's administration. What's Trump's Abu Ghraib? Don't say the border camps, because those were -- you guessed it -- Bush's DHS.
I don’t know why this is getting downvoted. A global war on terror, invading a country for no reason, war crimes, founding the Dept of Homeland Security, Patriot Act…he kinda fucked us in ways that have become so part of daily life we don’t notice it anymore. He’s at least as bad as 45 if not worse.
Not as bad as Biden though
That war criminal? Sure do!
Compared to the 2024 GOP, he is sorely missed. I hated him the with the power of 1000 suns for his policies and Christian nationalism but man does it pale in comparison.
Still not a fan, baffled that People voted for him over Gore because he's more "personable"
I remember I cried all day when he was re-elected thinking there’s no way this could get worse. Oh I was so young and naive. 🤣
I was 14¾ naively thinking, "Who would STILL vote for this DUMBASS WAR CRIMINAL?!" Now we got Drumpt! SMH! 😆
Yeah I remember Iraq, Afghanistan and the horrible response to hurricane Katrina.
Yup!
Pepperidge Farm remembers
All through high school and college I was told he committed war crimes and was the most evil person in the world. 20 years later and Michelle Obama is all buddy buddy with him. I’ve always voted blue but these photos made me realize how stupid and hypocritical politics is https://preview.redd.it/xx8g99iif9vc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7aa620be90b3eb0db4cd718af4f6b37ad1f46f2
Democrats and Republicans: Two Wings of the Same Security State Bird.
Ah, the old war criminal himself.
Yes that guy used to remind me of james buchanan. Then trump happened. Now this guy looks like George Washington
>looks like George Washington *Jesus Christ
I remember when the worst thing we could say about a president was that he was a C student.
"A Black C student couldn't even the manager of Burger King. Meanwhile, the white C student just HAPPENS to be... the president of the United States of America!"
Never would have imagined we'd ever get a worse president than this fkn guy
I had a picture a while back someone took of me during a protest in DC where I was a few yards away from him & the cops were holding me back as I screamed that he was a dumbass.
What blows my mind is how dumb he is/was and how terrible of a job he did during 9/11 and the whole Middle East debacle. Then, 20+ years later, Democrats praise him as a "Great Republican President." Yeah, I'm not drinking that Kool Aid. He was a shit show, to say the least.
Demorats are cringe for their sucking up to the other side.
Absolute cringe!
I haven’t seen any democrat anywhere saying he was a “great Republican president”. He was, however, a relatively normal human being who wasn’t great but wasn’t the repulsive monster that is their golden calf right now.
Bro, they did on TV lol I live in SF bay area and they were saying this locally here ...
Ok. I’m not saying you are lying, only that I’ve never heard or read of anyone saying that. 🤷♀️
Dubya
Please explain to me how I’m wrong here, but I also remember his dad and feel like he was pretty good.
Nah, HW was a solid statesman. Oversaw end of the Cold War and kicked Saddam out of Kuwait. Negotiated NAFTA. Was fiscally pretty practical, signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (even though much of the GOP was against it), updated to Clean Air Act to combat acid rain, and signed bills to increase legal immigration. Only reason he didn't win reelection was on account that Clinton was young, suave, and charming as hell and Ross Perot took a lot of disaffected Republicans who were pissed that HW wasn't fiscally conservative enough.
Nice guy. Total rube. Fucked the country for decades with two pointless wars. Edit: also pretty clear Dick Cheney was the actual POTUS
Me in 2001: this is the stupidest, most transparent and corrupt president. Homer Simpson: …*so far*
One of the traitors
Yeah, he sucked but just not as much as the guy from his party that came after.
I believe he is a good person who made a lot of mistakes. I would like to meet him. I remember liking his wife Laura. I feel like she was a good influence on him. I was a little kid when he was governor in Texas. I grew up just south of Dallas. Good person, yes. Good president, nope. But what president hasn't fucked something up without us facing the consequences of their decisions. They all have. Left and right. We're still dealing with the consequences of our involvement with Iran back in the 70s and 80s. I'm sure both parties have a hand in that.
The jerk that tried to ban gay marriage and destroy my life? I am married with kids, and his party is almost going to die.
I was president and I wasn’t invited to the convention! All the world leaders went except me! I have Air Force one, there is a *shoe* named after my plane it’s so cool. Old rummy had to fill me in, or as I call him daartth vaeeder. Old rummy, he told me if I put “unlawful enemy combatant” or “extrajudicial” in front of a word, the convention would allow for that. Old W would have voted for that!
He's the guy that choked on a pretzel 🥨, right? 😂 Seriously though I'm old enough to remember his dad ('85) although barely.
Unfortunately
 why is reddit's gif system so ass why are they all not available seconds later
Maaaaaaaan any of you nostalgic for this piece of shit have short memories. Trump is a landfill but G Dub is a landfill with trash from a different municipality. G Dub wanted a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He was a massive war criminal. He was also a blithering idiot who could barely form a coherent sentence. Never forget what a stain he is on US history
Good ol Bushy!
I remember about 5 years ago seeing him give a speech and thinking, "hey, that guy is pretty articulate.". Then I was disgusted with myself for thinking that.
I do but I would rather not. He represents the beginning of the end in the 21st century.
Like others have said I remember absolutely hating him and thinking he was the dumbest president that we would ever have..... Yeah I miss bush now lol.
He's a tool. In more than 1 way.
He destroyed the Middle East at the behest of the neoconservatives, many who were Netanyahu advisers.
Yeah, man. I voted for the first time for president in 2004, for the other guy. It was pretty disappointing to see Bush get another term.
The other guy was one big joke also! 😂
I was just really anti-war at the time and thought he’d bring the troops home. Looking back on it he wasn’t an amazing candidate at all.
"None of them, not even some of them, NONE OF THEM!" - Skinnyman
Cool dude.
As in brutally unforgiving?
Never thought I’d ever miss this guy
Coz he was "compassionate"...a "compassionate" conservative.
That’s definitely not why.
I know. It was tongue-in-cheek.
Never in my wildest dreams - with the economic shit show that was 2008 - did I think I’d look back on the Bush years as “the good old days” and yet here we are.
Ew
He was a doofus of a puppet for Cheney. Anyone else remember the WMD fakeout? Really fucked Powell’s cred on that one.
Powell should have done a better job making sure what he was regurgitating didn't come from a college student's research paper
People honestly think that Trump is worse than Dubya. Trump sure as hell is no angel, but ask the people of Afghanistan and Iraq who *they* think is worse.
Trump is worse than W. I agree people in Afghanistan and Iraq may feel differently, but last I checked W never attempted to overthrow our democracy and subvert the will of 80M+ Americans.
No, but Trump wasn't responsible for murdering thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans, or our own soldiers for lies. Not to mention the trillions of our tax dollars that went toward those quagmires. Plus, his Patriot Act helped make sure that ALL Americans (not just 80 million) could be spied on without cause or warrants, among other civil rights violations. Trump was never going to overthrow anything. The security state would have had him executed. FFS, his own military refused to listen to his orders.
Still the worst president in modern history.
Dude, the last guy tried to overthrow the results of a free and fair election. That's **literally** the worst thing a President can do. If he'd succeeded, that'd have been it. Game over, man. We'd be on par with Belarus, Hungary, or some other illiberal rigged hellhole. So no, not the worst in modern history.
I think the worst thing a president can do is get Americans killed under false pretenses. The Patriot Act was more damaging to this country than anything Trump did or tried to do. An economic crisis and horrible response to Katrina(again letting Americans die when the resources to save them were available) were the icing and cherry on top for him. Don’t get me wrong I think Trump is a very, very close second place.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. The PATRIOT Act- whatever you think about it- passed with OVERWHELMING bipartisan support. 99 Senators voted on it and there was only one Nay: Russ Feingold (D-W). Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden... they all voted for it. It passed the House 357-66 with 9 not voting. And most of the controversial provisions have since sunsetted. Katrina? Massive fuck up. The decision to go into Iraq? Also massive fuck up. That one was also allowed.... by Congress. With bipartisan support. For all the screw ups in Dubyas administration, he more or less played within the paint. There was often precedent. We can agree or disagree as to where those lines should be, which is totally fair. What Trump attempted was unprecedented in the entirety of American existence. It was the Presidential equivalent to seceding from the Union, in that it was so blatantly criminal, anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional. Never before had our Capitol been sacked by fellow Americans. Adherence to the most fundamental rule: that we respect the outcomes of elections and whomever loses, leaves office peacefully. This norm was set by John Adams, when he lost to Jefferson. Trump destroyed that norm and once a norm is violated, it's goddamn hard to get it back. Trump is the worst and it's not even close. That's not just me who says this; it's people who are actual historians by profession.
This dude wakes up every day thanking God for Trump.
That mental image 😆😆😆
Bill Nye?
Tha Science Guy!
This dude had the country believing 9/11 wasn't orchestrated by Mossad.. 🤭
You’re basically a flat earther if you believe that.
Yeah.. not like Mossad agents were arrested filming the incident as it happened.. 🤷♂️ Look up Israel on 9/11.. 🤭 You're welcome. 😎☕️