My running buddy, an ex-Recon Marine who now owns a fairly successful business, asked me a question recently and I have been trying to configure a reply.
O’Reilly – who is one of the people running buddy thinks has his head screwed on straight (ugh) – asked John Stewert once recently why we on the left couldn’t muster any respect of George Bush as the topic was on the Right’s unmitigated hatred of Obama.
At the surface, I cannot answer that.
At least not easily and quickly.
I have to start with the 2000 Election having been stolen. Sure it was all very high-tech and "proper", using the SCOTUS and everything but it was stolen nonetheless. Spare me your explanations of why it was all legit, I don’t have time to listen to them. If that is ignorant to you, stop reading now.
Imagine the howling if McCain had won the 2008 election and Obama had been installed by the SCOTUS. Can you imagine the uproar?
Now, Bush was installed by judicial intervention. It’s plain and simple and chisled in stone. Bush COULD HAVE been installed/stolen the presidency and then have proceeded to run the country well such that we’d say “yeah, he stole the presidency but he’s done a slam-bang job. Hat’s off and all that.
But that’s not what happened.
The country was wrecked; 9/11, instead of being handled like a crime, was more or less anticipated by the Bush Admin and used – masterfully – to advance their fascist agenda (one similar to what Bush’s granddaddy had fantasized about).
The economy was smothered by 2 military interventions, with one, Iraq, being wholly illegal and having nothing to do with anything but the pre-existing plans of those who engineered the installation of Bush. The Constitution was under siege, there was nothing these freaks did correctly (unless you were already a multi-millionaire). We were once even told not to say “Peace on Earth” prior to Bush’s build-up and attack of Iraq.
Katrina.
Conservatives seem to overlook all this as meaningless, that Bush – somehow – did good things for the country. Leaving aside the military stuff, the best running buddy comes up with is that Bush helped Africa deal with AIDS
"I salute President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease," Obama said in taped remarks to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health.
OK.
Fine.
8 years of presidentin’, the man has exactly One feather in his cap.
Obama, on the other hand, won his presidency ‘fair and square” both popular vote (which merely reflects the feeling of the commoners) and the electoral college (where the real vote occurs). Obama was simply the winner and won in large part due to the fact people were sick, sick, sick of Team Bush and republican FAIL.
Of course within a week of Obama being sworn in, all that shit was forgotten and the republican-woned media went to work blaming everything under the sun on Obama. Bill Clinton is known to have sent a vateity of “thank you cards” for getting the vast rightwing conspiracy off his back.
My answer to "why can't the Left respect Bush as it expects them to respect Obama" is that Bush was a major failure from his first to his last day. He easily became the worst president in the history of Time.
Obama simply hasn't been at it that long.
When Bush took office the economy was OK, we even had something called "government surpluses", which Team Bush quickly disappeared.
I had a job during the Clinton years. I lost it during the Bush years and couldn't get another one.
I have a proper job again. Now that Obama is presidentin'.
Obama took the presidency when America was as close to the Great Depression as anybody - probably even the rich -= want to get.
There were unpopular wars draining the economy, there was rampant spying and torture (which Obama has embraced, despite his "We don't torture" lip service) Americans were unpopular and most countries hated America.
Obama has turned a lot of that around already - except for the torture, which has become a value of the responsible serious adult - and he's got his eye on more.
Yeah, I think there are a lot of good decisions left to be made and that it will take too long to finally arrive at the desirable situation, but things ARE improved.
I have no difficulty accepting and respecting Obama. I see him as smarter than me, and I see him as being about as prepared for presidentin' as anybody I can imagine.
I will never be able to respect George Bush. It's not possible.
The man is an abomination. He is a war criminal. He is covered in the blood of innocent people. He has to go to jail. Responsible serious adults have long run interference for him, even after Bush's party spent several years howling about Clinton and impeaching him for little of nothing.
Bush is a liar and an incompetent moron. I'm smarter than he is.
So, I am asking for just a bit of help, a little feedback about how YOU might respond to the questions
A: Why can't the Left respect Ex-President Bush?
B Why can't the Right respect President Obama?
I think the Right has made every intention to protestr Obama using a lot of the same ideas that the Left used against Bush but it doesn't work because Obama knows what he is doing and didn't steal the office.
This is one of the reasons they play the race card and go on about him being a Kenyan - it's their version of our "Bush stole office" complaint, the biggest problem being that Bush DID steal; the office and Obama really is an American. No leg to stand on but that doesn't stop them.
Of course, it also allows them to freely ventilate their racial prejudice.
My running buddy seriously identifies with his military experience and "wants" very much to respect Obama and view him as Commander in Chief. He takes this seriously.
But he goes on about how Obama is " the most liberal person ever to be president"
To which I respond "I sure hope you're right".