EXCELLENT article. Just a few comments:

"the guy in the oval office may seem like a nice guy" All reports are that he is anything BUT a nice guy.

"all the programs, systems, and plans already in place, all that stuff, is stuff that if you are going to blame Bush, you are also, if you're gonna be fair, obliged to blame everyone who came before him for not fixing the same thing" GW Bush made FEMA a small part of the Homeland Security bureaucracy, then gutted it. Bush needs to bear ALL of the blame for this fiasco.

GW Bush's legacy? During his campaign in 2000, he repeatedly proclaimed he would restore honesty and integrity to the Presidency, and unity to the American people. Five years later, the US is more divided now than it has been in over three decades, and GW Bush's administration has been proven to be the most DISHONEST in nearly a century.
Artie See | Homepage | 09.25.05 - 6:29 pm | #

Thanks Artie. Well, let's be sure, there is a difference between "legacy," and legacy. "Legacies," are bits of political fluff that politicians put forth to get themselves in office. Legacies are the actual lasting effects that an outgoing president wants to see in America. So with Bush, we're talking SocSec privatized, taxes permanently lowered, particularly for the upper class, etc. etc.

But don't be surprised at the split nation. There are some facts of life that have led to what we have today.

1) You can't please all people all the time.

2) People say they want to buy the world a coke, blah blah blah.

3) But they really don't.

The problem is that the the best chance you have of having a politician bring the nation together is by having a full on populist, but the problem is that a populist would get torn apart. Torn apart by the punditry, by other politicians, and by the voting populace who would fault the politician for not being strong on the issues.

So, since employing the politics of unity is such a long shot, your better bet is to employ the politics of division. And BushCo, as we all know, is particularly adept at the politics of division.
Mr. M | Homepage | 09.25.05 - 9:18 pm | #

And as for the fema thing. I'm not saying he's absolved. I'm just not gonna chop the guys balls off. It's the difference between making bad decisions and being incompetent. I'm not trying to say that mistakes weren't made in the past, it's just that there's a kind of statute of limitations for this kind of thing.

Again, I stand by the assertion that I made being that if I would forgive a president I like for something, I have to give the same courtesy to one I don't like.

People make bad decisions, and while I'm all about accountability, the further back you go, and the more reasonable the mistake, the more pragmatic of a stance I take.
Mr. M | Homepage | 09.25.05 - 9:34 pm | #

"I'm all about accountability"...I love when the left makes jokes they don't even know they're making, that's funny stuff!
Mark Marco | 09.25.05 - 10:32 pm | #

Care to, I don't know, actually qualify your remark, Mark? Seriously. You know, you "righties" like to make these snide little quips and shit, well, you know what, back your shit up! You're going to name a couple few politicians, and some alleged shit they did, and say that applies to ALL liberals. I'm tired of it. You know what. Either get serious about the way your country is run, or don't waste my time...

Ass
Mr. M | Homepage | 09.26.05 - 9:10 pm | #

Good stuff, but I have to disagree with you on FEMA. Bush I ran FEMA into the ground, *Clinton* hired a qualified professional to fix it, and then Bush II ran it into the ground again with cronies and DHS. This is *all* Bush.
Eli | Homepage | 09.27.05 - 1:54 am | #

Dear Mr M- That was hurtful...I don't feel the love you lefties "like" to talk about. But I forgive you.
As for corruption, it would only take a list of Clinton's 8 years of beauty to write a cautionary tale unlike any other since "The Prince"...Hell, even the oil for food scandal has been traced back to Clinton! We can't even trip over an international scandal, 5 years later, that doesn't have his name on it. Although if I was going to have a beer and hang out with someone, it would definitely be Bill, he's a fun guy...I just wouldn't let him near my daughter.....
Mark Marco | 10.03.05 - 10:00 am | #