He's almost gone . . .

[trekgeezer]

I'm going to start out by confessing that I voted for the guy twice, which at the time seemed a good idea.

I couldn't have stomached having to listen to Al Gore for any period time, plus the guy has some pretty radical ideas.

Being from a family with a military history (5 brothers plus myself served in the Navy, and my Dad was in the Army during WWII) there was no way in hell I was going to vote for someone who accepted a Purple Heart for a self -inflicted wound and pulled political strings to get himself out of Viet Nam after only 4 1/2 months into his tour. John Kerry is real slime in my book.

I think Bush did okay at the beginning of the 9/11 crisis, but I think a lot of the policies he invoked really tore at the fabric that our country is built on.  The warrantless searchs and wiretaps harken back to the paranoia of the Nixon era.  He did exactly what the terrorists wanted, he chipped away at our freedoms.

Saddam Hussein never was a threat to US, sure he did a lot of rotten stuff every dictator does, but it didn't justify getting us into a war that distracted us from what we should've been focused on.

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and left us with thousands of troops dead and ten of thousands of others with lifelong physical and mental problems to contend with.

I could go on and on, but I'll end with this. If Bush wasn't the worst,  he's pretty damned close.

[lester1/2jr]

the thing is terrorists can easily make it to iraq.  bush certainly hasn't kept them "safe"

yes, we haven't had another attack since 9/11 but there are other  criteria which we judge a president by besides that

[AnubisVonMojo]

I could go on and on, but I'll end with this. If Bush wasn't the worst,  he's pretty damned close.

And coming from someone who voted for the man twice, that says more to me than all the left or right wing rhetoric in the world.

[ER]

Far from good.

I used to say Mr. Bush was the worst President since Warren G. Harding and had a little daily email someone sent me as joke that counted down the days till he was out of office. But the fact that since September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks  have occurred in Madrid, London, Bali, Moscow, Israel, Scotland, India, but not again at home brings him up slightly as I do think his administration did a lot to weaken bin Laden's ability to carry out the kind of terrorism it was once assumed he and his forces could. George W. Bush could have done a lot worse in overseeing the national economy, but also a lot better. He was divisive, stifling, stubborn, disconnected, verbally lead-footed, arrogant, and theocratic. On the other hand, he was also decisive, knew his own mind, possessed self-confidence and....um...well, he had a gracious wife.

To employ the scale William J. Ridings uses in his book about rating Presidents:

Leadership qualities: F
Accomplishments/crisis management: D+/B+
Political skill: D+
Appointments: F
Character and integrity: C

Ultimately I'd sum up his Presidency with about a D+, which is a letter grade higher than I spent this decade thinking I would.

Nice subject, indy!

[Allhallowsday]

...Although the case for WMD violations was greatly overstated, under international law, Saddam Hussein had violated every single condition of the cease-fire he agreed to at the end of the first Gulf War.  Taking him out was indeed justified.  The prosecution of the war after Saddam was ousted was not well-handled.  Rumsfeld was a likeable and intelligent man, but he was the wrong man for that kind of conflict...

RUMSFELD "was likeable...???" (oh cheez n crackers get me an air-sick bag)
 

...However, eventually Bush realized that, shifted strategies, and the Iraq war is today virtually won.  If Iraq does indeed become a peaceful Middle Eastern democracy, Bush may in fact be looked on pretty positively 50 years hence.  If the democratic experiment there fails, he may be doomed to the bottom ranks of the previous Presidents, with hopeless cases like Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce, and Andrew Johnson...

Don't forget JAMES BUCHANAN...

More than any other President, GEORGE W. BUSH proves that the Presidency of the United States is up for grabs.  One need not have any experience, or any accomplishments, or any talent, as long as one has powerful vested interests. 

I'm cutting you a lot of slack here, Indy, because I admire you, and I just don't have the energy.    Next week the world changes forever.    

People are going to associate SS reform with Bush for a long time.

Yes, BUSH and the SS often come to mind at the same time.   

I did not see an entry for 'most worthless piece of human s**t to have ever inhabited the oval office', so I declined to vote.
I hope they can get rid of the f**king stench left in that office.

   

[lester1/2jr]

I don't agree with those presidential ranking things.  warren harding had great numbers.  lincoln and fdr have the deaths of thousands of americans on their hands ,  yet they are "great"  it's exactly that type of thinking that leads people like bush to think they can be great just by starting wars.


the fact is,  they all stink.  the goverment are nothing more than a band of thieves who take a third of our paychecks and spend it on just about anything other than what we would logically spend it on ourselves:  roads, schoolss, police.  instead we give billions to countries that hate us and subisdize stuff we don't use and the beaurcracy to run it all while our roads and schools are garbage.


the best president: none of them


the worst: all of them

[indianasmith]

First of all, Lester, your anti-government bias simply blinds you to genuine greatness.  Secondly, ER, WELCOME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And thirdly, thanks to all who voted in my poll.

I said I wouldn't debate any of your opinions about Bush, and I won't, no matter how much I disagree with them.

But I enjoyed reading them all, even the ones that made me wince!

[The Burgomaster]

I voted for worst ever, but I don't think he was really the WORST . . . but he is in the top 5 worst.

[Jim H]

As much as everyone talks about their having been no new terrorist attacks on US soil post-9/11, exactly how many did we have before 9/11? Pearl Harbor?

The first trade center incident, Oklahoma city, , there's more. . .

Still reminds me of a Simpsons quote..

Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.
Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It's just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do you?
(Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money)
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

Anyway, I don't like Bush much.  I'll ignore foreign policy, and just say a few things he's done I don't like: support of torture, his terrible mishandling of environmental issues (on that level, he actually IS the worst president ever), reducing civil liberties, cutting down on privacy protections, cuts to renewable energy research, and his continuing push for abstinence-only education. 

But, I'm not sure if he'll be looked upon as the worst ever.  So I just voted for "bad".

[indianasmith]

Thanks to all who have voted thus far.  Any more takers . . . .?