Rubenerd

On Monday I posted a discussion I had with someone on Twitter who was adamant that everyone was wrong and that George W Bush would be remembered favourably by people… and he was serious! Upon receiving a tweet from me where I contradicted his assertion, he made a comparison between Bush and Nixon.

Not knowing much about historical American politics I didn't know if this comparison was apt, so I asked some folks about their opinions and got responses here, in email and in Google Reader. Let's just say I wasn't surprised by the responses!

Alex wins the grand prize. I had forgotten how terrible Bush Jr had been for environmental causes too; here in the world outside the US the media seemed to have focused more on his… how do I put this delicately?… less than successful international relations. Alex's comment about the "perception of western people" was especially spot on.

Yeah it’s true, Nixon was a pretty decent president but Bush is viewed in a negative light for much better reasons. My brother came up with a list of over 45 reasonably sized screw ups like messing up the Environmental Protection Agency, Hurricane Katrina, a bunch having to do with Iraq.. basically he is oblivious to the irreparable damage he’s done not only to the American economy, the American society, the global society, the Eco-systems around the world and the perception of western people in general.

He’s been a disgrace to us all and the only people who approve of him compose the lower idiotic wrung of society here in America. They kind of people who whole-heartedly believe his meaningless rhetoric and feel an obligation toward supporting the neo-conservative republican party.

I’ve lived in Illinois for all of my life and I have maybe met 3 people who approve of his actions. So yes – history will judge him as an obtuse, unqualified disgrace of a president who got to where he was with corporate contributions and a mutually beneficial relationships with the wealthy, power-hungry, apathetic kind of people who are destroying our planet.

Amen.

Thank you to everyone for your emails and comments, I'd like to think I've learned something today! I didn't learn that Bush won't be remembered favourably though… I knew that already. Did I mention I'm relieved beyond belief he isn't in charge anymore? I'm not Bill Kurtis.