CBS continuing America's penchant for rehabilitating monsters, George W. Bush wants to tell you about compassionate conservatives
- Thread starter WrenchNinja
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He's old, rich, white, a dumbass, and enough people avoided the consequences of his actions and destruction of the US economy that he's allowed to.
He's right. Good people exist on the other side, and bad people exist on ours.
Unfortunately those good people are voting in politicians who are facist pigs and changing their minds will be difficult because of political polarization.
This interview shouldn't fill you with rage, but it probably does. I think that's worth inspecting.
Unfortunately those good people are voting in politicians who are facist pigs and changing their minds will be difficult because of political polarization.
This interview shouldn't fill you with rage, but it probably does. I think that's worth inspecting.
He should be in the Hague. Bush is a war criminal responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, for torture, for the destabilizing of the Middle East and Afghanistan. The whitewashing of his legacy that the media, and (largely Democratic) politicians, have carried out in the last couple of years is unacceptable.
Mark my words, Donald Trump will be rehabilitated too in time. We love our monsters here in America.
Mark my words, Donald Trump will be rehabilitated too in time. We love our monsters here in America.
Oh, there's plenty of anger. Directed at immigrants and BLM and transpeople. And Obama, of course. Socialism, gotta be angry at that. Masks, there's something to be angry about. Pedophiles. Not real ones, of course, but y'know, the make-believe ones. Cancel culture. Rigged elections.
The problem isn't lack of anger, it's carefully misdirected anger.
that compassionate conservative bullshit may have fooled people back in 2000, but it won't... yeah, it'll fool people again
Saw a commercial for this interview earlier in the morning and just rolled my eyes at it. It got to a point in his presidency where Bush was pretty well disliked (to put it lightly), but in the time since then, his image has been turned largely positive in the eyes of the public.
This can be attributed in part to the crazier elements of the Republican Party (Trump, MTG, etc) becoming more outspoken, but also because of his association with Ellen Degeneres and the Obamas, who, along with the media, continually try to tell us that he's just a goofy old dude that likes to paint.
This also feeds into the completely ignorant moderate idea (on both sides, but especially moderate Democrats) that we all just need to start getting along and working together "again", while completely ignoring that one side doesn't give any fucks about any of that.
This can be attributed in part to the crazier elements of the Republican Party (Trump, MTG, etc) becoming more outspoken, but also because of his association with Ellen Degeneres and the Obamas, who, along with the media, continually try to tell us that he's just a goofy old dude that likes to paint.
This also feeds into the completely ignorant moderate idea (on both sides, but especially moderate Democrats) that we all just need to start getting along and working together "again", while completely ignoring that one side doesn't give any fucks about any of that.
George W Bush was responsible for a 20-years and running "forever war" in Iraq and Afghanistan that has had 3 different admins all promising to end it, dumped trillions of dollars into funding weapons manufacturers and the military-industrial complex and cutting back on everything else as a result of America's hard-on for showing its "military might" post 9/11 (and he's not just a monster to the rest of the world, here's a good reminder of how W FUCKED the USPS by crippling them financially) .
George W Bush has done more to cause the modern wave of right-wing nutjobs than many will give him credit for. Fuck him and his daddy.
Give a 90-minute interview to the Iraqi journalist that threw a shoe at Bush.
George W Bush has done more to cause the modern wave of right-wing nutjobs than many will give him credit for. Fuck him and his daddy.
Give a 90-minute interview to the Iraqi journalist that threw a shoe at Bush.
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An attempt at rehabilitation by a man who lied the country into a war for personal profit that resulted in no less than half a million deaths should absolutely fill you with rage.
George W. Bush can burn in hell with everyone that attempts to soften his image. That includes the Obama's, Ellen, The Lincoln Party and all their defenders, and everyone else who wants to look at him favorably because they can't see past how much they hate Trump.
The closest we got to accountability as Muntazer Al-Zaidi's shoe, and it's a damn shame it didn't at least take an eye out.
Like, did he rehab his image though?
I feel like nobody forgot at all how maligned he was, and he's (rightly) mostly stayed out of the public/political eye. Is he back in a consequential way?
I feel like nobody forgot at all how maligned he was, and he's (rightly) mostly stayed out of the public/political eye. Is he back in a consequential way?
George W Bush is a mass murderer who deserves life in prison. Why shouldn't we be angry?
George W. Bush's favorable rating has pulled a complete 180
George W. Bush has turned his unpopularity upside down
The question then becomes, are people who are fine voting in "fascist pigs" really "good people"?
I don't know how "good" a person can be if they vote in white supremacists and fascists.
The only difference between Trump and Bush (and Bush Sr, and Reagan, and Nixon) is that Trump took the mask completely off because he realized it was no longer necessary.
Depends on how we want to judge them. Are they good parents? Contribute to their local food pantry? Good christians who help their neighbors? Just normal ass people who don't give anyone a hard time even?
They don't believe they are voting in facist pigs. They are just voting for their football team like idiots. Like my aunt. She's a good person, but votes for trump solely for "lower taxes". I don't even try to reason with her anymore, because blinders are up. She's a wonderful mom and helps people out around her. For my mental health I can't group her in with the people rushing the capitol, because she isn't one of them.
If a person can see past (or not see it at all) all of Trump's blatant racist pandering and still decide to vote for him because she wants "lower taxes", then yeah I'd push back on how good of a person they truly are.
George W Bush is a mass murderer who deserves life in prison. Why shouldn't we be angry?
George W. Bush's favorable rating has pulled a complete 180
George W. Bush has turned his unpopularity upside downwww.cnn.com
Wild.
For my own sanity I'd love to see this poll done again in a post-Trump/Qanon GOP world...but I'm sure I'll be disappointed to find that he somehow not only has high favorability, but that it also (like this old CNN poll) mostly comes from independents and Democrats warming up to him.
Sorry to be the one to break this to you but your aunt is a bad person.
Yeah, ironically you might be able to make a case that Democrats/independents like Bush more than Republicans do now... the voting base has largely gotten bored of neocons and prefer the thinly veiled calls for fascism and white nationalism from Trump and his associates. You can trace that back to the Tea Party and watch it grow from there.
Unfortunately Americans have memories of a goldfish. It's easy to forget now but making fun of Bush was like, the defining cultural humor touchstone of the mid-late 2000s, to the point where it sort of became a tired joke in its own right. All the anger and satire directed at the Bush administration has vanished and now people just fondly remember him being "presidential."
No lies detected here. Definitely a ding in her record lol.
I'm just feeling lost in today's political climate. I'm scrambling around trying to understand what's happening around me and trying desperately to not jettison the family I love from my orbit becuase they voted for orange turd. I do my part and talk to them every time they bring politics up and try to reason with them and let them know that progressive politics can save this country. It's just a long and tiring battle.
The term "compassionate conservative" is inherently oxymoronic. By definition, conservatives want to maintain traditional structures, which are the very elements of our society that hold so many people down. By refusing to acknowledge that social change is made through legislation, they are making it impossible for the non-ruling class to climb above their station. Conservativism is the epitome of the "I got mine" mentality that has made the world such a terrible place for so many people. So, yes, you could argue there are "good people" with conservative beliefs, at least in how they live their daily lives, but those good people are still actively harming the world by keeping the unjust power structures in place.
Also, W. is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life.
Also, W. is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life.
When then entire party, leadership from the top to the bottom, has embraced White nationalism, or at the very best, doesn't speak against it, there are no "good people" on the Republican side. People always bring up Romney, but he's one person, that also goes and makes long speeches about how Democrats are horrible people and betraying the country for not working with Republicans, you know the party that just tried to steal an election, spit in the face of Democrats for a decade, just had Trump as president, and now has an "American First" White Supremacist caucus and cult congresspeople.
Both sides are not "the same" which is practically what you are saying when you say "both sides have bad people". I also take issue with "they are good people they just vote wrong". No, that makes them bad people just like the people that voted for Trump in 2020 are racists, because they enable racism.
Yes, because most of the lives he ruined were not American.
That is actually not what I'm saying. I agree with your first paragraph though.
But what are you saying then? Bush is not a good guy. Bush is saying, just like people like Romney do, that not all Republicans are bad, except, well, they are. Just look at Boehner. The guy retires in tears, apparently not liking what has happened to his party, he says fuck Cruz publicly, and what does he do? he votes for Trump in 2020, the king of MAGA.
They are all rotten, all of them.
People can be blind when it comes to family. I've said it a thousand times on era but my step dad is pretty much the best step dad you could hope for. But if you're not his family and you are not White, be prepared to hear things like "shoot protestors, bomb them all, women are too emotional to be president, etc"
Great guy to me. He actually has done a lot for me. But yes, he's a racist. Sorry. It's very hard to have a relationship with him. And you know what, even if he just voted for Trump and didn't say all those other things, like my Brother, he's still seeing what Trump is selling and saying "I'll take more of that if it gets me what I want".
IM TELLING HER YOU SAID THAT!!!
I've quoted this book called "enlightenment now" like 3 times on this forum (I'm smart because I read one book) but it's changed the way I want to move forward interacting with conservative bozos. I'm going to ignore the ones that scream trumpisms in my face, and try to sit down and construct reasoned arguments with ones who are willing to have that convo, like my aunt. I guess this thread is my first time stepping into that role, so I apologize if me trying to bridge the gap is rubbing you and everyone else wrong.
My dogs, I'm with you on this fight. I'm just done blanket generalizing because these are the people I'm going toe to toe with, and I need to find a way to empathize with their position.
I, too, have conservatives in my family, so I get where you're coming from.
I do wonder how often conservatives try to empathize with their liberal friends and family members. Yes, trying to bridge the gap between you and your family is a good way to live, but it has to go both ways. If your aunt trying to understand your worldview, then maybe it's worth trying to keep her close. But if you're doing all the work and she's not doing her part to empathize with the liberal perspective, she's not worth fighting for.
No, not maybe. It's an ideology that thrives on being in-compassionate. It turns it into a point of pride.
So, this should go without saying, but every time I open my mouth it's through the lens of my worldview and experience. I'm a white male raised in the middle class who goes to therapy once a week.
I cannot view bush as a singularly focused evil person. He was in a position, hand on buzzer, being told by many smart people that there are many different angles and ways to approach the middle east. We will never know how those talks went. But I believe he was a man surrounded by experts who might have been motivated by greed, or by power, or by actual belief that going to war in the middle east might be better for American interests or the world as a whole.
It happened, and it was a fucking disaster. He made orders that caused death and destruction on a huge scale.
He didn't do it in the name of genocide, or hate, or at least blatant world domination. In his own simple way, I think he did it to help. And he was probably surrounded by equally complex or good or evil people around him.
It's fucked. And what he did turned out to be fucked. But he made a choice and has since talked about it being the wrong one. It doesn't make him less guilty, but it makes him human. He was a shit president, but he's a fucking guy. As a white American male, this is the story that's being passed to me and I'm filtering it through my experience and shitting it out. I feel almost the exact same way about Obama.
Fuck that piece of shit forever, and fuck any reporter who help rehabilitate that monster.
I will celebrate the day he dies.
p.s.
The camps we have at the border are a direct result of efforts that started under him to use the pretext of 9/11 to close the US southern border. And that crap doesn't even make the top 10 worst things he did.
I think submitting your Trump-voting aunt to a public trial on a forum of liberals and progressives is a really bad idea.
This is a really naive viewpoint frankly. We know the wars were fought on bullshit and imperialism. We know this.
en.wikipedia.org
You're perpetuating a narrative that the President Of The United States is effectively blameless in starting wars based on nothing.
This is a really naive viewpoint frankly. We know the wars were fought on bullshit and imperialism. We know this.
Afghanistan Papers - Wikipedia
You're perpetuating a narrative that the President Of The United States is effectively blameless in starting wars based on nothing.