• Former President George W Bush speaks about the current political climate
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[quote]During a speech in New York (and in the spirit of Michelle Obama), the younger Bush eviscerated the president without mentioning his name. “We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America,” Bush said. “We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade, forgetting that conflict, instability and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism. We’ve seen the return of isolationist sentiments, forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places.” He went on to denounce “bigotry” and “white supremacy” in any form as “blasphemy against the American creed,” echoing the joint statement he released in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, which the president largely failed to condemn. If it hadn't been clear that Bush was speaking to an audience of one, the former president was helpful enough to confirm it: When asked by a reporter after the speech whether he thought his message would make its way to the White House, he reportedly smiled, nodded, and responded, “I think it will.”[/quote] [url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/george-w-bush-donald-trump]Vanity Fair[/url]
He's not wrong here but seeing Bush of all people say this [QUOTE]We’ve seen the return of isolationist sentiments, [B]forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places.[/B][/QUOTE] After his presidency is sort of awkward.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;52798187]He's not wrong here but seeing Bush of all people say this After his presidency is sort of awkward.[/QUOTE] It's very likely this is what he learned [i]because[/i] of his presidency.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;52798301]It's very likely this is what he learned [i]because[/i] of his presidency.[/QUOTE] That, or he's paying lip-service like all too many politicians do.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;52798301]It's very likely this is what he learned [i]because[/i] of his presidency.[/QUOTE] Well that's at least some comfort after he invented the forever-war.
People being wow'd by Bush's words here are either willfully petting the now-harmless Bush on the head, or have no grasp of how much bullshit these words are, especially coming from Bush. He's the same brand of Republican that currently populates the Congress and Senate. His gushing over international trade and globalism is the same sort of hollow knocking that's used to justify Corporations being able to base their HQ's out of Ireland or the Isle of Mann for a 0% tax rate. His waxing poetic about pure patriotism is the same cheery facade that was used to assure us that the Patriot Act and the NSA would be useful tools in fighting terrorism, and not Orwellian gladhanding passed off under a veneer of safety. That's without even talking about his father's and his own blustering, hamfisted International Relations agenda are fundamental building blocks for the current clusterfuck we currently occupy. Just because Trump's personal agenda is worse does not magically elevate these Republicans through a feat of relativism, and they do not deserve any praise for tactfully poo-pooing the Orange in Chief when they march in lockstep with eachother, and would do the same things Trump would, except with more tact and lefthanded canoodling that allows them to drape the prestige of office around their shoulders. Unless, y'know, you really think Dubya, the face and shepherd of Anti-Muslim extremism in the U.S., the choir leader of "Christian values" for eight years, the tax-slashing rubberstamper, [I]really[/I] dug deep after his presidency and discovered he was actually a compassionate, economically savvy, cosmopolitan renaissance man once he [B]was no longer in a position for those characteristics to matter. [/B] For value, literally every president, once their term is up, essentially begins working on casting their legacy. Even Richard M. Nixon, the impeachable bulldog of the Oval Office, poured tons of time, money and effort in to making sure he wouldn't be remembered just as "the crook." To that extent, consider how often you've heard in the last few years the mild praises of Richard Nixon opening up China. Bush is on record as having feared he would be the last Republican president, that the party would collapse following a disastrous defeat in the 2016 election, and history would hang the blame on him. His speech here is fundamental, self-aggrandizing propoganda. He wants to distance [I]his[/I] Republican part from [B]Trump's[/B] Republican part as much and as fast as possible, so that when the old, suit wearing snakes take the reigns back from the alledged facists and open bigots, the history books will remember Trump and Co. as a blip. A rowdy and unfortunate consequence of a democracy, and not an indicative result of the Republican party's brinksmanship and pandering to a homogeneous, chronically impoverished, fearful and culturally united voting bloc.
[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;52798483] His speech here is fundamental, self-aggrandizing propoganda. He wants to distance [I]his[/I] Republican part from [B]Trump's[/B] Republican part as much and as fast as possible, so that when the old, suit wearing snakes take the reigns back from the alledged facists and open bigots, the history books will remember Trump and Co. as a blip. A rowdy and unfortunate consequence of a democracy, and not an indicative result of the Republican party's brinksmanship and pandering to a homogeneous, chronically impoverished, fearful and culturally united voting bloc.[/QUOTE] Here is a comment I found by a former Republican that is quite insightful [QUOTE]The degree to which GOP leaders don't understand their own party is interesting. I've written this before, but the story of what has happened to the GOP is actually a very, very simple story. They had a Presidency which they fully supported under George W. Bush, and it was an immense failure, a failure of a presidency of the kind not seen in generations. The GOP's response to this was not to introspect, but to become a defiant, salt the earth opposition party. Rather than look inward to try to understand what had happened to them such that their governance was such a failure, they decided upon the election of Barack Obama that complete and total opposition - to everything - was the way to go. This was documented at the time - you can read the reporting about a meeting of GOP leadership after the 2008 election (but before the inauguration) where they made a tactical decision to 100% oppose everything Obama did, no matter how reasonable, because by rejecting everything they would deny him the appearance of bipartisanship and thus make it look him [I]he[/I] was the radical one. They united themselves in this opposition. And it was [I]immensely[/I] successful. It took years before anyone other than liberals like Krugman or Jon Chait noticed what was happening. It took Obama about 3 years to realize himself, to realize that you can't negotiate substance with the GOP because [I]refusing to negotiate was the substance[/I]. That's the definition of reactionism. There was nothing Democrats could to prevent this from happening. While this was bad, what was worse was the combination of (i) the GOP's hollowed-out hatred was an immense success and (ii) their base didn't know they were being cynical lying sacks of shit. Eventually, even the party officials themselves bought their own nonsense. You can't live for years with a knowing lie - you eventually convince yourself that the lie is in fact the truth. And so we're now in a position with a party which has no ability to govern anything at a national level, but no one other than liberals realize it. And because they have so thoroughly poisoned the well against liberalism as an identity, no one listens to us liberals. The GOP's toxic stew of empty, hateful resentment led them to elect Donald Trump, because the only actual qualification for being a conservative nowadays is hating liberals, and Trump was the most straightforward and vicious in his hatred. This party is poison. And we may be way too far down to benefit from any antidote. [/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;52798483] His speech here is fundamental, self-aggrandizing propoganda. He wants to distance [I]his[/I] Republican part from [B]Trump's[/B] Republican part as much and as fast as possible, so that when the old, suit wearing snakes take the reigns back from the alledged facists and open bigots, the history books will remember Trump and Co. as a blip. A rowdy and unfortunate consequence of a democracy, and not an indicative result of the Republican party's brinksmanship and pandering to a homogeneous, chronically impoverished, fearful and culturally united voting bloc.[/QUOTE] Well said. I get the impression that this statement came 8 months into Trump's presidency because his approval rating is low enough and it's "safe" to jump ship now. This response is calculated so as to not invite the idea that Bush's administration laid the foundations for all of this. If the Trump administration wasn't about to go down in flames, we probably wouldn't have heard this. [editline]a[/editline] I wouldn't doubt that's it's about more than his legacy. I'm sure him and his friends want another Republican president in 2020, and Bush needs to protect his credibility to give that endorsement and protect the name of the Republican party. Expect some "go back to the good ol days" campaigning in a few years.
[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;52798483]He wants to distance [I]his[/I] Republican part from [B]Trump's[/B] Republican part as much and as fast as possible, so that when the old, suit wearing snakes take the reigns back from the alledged facists and open bigots, the history books will remember Trump and Co. as a blip.[/QUOTE] I kind of miss the days when all I had to worry about from the president was him fucking up the educational system, instead of declaring via twitter that freedom is a gift granted only by God.
As bad as Trump is, the Iraq War is still worse than anything that the current president has done so far.
[QUOTE=Lambeth;52800957]As bad as Trump is, the Iraq War is still worse than anything that the current president has done so far.[/QUOTE] Seriously this, the mean bad orange man hasn't invade a country over bullshit reasons yet, so calm down FP.
[QUOTE=zerglingv2;52801856]Seriously this, the mean bad orange man hasn't invade a country over bullshit reasons yet, so calm down FP.[/QUOTE] So being content with fucking up his own country big time and managing to send destabilizing ripples throughout the western world is considered much less severe?
Iraq vs the immediate threat to my healthcare. I choose my healthcare, sorry.
[QUOTE=zerglingv2;52801856]Seriously this, the mean bad orange man hasn't invade a country over bullshit reasons yet, so calm down FP.[/QUOTE] Nah people have the right to be angry about Trump even if he hasn't gone to war with another country. [editline]20th October 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Da Big Man;52802016]Iraq vs the immediate threat to my healthcare. I choose my healthcare, sorry.[/QUOTE] IIRC bush wanted to privatize social security, though he failed when it came to pulling that off. Bush was guilty of doing everything that Trump is doing now. Trump is just pushing everything to 11.
[QUOTE=zerglingv2;52801856]Seriously this, the mean bad orange man hasn't invade a country over bullshit reasons yet, so calm down FP.[/QUOTE] Trump is going to cause far more damage long term. He's completely fucking climate change and the progress the US has made on it. Then there's world image, healthcare, foreign policy and far more.
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