The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace - WSJ.com

The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace - WSJ.com

I had a choking fit as I read this editorial in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. I could almost agree with a more generic point that, as Americans, we ought to show respect to the office of the presidency. But this editorial goes far beyond that, arguing that Bush's record low approval numbers are "the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans... Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties." Mr. Shapiro (who bears the credentials of "investigative reporter and lawyer who previously interned with John F. Kerry's legal team during the presidential election in 2004", not to mention total idiot) then brings up several issues on which either Democrats or Republicans (or both!) have disagreed with Bush: Supreme Court nominees, immigration reform, as well as "his refusal to retreat in Iraq [that] has enraged liberals who have unrealistic expectations about the challenges we face there."

Oh yes, poor hapless George W. Bush. He's tried so hard to reach across the aisle and work together, always making sure not to alienate those that may disagree with him. Is this guy kidding?????? In what world does he live? Here are a few of Bush's other bipartisan initiaves, stretching all the way back to the start of his presidency:

• torture
• the Iraq war
  
• indefinite detention & suspension of habeas corpus rights
  
• warrantless wiretapping of American citizens
• Telco immunity
  
• asserted that the office of the Vice-president resides in the legislative branch in order to avoid reporting and inspection requirements in the handling of classified information.
• establishment of 100-mile "constitution-free" zone inside the U.S. borders.
• Ignored warnings about the danger posed by Hurricane Katrina
• domestic deployment of the military in violation of Posse Comitatus
• The bailout
• Bailout funds bonus payouts to executives, despite bipartisan outcry
• Failure to join Kyoto protocol
• Extraordinary rendition
  
• and because it bears repeating, torturing people until they go insane.

I'm sure there are plenty more, you're welcome to play the home game. Is it really so hard to understand why he's universally hated? The term "worst president in history" has been bandied about by historians since 2006. I really cannot fathom how there are still Bush apologists out there. Let's try this: name things that Bush has done well. (Cue the crickets chirping).

Mr Shapiro ends up:

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

No, the only "shameful display of arrogance" over these past 8 years has come from the Bush White House. He's the fucking disgrace, and there's nobody else TO blame for all these problems, unless you want to argue that it's Cheney or Rove's fault! Shameful indeed.