How was it for you? What is the Bush legacy after half a decade?

Tuesday December 13, 2005
The Guardian

How was it for you?

Five years ago today Al Gore phoned George Bush to formally concede the presidency. Since then the United States has suffered it's worst ever terrorist attack, become embroiled in a disastrous foreign war and bungled the response to a natural catastrophe. So what is the Bush legacy after half a decade? Is he a ruthless Machiavellian or a bumbling puppet? A devout idealist or a cynical opportunist? A disaster or a mild disappointment? Here, six top American commentators - from the left and the right - deliver their verdicts:

Jacob Weisberg
George Bush seems less likely to be remembered as a disastrous American president than as an ultimately insignificant one. Despite his ambition to reshape American politics and society in the order of a Reagan or a Thatcher, Bush has presided over a period of national and economic drift that more closely resembles the forgettable reign of his father.



Dee Dee Myers
George Bush is talking again, and I don't have a clue what he's saying. It's not that he's mangling his syntax. That's par for the course. And while it's as amusing as it is disconcerting, I usually think I know what he's trying to say (though I do confess to being stumped by "more and more of our imports are coming from overseas").

I wish I had Bush's ability to tell all those voices in my head to shut up. Maybe I need to learn his squinty-eyed stare; it certainly seems to have had the desired effect on the press corps. I, too, want to believe that the world is black and white, that all problems have simple solutions, and that doubts are for the weak and faint-hearted. I, too, want to ignore complexity and laugh in the face of contradictory facts. I, too, want to be 14 again.

(Complete Comments & more commentary from: Kathleen Parker,Howell Raines,Kitty Kelley,R Emmett Tyrrell Jr)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1665837,00.html

was in the white house.

Myself I have good days and bad days, This day is starting off good.

Just chilling out listening to some hound dog taylor. Getting ready to go to therapy in a few. Thanks for askin :hug:

eom

and had to move across the country from family and friends so my husband could have a job.

I think his legacy will be as the initiator of the decline of the U.S. He has completely ignored the areas we need to be focussing on; like education and environmental realities, and thrown us headlong into a mire of radical religious and empirical ambitions. We will see the fruits of his wrongheadedness over the next few decades and it ain't gonna be pretty. I can't help but thinking it's a deserved comeuppance for all the arrogance and stupidity that rules this country.

On a personal note, this last 5 years has just been extremely frustrating. I am surrounded by the kind of folks that re-elected the jerk and STILL don't see what's wrong with his administration. UGH!