Hold on to your hats...
Jul. 17th, 2004 03:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agilebritI'm going to get political again. Saw a list of the supposed sins of President Bush, and decided that, rather than clutter up a friend's LJ with a bunch of debate, I'd answer some of the salient points in my own.
-AWOL from National Guard and Deserted the military during a time of war.
Not remotely true. He's released his military records. Everyone involved with his so-called being AWOL has said that it never happened. Ever.
-Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
The economy was headed downhill before he took office. Then we had this little thing called 9/11, which really sent the stock market into the toilet. What's really amazing is that we've recovered as well as we have. Credit the tax cuts for that.
-First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
Yes, those 35 other nations that sent troops into Iraq were completely irrelevant.
-First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
The UN Human Rights Commission is a joke. The head of that commisssion is, I believe, currently Sudan. 'Nuff said.
-Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
The UN is already irrelevant. Talk talk talk, yak yak yak. Do they ever do anything? No. And when they try to do something, they generally fail. The first time terrorists hit their humanitarian aid workers in Iraq, they cut and run.
-Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America.
Oft repeated, but not true. Houston never passed LA as the most polluted city in the nation.
-Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.
Well, you might want to talk to Texas juries about that, since they're the ones who impose the death penalty. The governor in Texas has extremely limited commutation powers. He can't stop an execution entirely, merely delay it for a few weeks. And even if he could, who the hell is he that he should?
-Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my fathers appointments to the Supreme Court.
Let's remember who brought the lawsuit that put the election into the hands of the courts in the first place. And let's also remember that the President is not elected by popular vote, but by the Electoral College, and that recounts in Florida by several major press outlets (including USA Today, hardly a bastion of right-wing politics) gave the race to Bush.
-Attacked and took over two countries.
Oh, you mean Afghanistan and Iraq? Home of brutal dictatorships that sponsored terrorism, home of the governments that aided and abetted Al Quieda and listed Osama Bin Laden as "intelligence assets"? Those countries? Damn right we did. And they're better off now.
-Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
Um, yeah. Remember 9/11?
-First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
So what and good for him.
-Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
That's because we're at war, and that's what the National Reserves are for. Besides, dipping into the reserves would result in a minimal lowering of gasoline prices. A better solution would be to build more refineries and more domestic drilling so that we're not so dependent on foreign sources of oil, but the environmentalist wackos won't let us do that.
-Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
If you're referring to Enron, that happened under Clinton's watch. The oh-so-vilified Bush Administration is the one that caught them.
-Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
I think you're confusing him with President Clinton. That was a man who lived and died by polls and focus groups. This President knows what he believes and acts on it, no matter what the polls say. Otherwise, some of the unpopular decisions he's made...would not have been made.
-With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
Really? I thought relations were hostile over there because Palestinians just can't stop themselves from blowing up buses in homicide bombings.
-First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
Because, we're going to attack them any day now? What the hell does this mean?
-Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
Well, if he's dead in a cave buried under 500 feet of rock, we'll never know, will we?
-In the 18 months following the 911 attacks, successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
Um, yeah. There was that little thing called the 9/11 Commission? Maybe you've heard of it?
Yeesh. If the people on the Left can't win except by attacking, lying, and distorting, maybe they should fold their tents and go home. Tell me the positive things they're going to do. Tell me what they would have done differently after 9/11 (not that it's relevant, but if they had a better idea, I would have liked to have heard it). Instead all they can do is bark, growl, and whine.
-AWOL from National Guard and Deserted the military during a time of war.
Not remotely true. He's released his military records. Everyone involved with his so-called being AWOL has said that it never happened. Ever.
-Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
The economy was headed downhill before he took office. Then we had this little thing called 9/11, which really sent the stock market into the toilet. What's really amazing is that we've recovered as well as we have. Credit the tax cuts for that.
-First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
Yes, those 35 other nations that sent troops into Iraq were completely irrelevant.
-First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
The UN Human Rights Commission is a joke. The head of that commisssion is, I believe, currently Sudan. 'Nuff said.
-Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
The UN is already irrelevant. Talk talk talk, yak yak yak. Do they ever do anything? No. And when they try to do something, they generally fail. The first time terrorists hit their humanitarian aid workers in Iraq, they cut and run.
-Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America.
Oft repeated, but not true. Houston never passed LA as the most polluted city in the nation.
-Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.
Well, you might want to talk to Texas juries about that, since they're the ones who impose the death penalty. The governor in Texas has extremely limited commutation powers. He can't stop an execution entirely, merely delay it for a few weeks. And even if he could, who the hell is he that he should?
-Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my fathers appointments to the Supreme Court.
Let's remember who brought the lawsuit that put the election into the hands of the courts in the first place. And let's also remember that the President is not elected by popular vote, but by the Electoral College, and that recounts in Florida by several major press outlets (including USA Today, hardly a bastion of right-wing politics) gave the race to Bush.
-Attacked and took over two countries.
Oh, you mean Afghanistan and Iraq? Home of brutal dictatorships that sponsored terrorism, home of the governments that aided and abetted Al Quieda and listed Osama Bin Laden as "intelligence assets"? Those countries? Damn right we did. And they're better off now.
-Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
Um, yeah. Remember 9/11?
-First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
So what and good for him.
-Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
That's because we're at war, and that's what the National Reserves are for. Besides, dipping into the reserves would result in a minimal lowering of gasoline prices. A better solution would be to build more refineries and more domestic drilling so that we're not so dependent on foreign sources of oil, but the environmentalist wackos won't let us do that.
-Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
If you're referring to Enron, that happened under Clinton's watch. The oh-so-vilified Bush Administration is the one that caught them.
-Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
I think you're confusing him with President Clinton. That was a man who lived and died by polls and focus groups. This President knows what he believes and acts on it, no matter what the polls say. Otherwise, some of the unpopular decisions he's made...would not have been made.
-With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
Really? I thought relations were hostile over there because Palestinians just can't stop themselves from blowing up buses in homicide bombings.
-First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
Because, we're going to attack them any day now? What the hell does this mean?
-Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
Well, if he's dead in a cave buried under 500 feet of rock, we'll never know, will we?
-In the 18 months following the 911 attacks, successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
Um, yeah. There was that little thing called the 9/11 Commission? Maybe you've heard of it?
Yeesh. If the people on the Left can't win except by attacking, lying, and distorting, maybe they should fold their tents and go home. Tell me the positive things they're going to do. Tell me what they would have done differently after 9/11 (not that it's relevant, but if they had a better idea, I would have liked to have heard it). Instead all they can do is bark, growl, and whine.
