Here's evidence of just how far Bush's standing in the world has fallen. I'm sure there's more to the story, but check out the way none of the world leaders offer to shake hands with him as the leaders gather together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Y_ncOVlDw

I saw this yesterday and it is pretty astonishing - but it was pointed out to me that Bush had already met and shook hands with all of these leaders shortly before they staged this photo. So it may not be as bad as it looks.

Andrew

Yeah, I heard something to that effect. Still, he barely even acknowledges the others, nor is he acknowldged as they enter. The video probably makes the scene appear more disturbing than the scene actually was, but isn't it fair to assume the other leaders went through a meet and greet prior to the gathering as well?

Maybe the leaders were upset Bush didn't offer shoulder rubs during their first meeting.

Think of it this way: Bush has had a long day of BS'ing with all these world leaders. He's tired, about to leave, and then the media person announces its time to stage the photo before Bush can leave. He's impatient. Just wants to get the hell out of there. And then this video is shot...

So I'm just trying to be fair to the guy.

Andrew

Could CNN be the bully here?

Or perhaps the other leaders didn't know if they should give him a high five or shake hands like this:

http://www.hiphoplinguistics.com/news/2008/06/president-bush-got-a-little-hip-ho p-in-him

With all due respect, after the state he's left us in, he doesn't really deserve too much fairness.

Your savior won.

But you all still have to be the BBB's (Bush Bashing Bitchers)

I was very hopeful last week when I read (and sorry, I don't remember who posted it) something to the effect of "Now maybe we can get back to the good posting that we used to have"

Oh well, I guess there is no pleasing some people.

Nobody has posted negative Obama comments since he won. Maybe I'll have to start.

If I can find it, maybe I'll post a link to a picture of the new presidential limo. You know, the one with the 22" tires and the spinner wheels.

There will be Bush Bashing Bitchers for a good long time.

The guy is the gift that keeps on giving. This is the kind of thing that happens when you run a nation into the ground! Call it his legacy!

Everybody knows he's the absolute worst (P)resident ever. And it's fair game to bring that up as we struggle through dealing with the assload of crap he will have left us during his time as (P)resident.

I'm gonna be frank, and just up and have it out. I will be working hard to make damn sure people remember what happens when too many of us vote Republican!

Bush is a big part of that. Again, call it his legacy.

Everybody knows he's the absolute worst (P)resident ever.

Your opinion.

My opinion: It's a tie; Clinton and Carter.

Well, then, let me be the first to post a negative Obama link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/obamas-use-of-complete-se_b_144642.h tml

There's quite a few in agreement with Missing:

"In an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted over a three-week period through the History News Network, 98.2 percent assessed the presidency of Mr. Bush to be a failure while 1.8 percent classified it as a success."

1.8!!!!

Hell, let's give the guy a break and just round that up to 2 percent!

So it is absolutely safe to say the Bush Grade is EPIC FAIL. No question.

The only real debate then is about worst ever!!

Sorry all, but that's just not a discussion I think is even worth it. Say he's not actually the worst ever. Just for grins right?

What does that get us?

Second worst ever?

And that means what?

He worked his ass off, and didn't manage to suck the most? Can't even nail it that way?

I suppose we can then go and compare his post President works to Carter. Betcha that's a no brainer too. I doubt we will see Bush actually step up and use his post-office time to do anything even close to what Carter has done.

FAIL THERE TOO.

Anyway, this guy has earned exactly squat for deference of any kind. He did us all a lot of harm, and it's actually doing your neighbor a favor to make damn sure they know who is who and why that matters going forward.

You'll get no contrition from me over this subject. Bush Sucks. He cost us a lot, did a lot of harm, and needs to be seriously remembered so we have as small of a chance as we can manage of going down this road again in the future.

Yes, but a failure doesn't mean WPE.

I agree, there is a lot of stuff that Bush has done that I don't like. But then think of what the alternative was at that time.

I'd have to say that we have not had a very good president, or even good choices for a president since Reagan and it continued right thru this election.

I'm curious as to what specifically in your mind made Carter or Clinton worse than Bush?

Skybill: I agree, there is a lot of stuff that Bush has done that I don't like. But then think of what the alternative was at that time.

Well, there were two superior alternatives in 2000 and 2004 in Al Gore and John Kerry. My opinion of Kerry has diminished a little since 2004, and I now agree he wouldn't have been a great president but most certainly still better than Bush. Maybe it was worth four more years of Bush to get Obama instead - let's hope.

Andrew

Given the results, yes it does.

The last 8 years have been absolutely horrible. On all fronts too! Social issues, foreign policy, economics, research, law, you name it! I could go on for pages and pages of documented, substantiated horrible performance.

And that's the crap we KNOW about. He's trying to claim privlige for those things we don't know about, after he leaves office, so that we don't know about them.

If there is a debate right now about him not being worst ever, it's because we don't know everything. Trust me on that one.

The Republican George W. Bush is the most prominent reminder we have today of what happens when too many people vote Republican.

That's his legacy.

Jimmy Carter negotiated with Iranian terrorists for the release of American hostages and that alone makes him a weak president. Just compare him to Ronald Reagan, who promised never, ever to negotiate with terrorists, who was so much stronger than Carter because he managed to get American hostages back through diplomacy with the Iranians.

Andrew

Carter: Look where the economy and interest rates were when he was in office. And as Andrew mentioned Carter negotiated with terrorists. Terrorists are not worth negotiating with. They are however worth blowing up! I do applaud Carter for his work with Habitat For Humanity.

Clinton: He was impeached for lying under oath. What else did he lie about? We'll never know. Had you or I done that we'd have gone to jail. Why shouldn't he? Clinton would be a good used car salesman. As Ross Perot said in one of the debates "Just because you ran the corner drug store doesn't make you qualified to run Wal-Mart!" I about fell out of my chair laughing when he said that!

Oh yeah, one other thing about both of them; they’re Democrats.

Bush: Look at the economy, jobs, national debt, war dead, stock market, etc. No question, Bush is the worst ever. I've got several old rollover IRAs that are professionally managed and properly diversified that have had no additional contributions since Bush took office and they are all worth less now than they were 8 years ago.

I'll take a lie about a blow job any day if it means my investments will actually grow.

Skybill: Carter: Look where the economy and interest rates were when he was in office. And as Andrew mentioned Carter negotiated with terrorists. Terrorists are not worth negotiating with.

Sorry, Bill, I guess I should have made it more clear I was being sarcastic. Reagan promised never to negotiate with terrorists during the 1980 campaign, then he turned right around and negotiated with terrorists (Iranians - who were having Americans hostages held in Lebanon.) At least Jimmy Carter didn't trade arms to the Ayatollah! But I'll bet Reagan negotiating with terrorists doesn't diminish your respect for him one bit, now, does it? Only of Carter, because he was a Democrat.

Carter inherited an economy from Ford (and Nixon) that was a mess and got worse. But he was the one who appointed Paul Volker head of the Federal Reserve (Reagan re-appointed him), and Volker is widely credited with ending double-digit inflation once and for all by ratcheting up interest rates. (also caused a recession - but you haven't seen double-digit inflation since, have you?).

I think Carter's example illustrates the danger Obama faces of not being able to turn around this economic mess in four years. People are impatient and often unrealistic in their expectations. A president can have some impact on the economy but often the measures they can take do not have their impact for a while.

Andrew

The difference between Carter's situation and Obama's is that Carter lacked the ability to instill a sense of hope and confidence among the population. He took office when the public's distrust and cynicism for government was never higher. Obama is taking office while the public's disgust and disapproval of Washington has never been higher but through his campaign he was able to re-energize much of the country in a way Carter never was able to. That certainly is no guarantee that he'll be able to clean up the devastating mess left behind by another Republican administration, but at least he has the support and optimism of much of the country.

You can't evaluate an experiment until there is some data.

Given the fact that the wealth of this nation has plummeted nearly 50% in the last year, you would have to blind not to deduce that the government under Bush has grossly mismanaged our dollars. This is a combination of poor choices made by Bush and the more egoistical choice of ignoring good advice from many in the Bush corral. So let's get a few things straight:

I've no desire to detail every mistake and argue its cause. We are currently in a lame duck situation where once again rhetoric soars and has no significant meaning. The media struggles to fill their minutes with facts because it's mostly rhetoric. The opinions of the talking heads don't add up, or perhaps it's more a situation of self cancellation.

Bush blew it. He had eight years. He had the initial backing of the world after 9/11, and for whatever reason (I'm content to let history decide) he made the wrong choices and put not only the United States but much of the world in the situation it is in. This one man has little success to point to, but crying over the past is not a pathfinder to the future.

Obama has yet to serve in the office he has won through our democratic process. Commenting and criticizing the process is always valid, but other than trying to put together a team to work with Obama hasn't set policy or promoted new legislation because he not yet can. Only the true malcontents continue to sit and whine (Rush, et. al.) over losing power, but they have an audience to feed and sponsors to court. In the real world, they count for a lot less now than ever before.

The incessant sniping post election really shows a lack of aplomb (confidence) that the strength of our country lies in our ability to shake off our losses and move forward. If you guys want to parse history and bicker about the cataclysm we've just gone through at the hands of some very inept leadership, go right ahead. I'm more interested in tomorrow than yesterday.

None of you noticed the little racist shot at the end of Skybill's initial post here? Or, were you just ignoring it?

Bill, while I very much disagree with much of what you say here, I did think you were better than that. Or were you just being "funny"?

Warner: None of you noticed the little racist shot at the end of Skybill's initial post here? Or, were you just ignoring it?

Noticed. Ignoring it.

Andrew

I noted it as well. Ignoring it.

Bill, while I very much disagree with much of what you say here, I did think you were better than that. Or were you just being "funny"?

Funny. Someone sent me a picture of that "limo". Photochoped of course!

Edit add: Actually I think it's pretty cool that a Black man has been elected. I just wish that Colin Powell was that man.

Warner, I noticed it too.

Bill et al, race really has nothing to do with it, but let us pretend for a moment that it does. After twenty years of white trash aristocracy, it was time for a change. After decades of turning Pennsylvania Avenue into a glorified trailer park, a pawn shop and a skeezy hourly motel, we were overdue for some folks with class, dignity and respect for the rule of law.

Neither Bush nor Clinton deserve a free pass. Both families enabled each other in a way unseen in our history outside of the mafia. If you want to buy into the political theater that made them adversaries, go right ahead. What I see -- and what history will record -- is two crime syndicates who tossed our nation down a deep well for a tidy personal profit. Our good will, blood and treasure has been squandered by a series of dynasties led by honkies without a soul.

In order to restore the pretense of democracy, we needed an intellectual shift from the worst of the "me" generation to the potential for a "we" generation. When it comes to the White House, giving the keys to select southern crackers who fit the criteria -- because they have no apparent criminal record, all their teeth and a college diploma -- is no way to run a country. It took the worst of whitey to give the best of other colors an opportunity to lead.

There, I said it with tongue firmly in cheek.