Valin Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 WasHINGTON pOST:Julian E. ZelizerNovember 7, 2010 1. George W. Bush was an uninformed Texas cowboy.Nobody loved this myth more than Bush himself. During his 2000 campaign against Vice President Al Gore, then-Gov. Bush went to great lengths to depict himself as a down-home Texan whom voters could relate to. Even on a weekend when he was considering as momentous a choice as his running mate, reporters watched as Bush climbed into his SUV and drove down the dirt roads of his Crawford ranch. (Snip)2. "Compassionate conservatism" was just a campaign slogan.Many critics dismiss Bush's talk about "compassionate conservatism" as nothing more than a cynical ploy to win over moderate voters in 2000. Liberals never believed that Bush truly wanted to bring racial and ethnic diversity to the Republican Party or that he accepted the need for the federal government to deal with entrenched social problems. The administration's bungled response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, along with regressive fiscal policies that disproportionately benefited wealthier Americans, also seemed to contradict the promise of compassion. (Snip)Bush committed 3. America to nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.After the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush appeared to commit the United States to remaking enemy nations into pro-Western democracies. In Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States destroyed the governments in power and touted an ambitious "freedom agenda" far exceeding anything even Woodrow Wilson ever conceived. "Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe - because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," Bush said in November 2003. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveliberty Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Thanks for posting this, Valin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geee Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Loved the article. His interview with Matt Lauer is at 7 Central tonight!!! I have it DVR d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
righteousmomma Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Nicely balanced article. Rather surprising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evad Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 George is THE MAN and I love him for what he did for his country.. BUT.. I didn't care for his remarks about Sarah. He's still part of the old establishment GOP and those times need to be swept behind us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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