Then President George W. Bush boards Air Force One after speaking about Hurricane Katrina’s damage to the nation on network television from Jackson Square in New Orleans, September 15, 2005.
REUTERS/Larry Downing

Hat tip to the Anchoress for linking this piece, America Betrayed President Bush, written by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro who served on John Kerry’s legal team in the ‘04 campaign. FA pretty much said the same thing last year, in regards to the manner in which Obama was being given a pass for continuing Bush era policies for which Bush was excoriated.

Andrea Shea King and Dave Logan also have a great piece up at Big Government on the 43rd president and the pounding he took.

He’s endured a lot of blame. Here’s one more: I blame him for keeping America safe after 9/11, into the final days of his presidency.
God bless George W. Bush! A man who will be vindicated by the history books.

Also blogging:
Wizbang

Well, it’s gone. 2009 is finally freaking GONE

The year started with my wife outta work, no family income (I just get beer money for my books), two sick kids, the neighbor’s trampoline had just taken flight into the back of our car-almost totaling it.

The year continued… Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t think you will find a better article on the foreign policy of Obama other then Fouad Ajami’s stuff at the WSJ. In it he gets right to the meat of the matter.

No despot fears the president and no demonstrator in Tehran expects him to ride to the rescue.

After a year in office the world knows what to expect. A bunch of “soaring” rhetoric about democracy and freedom but NO action whatsoever. In essence, Obama is intending to stay above it all and withdraw from any and all action on the world stage.

With year one drawing to a close, the truth of the Obama presidency is laid bare: retrenchment abroad, and redistribution and the intrusive regulatory state at home. This is the genuine calling of Barack Obama, and of the “progressives” holding him to account. The false dichotomy has taken hold—either we care for our own, or we go abroad in search of monsters to destroy or of broken nations to build. The decision to withdraw missile defense for Poland and the Czech Republic was of a piece with that retreat in American power.

In the absence of an overriding commitment to the defense of American primacy in the world, the Obama administration “cheats.” It will not quit the war in Afghanistan but doesn’t fully embrace it as its cause. It prosecutes the war but with Republican support—the diehards in liberal ranks and the isolationists are in no mood for bonding with Afghans. (Harry Reid’s last major foreign policy pronouncement was his assertion, three years ago, that the war in Iraq was lost.)

As revolution simmers on the streets of Iran, the will was summoned in the White House to offer condolences over the passing of Grand Ayatollah Hussein Montazeri, an iconic figure to the Iranian opposition. But the word was also put out that the administration was keen on the prospect of John Kerry making his way to Tehran. No one is fooled. In the time of Barack Obama, “engagement” with Iran’s theocrats and thugs trumps the cause of Iranian democracy. Read the rest of this entry »

Tony Blair got it years ago, and still gets it:

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he would have found a justification for invading Iraq even without the now-discredited evidence that Saddam Hussein was trying to produce weapons of mass destruction.

“I would still have thought it right to remove him. I mean, obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat,” Blair told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast this morning.

It was a startling admission from the onetime British leader, who was President Bush’s staunchest ally in the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

Blair’s comments were immediately denounced by critics who accused him of using false pretenses to drag Britain into an unpopular war that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of allied troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians.

Speaking to broadcaster Fern Britton, Blair insisted that ousting Hussein had improved the situation in Iraq by laying the foundation for a more democratic country. He described the upcoming Iraqi elections as “probably the single most significant thing that’s happened to that region for many years.”

“I can’t really think we’d be better with him and his two sons still in charge,” Blair said of Hussein.

The title of that article above, from the LA Times, is titled: WMD Not Point Of Iraq War.

Of course it wasn’t. It was One of MANY reasons for that war, one of which….and the most important in my opinion…was Saddam’s support of terrorists. After 9/11 we could not allow this tyrant to continue to support our enemies while thumbing his nose at the entire world for the previous 13 years. As the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Phase II investigation report on pre-war Iraq Intelligence stated: Read the rest of this entry »

“Apparently”, the new American administration doesn’t have time for democracy-promoting/building…here (busy ramming a spoonful of socialized medicine down our throats) or elsewhere in the world. You see, in the words of the Democrats’ (oh, the irony of the party’s name!) “other candidate”, Hillary, “they have a lot of other things on their plate.”

Jackson Diehl reporting for WaPo:

The deflated Arab hopes for Obama

By Jackson Diehl
Monday, November 30, 2009

It’s been nearly six months since Barack Obama stirred hearts and raised hopes across much of the Arab world with his much-promoted Cairo address. Many came away from it expecting a new and more vigorous U.S. attempt to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Others hoped for more American sympathy and support for liberal reform in countries where free expression, women’s rights and democratic elections are blocked by entrenched autocracies.

That would be under President Bush, who liberated 50 million from a repressive regime and a murderous tyrant, before passing the baton over to #44.

The peace-process bubble burst two months ago at the United Nations, when Obama’s poorly executed attempt to launch final-settlement talks between Israelis and Palestinians collapsed. Arabs who were led by Obama’s rhetoric to believe that the United States would force Israel to make unprecedented unilateral concessions — like a complete end to all construction in Jerusalem — were bitterly disappointed.

But they are not the only victims of post-Cairo letdown. Arab reformers, who for most of this decade have been trying to break down the barriers to social and political modernization in the Middle East, have also begun to conclude that the Obama administration is more likely to harm than to help them.
Read the rest of this entry »

Contrast that with Obama’s photo-op in Delaware. Plus: Consider Obama’s “My Pet Goat” moment in his first public response to the tragedy!

Friday night former U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush made a private visit to the victims of the massacre at Fort Hood:

The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.

Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura secretly visited Fort Hood last night and spent “considerable time” consoling those who were wounded in Thursday’s shooting spree, Fox News has learned.

The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.

The couple was described as “deeply concerned” about military families on Fort Hood after Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire on soldiers and civilians, killing 13 and wounding 38.

The Bushes, who have a 1,600-acre property known as Prairie Chapel Ranch less than 30 miles from Fort Hood in central Texas, spent between one and two hours visiting the wounded and their families.

Contrast the Bush’s behavior with that of Obama who flew to Dover, Delaware to pay his respects to the returning remains of fallen American soldiers making sure he had a full press contingent in tow.

And while we are talking about contrasts, how about Obama’s first public words as this tragedy unfolded? Yes, he did have a statement to make, but he prefaced it with friendly banter and standard boilerplate that was totally inappropriate. As millions of Americans watched and waited for their President to help them deal with this news, this is what they saw and heard:
Read the rest of this entry »

Ah, yes, a post-Bush era Bushism, God bless him!

While Bush’s speech was mostly eloquent and free of the language gaffes he admits he is famous for, he said he regretted appearing in front of a “Mission Impossible” sign during a televised address in 2003. The controversial banner referring to the U.S. mission in Iraq, actually said “Mission Accomplished.”

Last Thursday, about 300 protesters in Montreal brought on the effigy-burning and shoe-throwing, like it was old times again:

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookworm Room offers a study in contrast between the Decider-in-Chief and the Waffler-in-Chief who yearns for his glory days of being able to simply vote “present” in his handling of Afghanistan. He certainly talked up a good game….up until the moment when it matters the most.

Lucianne.com:

Every now and then
we like to run this picture

Former President George W. Bush looks out over the U.S. Capitol as his helicopter departs Washington, D.C. January 20, 2009, for Andrews Air Force Base following the inauguration ceremonies for President Barack Obama. (ERIC DRAPER/AFP/Getty Images)

President Bush gave an hour-and-a-half speech Wednesday night at the Wilderness Resort and Convention Center in Sevierville (Hat tip: Brutally Honest):

“Every day in the White House was a joyous day for me,” the 43rd president said. “I miss being commander and chief of our military the most. You know you live in an amazing country when we have servicemen that continually volunteer to serve their country in the face of danger. I believe we have an obligation to give our troops all the support they need to accomplish their missions.”

The former president said he still has faith that conflicts in the Middle East can eventually be resolved.
Read the rest of this entry »

From President Obama’s UN speech today:

I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. A part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies and a belief on, on certain critical issues, America had acted unilaterally without regard for the interests of others.

And this is has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism which, too often, has served as an excuse for collective inaction.

~~~

After all, it is easy to walk up to this podium and point fingers and stoke divisions. Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles and absolving ourselves of responsibility for our choices and our actions. Anybody can do that.

Like blaming the previous Administration for the state of affairs today and giving validity to misperceptions? Good grief!

John Bolton:
Read the rest of this entry »

This week marks six months since integrity and honor turned the top job over to fluff and posing!

More reminders of what we have lost in the Bush Thankathon archive.

We have victory in Iraq due to our brave military members, the brave Iraqi’s who stood and fought for their country, and President Bush. But where is the MSM on this great day?

Iraqi government TV has been playing patriotic music to celebrate the U.S. military withdrawal from cities, towns and villages across the country, officially set to be completed by Tuesday June 30th.

Iraqi military vehicles were also covered with flowers to celebrate the event, and military parades, complete with band music, were organized in Diyala and Diwania provinces.

The government declared a “Day of National Sovereignty” to mark the event, and has invited ordinary citizens to join evening celebrations at Baghdad’s Zawra Park for a festival of music and poetry.

Interior Minister Jawad Boulani told journalists the U.S. withdrawal is almost complete and Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining order across the country. Read the rest of this entry »

SANTIAGO, Chile Nov 20, 2004 President Bush stepped into the middle of a confrontation and pulled his lead Secret Service agent away from Chilean security officials who barred his bodyguards from entering an elegant dinner for 21 world leaders Saturday night.

Several Chilean and American agents got into a pushing and shoving match outside the cultural center where the dinner was held. Bush noticed the fracas after posing for pictures on a red carpet with the summit host, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and his wife and first lady Laura Bush.

Abandoning the other three, Bush walked over to the agents, reached through the dispute and pulled his agent from the scrum.

The president, looking irritated, walked away with the agent. The incident was shown on APEC television.

“Chilean security tried to stop the president’s Secret Service from accompanying him,” said White House deputy press secretary Claire Buchan. “He told them they were with him and the issue was resolved.”

This video of the President not hesitating one second to turn around and wade into a crowd of people to save one of his own bodyguards show’s once more the true character of this man. This guy really does have balls and I am even more proud to have him as our President. What do you think Kerry would of done, not a damn thing, he probably would of called the agent a son of a bitch for holding up his picture taking time.

Wizbang has some thoughts which quite frankly make a lot of sense. I’m glad he is the type of man that would take this action but it just wasn’t a smart security action. It could of been a ruse to create a disturbance while someone assassinated the President….and where was the rest of his detail to stop him from going in there like that? I’m sure this agent is taking some ribbing from his co-workers, having to be saved by the man he was supposed to protect, funny stuff.