After eight years, Mr. Bush leaves Washington (Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel)

[struggle4progress]

01/18/2009

We are decidedly not better off now than we were eight years ago, when Bush became president. At times, it has felt as if governing our nation was simply beyond the capacity of this Texan, who may have reached the limits of his abilities when he was governor of that southern state.

As president, Bush seemed resolute and acted with conviction. But his propensity for throwing the long ball, his inability to experience a healthy dose of doubt, his lack of reflectiveness and his one-dimensional thinking meant we had a president who didn't believe in nuanced diplomacy, who placed his trust in ideologues and who refused to back down or reverse course even when his policies led us into disasters.

Bush arrived in Washington promising to be a uniter, not a divider -- and leaves a nation exhausted by eight years of culture wars that he and his chief political architect, Karl Rove, helped foment. He came to the White House decrying government spending -- and leaves a nation reeling from massive deficits ... Bush ascended to the presidency after having denounced nation-building as U.S. policy -- and leaves a country suffering the painful sacrifices of his risky and misguided war to build a newly democratic Iraq.

The Bush era is ending, a cautionary tale, perhaps, of the dangers of aristocracies. In his place, the nation has elected a man with the most improbable of resumes, whose claim on the presidency bears no echoes of privilege or entitlement ...

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/view/columns/5828056.html

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. We allowed this presidency to persist... with all the reasons for

impeachment it offered.... we allowed this presidency to persist. Thank you congress, thank you supreme? court.

[chill_wind]

2. And thanks, too, to a stupified American electorate

that didn't even begin to tear itself away from Fox News or American Idol even long enough to notice, until around 2006 or later.

[Possumpoint]

3. I Only Hope

That we can recover quickly from the problems he has caused.

Also, I hope that history treats his actions and policies fairly. I don't want political twist put on it by either side. I believe that GWB will then earn his true place in history. That being one of the worst presidents we've ever had the misfortune to have in power.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. He didn't really govern Texas, either

The Texas governor is largely a figurehead. It's a peculiar system, and suited to a mental blank like Little Georgie.

[sduke97]

5. not too soon

[Demeter]

6. In Ruins, Disgrace, and Flames

Bush left no stone unturned, no brick on top of another.

[Enthusiast]

7. K&R. We must always remember and

forever remind the forgetful, just how horrible this administration was. Never forget!