Big Think

Jonathan Adamski on January 17, 2008, 7:00 AM

I believe you're correct for the most part. However, I believe GW Bush's love for country is actually his love for the area it occupies. He can love America, as in the land between the Atlantic/Pacific and Canada/Mexico, but I do not believe he loves or even understands what the idea of America represents.

Jonathan Adamski on January 17, 2008, 12:00 PM

I believe you’re correct for the most part. However, I believe GW Bush’s love for country is actually his love for the area it occupies. He can love America, as in the land between the Atlantic/Pacific and Canada/Mexico, but I do not believe he loves or even understands what the idea of America represents.

steven mosco on January 17, 2008, 5:08 PM

His legacy cannot be anything else but Iraq. Yes he overspent, yes his environmental stance was abhorrent, yes he loved the country (tough love, I guess) … but none of that means much of anything when put up against the war in Iraq … the timeliness of the war, or lack thereof, will forever keep him ingrained in the minds of many Americans as a shortsighted cowboy with an ax to grind.

David Portch on January 17, 2008, 5:59 PM

To say that G.W. Bush will be judged harshly is absolutely preposterous if you mean to convey that the judgement is in any way unfair. A president does not have the luxury of being a good guy who tried his best. He/she must, at best, succeed and, at worst, do nothing, in order to be favourably judged by history. Mr. Bush and his neocon puppetmasters have taken the United States of America down a path from which I see no way back. I am not an American, I am not fond of America as it is, but I love the first principles that the idea of America was based upon. Yours is a great nation with great potential, yet day after day I am forced to stand and watch Bush drive your country deeper into the abyss. It is heartbreaking. I see no way back for the culture that America has evolved for itself. Greed, hunger for victory at all costs, selfish individualism and a host of other sins have all been manifest in the person of George Bush. I'm sure he's a good well meaning man, but he works within a set of principles that have become so insanely perverse, so far from the common sense of decency that Americans have traditionally been known for in the past, that he can not help but be judged as the worst president America has ever had. i

steven mosco on January 17, 2008, 10:08 PM

His legacy cannot be anything else but Iraq. Yes he overspent, yes his environmental stance was abhorrent, yes he loved the country (tough love, I guess) … but none of that means much of anything when put up against the war in Iraq … the timeliness of the war, or lack thereof, will forever keep him ingrained in the minds of many Americans as a shortsighted cowboy with an ax to grind.

David Portch on January 17, 2008, 10:59 PM

To say that G.W. Bush will be judged harshly is absolutely preposterous if you mean to convey that the judgement is in any way unfair. A president does not have the luxury of being a good guy who tried his best. He/she must, at best, succeed and, at worst, do nothing, in order to be favourably judged by history. Mr. Bush and his neocon puppetmasters have taken the United States of America down a path from which I see no way back. I am not an American, I am not fond of America as it is, but I love the first principles that the idea of America was based upon. Yours is a great nation with great potential, yet day after day I am forced to stand and watch Bush drive your country deeper into the abyss. It is heartbreaking. I see no way back for the culture that America has evolved for itself. Greed, hunger for victory at all costs, selfish individualism and a host of other sins have all been manifest in the person of George Bush. I’m sure he’s a good well meaning man, but he works within a set of principles that have become so insanely perverse, so far from the common sense of decency that Americans have traditionally been known for in the past, that he can not help but be judged as the worst president America has ever had. i

Matt Hanley on January 19, 2008, 9:27 AM

Coming from a historian%u2019s point of view, we won%u2019t know how history will remember Bush for some time. Many presidents like Lincoln and Truman were not always thought of so highly. It is only many years later that we see them as great presidents. And, to look back on something relatively objectively, all the historians that lived during that presidency need to have died. We still cannot look clearly upon Vietnam like we can the Civil War or the Revolutionary War.

I think largely, Bush%u2019s legacy will be determined on the future state of Iraq and the Middle East. If, for whatever reason, Iraq is a stable democracy in 10-15 years, or if in 50 years, the Middle East is a place of piece, Bush might be looked at as the engineer of such piece and progress. If Iraq goes to Hell in a hand basket, Bush will probably be remembered quite differently. Ultimately though, I don%u2019t really think his legacy will be based on what we currently think about him. Our opinions will be largely irrelevant.

Also, events can drastically change our collective memories of a president. Since JKF was assassinated, we kind of forget that his presidency led us to be in Vietnam for the next 12 years.

Omar Sapayeen on January 19, 2008, 1:29 PM

This is a revolutionary time in history, we're looking at right now. And I'm not saying this because I'm living in the moment.

No president has been more targeted for his weak intelligence and his hypocritical application of moral principles than this president. He is vilified everywhere, from Japan to Holland. He will be remembered most of all for the Iraq war. It is clear to all that the push to war was promoted by a series of deceptions. Bush will be remembered via Powell's powerpoint presentation to the UN. Bush will be remembered for his support for torture, and what goes on now in Guantanamo Bay. He will be remembered for his policy of 'you are either with us or against us'. He will be remembered for his many "bushisms" that highlighted is unwillingness to submit himself to thorough thought and consideration before he engaged in actions. He will be remembered when 9-11 is remembered, and he will be remembered for squandering every opportunity he had to promote peace, and that he opted for violence and war. He will probably go down as the worst US president in history, and how the image of America was soiled because of him and the people he represents.

Matt Hanley on January 19, 2008, 2:27 PM

Coming from a historian%u2019s point of view, we won%u2019t know how history will remember Bush for some time. Many presidents like Lincoln and Truman were not always thought of so highly. It is only many years later that we see them as great presidents. And, to look back on something relatively objectively, all the historians that lived during that presidency need to have died. We still cannot look clearly upon Vietnam like we can the Civil War or the Revolutionary War.

I think largely, Bush%u2019s legacy will be determined on the future state of Iraq and the Middle East. If, for whatever reason, Iraq is a stable democracy in 10-15 years, or if in 50 years, the Middle East is a place of piece, Bush might be looked at as the engineer of such piece and progress. If Iraq goes to Hell in a hand basket, Bush will probably be remembered quite differently. Ultimately though, I don%u2019t really think his legacy will be based on what we currently think about him. Our opinions will be largely irrelevant.

Also, events can drastically change our collective memories of a president. Since JKF was assassinated, we kind of forget that his presidency led us to be in Vietnam for the next 12 years.

Omar Sapayeen on January 19, 2008, 6:29 PM

This is a revolutionary time in history, we’re looking at right now. And I’m not saying this because I’m living in the moment.

No president has been more targeted for his weak intelligence and his hypocritical application of moral principles than this president. He is vilified everywhere, from Japan to Holland. He will be remembered most of all for the Iraq war. It is clear to all that the push to war was promoted by a series of deceptions. Bush will be remembered via Powell’s powerpoint presentation to the UN. Bush will be remembered for his support for torture, and what goes on now in Guantanamo Bay. He will be remembered for his policy of ‘you are either with us or against us’. He will be remembered for his many “bushisms” that highlighted is unwillingness to submit himself to thorough thought and consideration before he engaged in actions. He will be remembered when 9-11 is remembered, and he will be remembered for squandering every opportunity he had to promote peace, and that he opted for violence and war. He will probably go down as the worst US president in history, and how the image of America was soiled because of him and the people he represents.

brYan Benoit on November 3, 2008, 9:01 AM

The notion that there is an outcome of this war , that in retrospect would legitimize this illegal act is sad. The republiCANTs
will try to spin whatever positive news they can,, but the damage has been done, both to our society and the nation of Iraq. Not to mention the US self image. Shame and possible criminal prosecution await this administration.