So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

January 10, 2009 10:26 PM

Dear President Bush, Thanks for the memories. You will be missed. Thanks for making people care. And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Wishing you all the best, A Citizen.
posted by RedEmma (72 comments total)

Thank goodness for righteous anger!
posted by Corduroy at 10:37 PM on January 10

Now get the fuck out of my government

Amen, brother.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:40 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]

Also, thank goodness for snarky-one-liner-first-comments. I'll try to stop doing that.
posted by Corduroy at 10:43 PM on January 10

...we were the shining white knight of the world...

But lines like that really bother me.
posted by Corduroy at 10:46 PM on January 10

Dear Prasident Bush,

If you let the dinasor not exstinct we would not have a country. You did the right thing.

-Krrrlson
posted by Krrrlson at 10:49 PM on January 10 [4 favorites]

This seems like a good place to post this list of Bush's accomplishments that I found.

Ahem.

"Bush was an embarrassment, every single day. He brought tremendous amounts of shame each and every time he opened his mouth. He seems to thrive on stubbornness and a lack of knowledge. On several occasions, he was obviously drunk in public. He had the intellectual curiosity of a rodent. He used the phrase “It’s hard work” to describe the office of the president so many times, one had to wonder why he took the job. He was so vindictive, he outed a CIA agent. He made torture, a practice America once hung people for, legal. He spied on Americans without warrants. His inept choices caused the death of hundreds during Hurricane Katrina, while America watched on television. He took us to war using lies and manipulation. He politicized the Justice Department and, therefore, the rule of law. He kidnapped and held foreigners without charges.

"He backed out of the Kyoto Protocol, making America look like the backwards hick of the world. He attacked nearly every environmental law that exists. He removed emails from the White House system, breaking the law under the White House Records Act. He’s committed war crimes. He allowed massive neglect of our veterans in hospitals. He failed in Afghanistan, the actual place where the terrorists trained. He mishandled North Korea, which lead to the country creating nukes. He created a massive mercenary army and privatized military support services, leading to price gouging, tainted food and water, slavery, corruption and murder. He allowed the energy companies to write U.S. energy policy and Enron was the result. He created the failure known as the Homeland Security Department. He gave tax cuts to the richest Americans during wartime and created massive deficits. He filled judicial appointments with corporate loving judges. He turned Medicare into a time bomb. He failed miserably on healthcare. He destroyed America’s image around the world. His policies led to Hamas taking over the Gaza Strip. He took no action to bring peace to the Israel-Palestine conflict. He refused to fund stem cell research. He encouraged the FDA to allow businesses to self-police. He filled consumer oversight positions with businessmen. He restricted the effectiveness of the EPA. He created a demoralizing and partisan atmosphere at the CIA under Peter Goss. He signed thousands of signing statements to bills. He devastated the National Guard. He overextended and broke the Army. He pushed for and signed the Grassley bankruptcy bill. He allowed Mexican trucks to enter the US without regard for safety or environmental standards. He gave us The Patriot Act. He waged a war on science. He paid for American journalists to write propaganda. He destroyed the labor department. He ignored a report on Bin Laden in August 2001. He declared ground zero non-toxic when it was not. He took health care money meant for ground zero workers back. His mining friendly policies led to the Sago mining disaster. He nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court in just one of many acts of cronyism. He allowed heath care providers to turn away patients based on religious beliefs. He weakened pollution controls and opened forests to logging. He antagonized Russia by making a ballistic missile agreement with Poland. He deregulated the markets and pushed for a “home ownership” society leading to the housing crash. He allowed Enron to gut California. He violated the Hatch Act by using the GSA to promote Republican candidates. He brought Karl Rove into power. He obliterated the Civil Rights Division at the White House and oppressed minority voting. He created the disaster known as No Child Left Behind. He sent Paul Wolfowitz to run the World Bank with predictable and terrible results. He attempted to politicize Public Broadcasting. He used America’s terrorist warning system for political advantage, gave Medals Of Freedom to men who oversaw the epic failure known as the Iraq War. He allowed aggressive proselytizing by Christian evangelical faculty and cadets at the US Air Force Academy, had White House officials re-write scientific reports. He created a totally ineffective and expensive non-continuous fence along the US-Mexican border. He “bungled” oil leases, which will cost American taxpayers up to 9.8 billion dollars. He punished military attorney’s who successfully defended detainees. He created a secret court. He halted the phase out of the environmentally devastating gasoline additive MTBE. He kept failure Donald Rumsfeld in office way past his ripe date. Created enormous tax breaks for idiots to buy Hummers. He failed to properly provide soldiers with armor. He vetoed SCHIP. He put Katrina victims in toxic trailers. He made sure there were no audits of Iraq private contracts. He gutted the Consumer Products Safety Commission. He gave a grant of $43 million on May 17, 2001 to the Taliban government for its efforts to eradicate opium production. He stopped the release summaries of National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) to the public. He created “Free Speech Zones” for protestors. He destroyed tapes of torture. He oversaw a massive decline in employment. He sent to dollar plummeting to new lows. Sent John Bolton, who hated the UN, to the UN as ambassador. He buried negative reports on Iraq reconstruction, pollution in the Great Lakes and privatizing US intelligence. He turned the SEC from a watchdog organization of Wall Street to a co-criminal. Due to a lack of oversight, Bush lost $10.7 billion in Iraq. His de-regulation of the foreign crude oil markets allowed speculators to drive up oil prices to new heights. His total lack of oversight on the bank bailout did nothing to solve the crisis."

It's not a very long list.
posted by Caduceus at 11:02 PM on January 10 [121 favorites]

Perhaps you tried your best. I rather think you didn't, or else your mediocrity is such that you must fail at everything you set out to do.

That's one perceptive youngster.
posted by dgbellak at 11:06 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]

And that's just the first term.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:07 PM on January 10

It's cute that people hate Bush so much since it's much less scary to do that than to try to look into the crazy web of deceitful rich lunatics who put him up to everything.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:45 PM on January 10 [13 favorites]

Dear Bush we hate you even though half of us voted for you and now USA Obama we can begin a whole new OBAMA round of USA USA Obama USA because everyone loves us again USA.
posted by chococat at 11:51 PM on January 10 [4 favorites]

Useless venting. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
posted by zabuni at 12:00 AM on January 11 [5 favorites]

And, just like at the end of No Wait Out, a mirror slides back to reveal that Bush is, in fact, a Soviet sleeper agent named Yuri whose task has been to destroy the U.S from within.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:19 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

I agree with Burhanistan; he was a temporary figurehead; there is a complex of forces and historical trends which deserve our attention far more than this or that individual. Bit of mockery is fine and healthy, but it's no substitute for real politics, still less at this point in his career.
posted by Abiezer at 12:32 AM on January 11 [4 favorites]

The problem I have with all the hate for Bush and Bush alone is that doing so ignores the evil stuff that went on under Clinton, and assumes that Obama isn't going to keep on doing the same.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:11 AM on January 11

It's cute that people hate Bush so much since it's much less scary to do that than to try to look into the crazy web of deceitful rich lunatics who put him up to everything.

Oh well, at least we can take comfort in the fact they fucked themselves just as hard Sheldon Adelson lost more more money then any other person, $24 billion dollars. Of course, he's still a billionare. And don't forget Thomas "suck on this" Friedman's wife's company took a dump as well.
posted by delmoi at 1:16 AM on January 11

Useless venting. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Whiner.

USA! OBAMA! YEAH!
posted by delmoi at 1:17 AM on January 11

Ah yes, the Burning of the Effigy. A fine, noble, Continental tradition around for hundreds of generations. The President is dead, long live the President.
posted by electronslave at 2:01 AM on January 11

doing so ignores the evil stuff that went on under Clinton, and assumes that Obama isn't going to keep on doing the same

what
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:05 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

While it is true that Bush was a figure head of a vast bureaucratic system, it was his decisions that effected how his administration operated both in the carrying out of his policies and the day to day running of the Government. That is the what the terms commander and chief and president mean. All of criticisms of Bush has not been because of personality (yet his arrogance and his pride guided his actions and beliefs) but because of how he choose to operate and what he did; as per Caduceus long list. Yet what was worse then that he truly believed that he was, not only, doing right thing but he viewed himself as a great moral crusader for the free world. A true leader leads by example, not by lies and deceptions. This is even more vital when you represent the people and ideals of the united states of America; it past, present and future.

Yes leaders of governments are still humans, and will make mistakes and won't please everybody and will be always judged by what they do, what the say, and for what they believed. However, Bush came across as someone who didn't care that what he was doing was hurting people, hurting America. That is what he will be long remembered for.
posted by Prunedish at 2:44 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

Since my very first couple of comments got me called out as a troll, I feel I've been introduced, so fuck it, here is an opinion that may not make any sense or be relevant. Who cares? Dubya cares!

Hating on Dubya is a fun game and should be encouraged, (assuming people are capable of holding two thoughts in their heads at once.) Yes, he's a figurehead, yes, he was also the actual real, live President. It's not like he had no power, made no decisions. He was there, with his big ego, causing shit to occur. Yes, he's a puppet, and almost too obvious as a scapegoat, but I bet the first scapegoat ever was an asshole like this guy. Someone who pushed the game too far.

His ambition had no point- we know this because he could never describe what he was actually on about. He still can't. But hating his awful Presidency is no waste of time. The damage this man has caused took a huge chunk of text in this thread to even begin to describe. That he meant well doesn't help his cause or that of his fans at all.

The unfortunate thing- apart from his disastrous Prezduncy- is it's hard to avoid being blindingly obvious when discussing a guy whose mediocrity broke space and time in half. Or something.
posted by Gamien Boffenburg at 4:32 AM on January 11

Ah shit, I think I just said what Prunedish covered in the comment right before mine. Blah!
posted by Gamien Boffenburg at 4:34 AM on January 11

Yet what was worse then that he truly believed that he was, not only, doing right thing but he viewed himself as a great moral crusader for the free world.

I agree that Bush was more than a figurehead and that he had his self-serving hand in making policy more than people are giving him credit for.
I think that it is giving him too much credit to think that he did anything because of some moral imperative, or because he thought it was the right thing to do for the American people. I believe that Bush knowingly acted only to futher his own personal agenda and the agendas of his cronies and backers.
He held in complete disregard the consequences that his actions would have on those he was purportedly serving.
posted by newpotato at 5:03 AM on January 11

> He held in complete disregard the consequences that his actions would have on those he was purportedly serving.
poppycock. he believed he was representing the almighty US of A.

> Ah shit, I think I just said what Prunedish covered in the comment right before mine. Blah!
maybe. without the violins, perhaps.

> A true leader leads by example, not by lies and deceptions. This is even more vital when you represent the people and ideals of the united states of America

even more vital? how so? i'm sorry, i'm hearing violins screech in a patriotic crescendo and it makes me nervous all over again.

there are a great many of us who really would like nothing more than the united states of America to now SD&STFU. have you learn'd nothing from the bush years? please remain in your seats; yes you can. the US is not. that. special.
posted by de at 5:51 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

Dear Mister.
Thanks for the great book, The Grand Canyon; an Alternative View. It is even better than My Pet Goat. As you travel the earths in your future adventures, please make sure you don't fall off the edge since that would be bad.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:42 AM on January 11

Wow, de, sounds like someone has more sour grapes than we do, and I use that term in the common yet incorrect way to mean bitterness and resentfulness.
I think we anti-bushites are entitled to a bit of venting. It was made quite apparent from the post what this thread was about, and if you didn't want to participate constructively in an US-centric thread, you had the option of not clicking on the post, then reading the links, then reading the comments.
You don't think you're being just a little bit disingenuos to suggest that what happens on a macro level in the US doesn't effect the rest of the world? Gee, glad the collapse of the US economy isn't affecting you down there in Oz at all, or that Howard didn't have his head up Bushs' ass the whole time and send troops into Iraq right along side us, despite what the majority of Aussies wanted.
You don't think that in general, the world would be a different place today if Gore or even Kerry had been in office instead of Bush?
Like it or not (and lately, I haven't liked it at all), the US is a world leader, if not the world leader. What happens here bears a bit more weight to what happens in the rest of the world relative to most other countries, so, in that regard, yes. we. are. that. special.
...is all I'm sayin'.
posted by newpotato at 6:57 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]

I probably would like this FPP more if it had been posted in 2004.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:00 AM on January 11 [7 favorites]

no, newpotato, read the sentence again.

A true leader leads by example, not by lies and deceptions. This is even more vital when you represent the people and ideals of the united states of America

This sentence says that good US leadership is important not for the pragmatic reason that the US is important internationally, but because of it has particularly special ideals and people.

Poppycock, of course, especially after 8 years of Bush and Bush voters.
posted by dydecker at 7:13 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

It's cute that people hate Bush so much since it's much less scary to do that than to try to look into the crazy web of deceitful rich lunatics who put him up to everything.

True, but trying and executing him for war crimes and treason would make the next puppet think twice about letting that hand up his ass.
posted by fleetmouse at 7:46 AM on January 11 [11 favorites]

dydecker - Of course the US has particularly special ideals and people, just like every other country.

Just like how honesty, hardwork and ingenuity are claimed to be the special characteristics of ... well, just about every country on the planet naming their special characteristics.
posted by jb at 8:01 AM on January 11

good heavens. did i suggest that what happens on a macro level in the US doesn't effect the rest of the world? i feel so stupid now.
posted by de at 8:07 AM on January 11

Caduceus, I enjoyed your list, most of which I agree with, much, I believe, Bush would be proud of. And when I say "you" below, I don't mean you, I mean Mefites that believe the Bush Administration had clean hands during 9/11.

As a tin foil hat, I try to fit results into my narrative of the Bush years. For instance, I can understand you seeing He failed in Afghanistan, where I see it was necessary not to find Bin Laden.

What I've been wondering lately is: If you don't believe the Bush Administration was behind 9/11, how does He kidnapped and held foreigners without charges fit into your narrative? My narrative says that the government couldn't have defense attorney's questioning people under oath, this only leads to bad things. But your narrative, to me, doesn't fit together. Why no trials? Lack of evidence? Jurisdiction? (OK, now I'm trying to be funny). Let's leave it at Why no trials?
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 8:09 AM on January 11

Well I'm a communist and stage Englishman on the Internet and I think the US is special too.
After the decline of our Empire, we passed the baton of "centre of imperialism" to actors embedded in the American state; it's been interesting to see that even one of the finest products of Enlightenment thinking, the US Constitution, has served as little impediment to imperialist ends.
posted by Abiezer at 8:09 AM on January 11

The problem I have with all the hate for Bush and Bush alone is that doing so ignores the evil stuff that went on under Clinton, and assumes that Obama isn't going to keep on doing the same.

Well, the job probably looks a little different when you're the one getting the security briefings.

Caduceus, maybe you could try this list instead?
posted by txvtchick at 8:12 AM on January 11

This sentence says that good US leadership is important not for the pragmatic reason that the US is important internationally, but because of it has particularly special ideals and people.

Ah, I did indeed interpret that differently. On rereading, I get your point.

Poppycock, of course, especially after 8 years of Bush and Bush voters.

Attention De: It's statements like this that are why we don't want to just SD & STFU.
There are huge numbers of us that never supported Bush or what he stood for, yet still bear the weight of his actions.

What's with all the poppycock? It does nothing but make me picture an apoplectic old man screaming into his glowing blue screen whilst waving his cane around and accidentally tipping his drool bucket in the process...
posted by newpotato at 8:24 AM on January 11

What I want to know is if Bush was good enough to get any intern BJs under the desk. Cuz that's the true measure of a great man.
posted by spicynuts at 8:31 AM on January 11

'poppycock'? it's payback for all the times in the blue i have to read about buckets of the damned things.
posted by de at 8:33 AM on January 11

What I want to know is if Bush was good enough to get any intern BJs under the desk. Cuz that's the true measure of a great man.

You are an intellectually handicapped man.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:35 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]

'poppycock'? it's payback for all the times in the blue i have to read about buckets of the damned things.

It's also a delicious toffee coated popcorn and nut combo of yummy crunchy goodness!
posted by newpotato at 8:43 AM on January 11

Also see: #bushyears - started by mathowie: 140 char or less summing up the last eight years.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:57 AM on January 11

Hurray, Bush is going, etc.

All we are going to get will be a prettier facade. Obama says he's going to take a new tack on Iran, but must be careful because they're seeking a nuclear weapon which could start a regional nuclear arms race. If the Iranians are *really* pursuing a nuclear weapon it is because the nuclear arms race has already begun! The Iranians would not be the first country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons, and frankly, who would consider themselves directly threatened by Iranian nuclear weapons? Primarily Israel - the one Middle Eastern country to already have them.

I'm all for prettier facades to global politics, but I wish there was more meaningful change behind it. Sigh.
posted by knapah at 8:58 AM on January 11

The Boffenburg is wise.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:12 AM on January 11

CBS Sunday Morning: History's First Draft Of The Bush Legacy.

"In a 2006 Siena College survey of 744 history professors, 82% rated President Bush below average, or a failure.

Last April, in an informal poll by George Mason University of 109 historians, Mr. Bush fared even worse - 98% considered him a failed president. Sixty-one percent judged him...one of the worst in American history."

01.20.09 -- The End of an Error!
posted by ericb at 9:17 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

It is so depressing to see the same rah-rah USA#1 stupidity cranked up just because Bush's two terms are over.
posted by stinkycheese at 9:21 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

History's First Draft Of The Bush Legacy -- proper link.
posted by ericb at 9:22 AM on January 11

Bush may be going, but the rabble still doesn't know the difference between the verbs "affect" and "effect". Probably not the nouns either. Sheesh. Bet Obama can't change that one either.
posted by fcummins at 9:29 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]

the rabble still doesn't know the difference between the verbs "affect" and "effect".

Only three posters in this thread have misused the verb "effect:" prunedish (location unknown); newpotato (Australia and New York) and de (Australia).

One person has used the proper verb "affect" and that's newpotato.

So, I think we here on MetaFilter and in the U.S. need not take grammar lessons from an Irishman.
posted by ericb at 9:58 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

While on the subject of Bush, Obama, Aussies and such ... the reason Obama and his family were not permitted to stay in the Blair House this week?

That's right -- because Australia's former P.M. John Howard has taken up residence there, as he is to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bush tomorrow.

"Mr. Howard should have followed the lead of his fellow Medal of Freedom recipients, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who turned down offers to stay at Blair House [denying President-elect Barack Obama and his family official accommodation in the lead-up to the January 20 inauguration.]" ^*

A shameless slap at Obama and his family.

posted by ericb at 10:06 AM on January 11

let that be a lesson to me. i should have put 'effect' in italics, or inverted commas around the copy-paste quote i used, or maybe used 'affect' to divorce myself from the rabble. i feel so stupid again. cheer up cummins, you assume too much, a smart man like you... obama may not be as ineffective as you think.
posted by de at 10:16 AM on January 11

Dear Pres. Bush, aka The Decider,

THE BUCK ACTUALLY DID STOP WITH YOU. You are responsible for the Great Depression of the 21st century. It is the Bush Depression. You are responsible for the ransacking of every asset, freedom, and principal that made us a great nation. In your hubris, you claimed unlimited executive power. Now claim your consequences. If you do, it may well be the first time in your pampered, insulated existence that you ever owned up to what a abysmal failure you truly are. I wish there were a hell so you could burn in it. Not only are you the worst president in American history but one of the all-time most inept leaders in the history of world. Your refusal to deal with global warming leaves the world on the brink of a total, environmental collapse. Good going, asshole. May that fact torture you for the rest of your craven clown pretense of a life.
posted by chance at 10:31 AM on January 11

Of course Bush accomplished something: he made Warren Harding look pretty damn good.
posted by dilettante at 10:37 AM on January 11

May that fact torture you for the rest of your craven clown pretense of a life.

Bush: I Personally Authorized Torture Of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
posted by ericb at 10:55 AM on January 11

I'd prefer that they hang him from a lamp post and then piss on his corpse, but a bunch of passive aggressive letters are almost as good, I guess.
posted by empath at 11:00 AM on January 11

I find it strange that after eight years of Bush, 46% of voting Americans voted for McCain, a man commonly described as "Bush lite." WTF, USA?
posted by five fresh fish at 11:13 AM on January 11

This site reminds me an awful lot of that "open letters to your ex or whomever" site that was posted a few days ago. It's like President Bush is collectively our country's prom date that stood us up.

Also: DID HE EVER MAKE THE PIE HIGHER? I really want to know.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:36 PM on January 11

but I bet the first scapegoat ever was an asshole like this guy. Someone who pushed the game too far.

I don't know about the first scapegoat, but the first "whipping boys" were slave children kept by royalty to act as stand ins when the children of royal families committed transgressions that carried mandatory floggings under the law. So if little Prince Jack stole an apple pie off a windowsill, he'd be tried, and the customary sentence of flogging issued, but it was the "whipping boy" who actually took the beating.

So, no, I doubt the first scapegoat was the son of one of the wealthiest, most-politically connected families in his country. He was probably some poor kid they picked to take the real asshole's place.
posted by saulgoodman at 12:43 PM on January 11

...but I bet the first scapegoat ever was an asshole like this guy. Someone who pushed the game too far.

Some contend that the first scapegoat was indeed -- get this -- a goat driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The rite is described in Leviticus 16.
posted by ericb at 1:00 PM on January 11

You are an intellectually handicapped man.

I'm not the one endlessly rehashing the same arguments over and over, day in, day out on a web forum (or maybe I am, actually). In any event, you have to find a way to make light of it somehow on occassion, otherwise, you cry.
posted by spicynuts at 2:32 PM on January 11

fcummins, check your own facts and information before attacking someone else’s post. The word effect is the right choice. Effect as a verb means to execute, produce or to accomplish. Maybe you could explain how I went wrong and why it should be the word affect. If it’s not too much trouble for you.
posted by Prunedish at 2:39 PM on January 11

I find it strange that after eight years of Bush, 46% of voting Americans voted for McCain, a man commonly described as "Bush lite." WTF, USA?

You find it strange? I find it downright disturbing.

I travel back to where I grew up for the holidays and meet across the dinner table the people who made the Bush years possible, including:
My mother, who LOVES Sarah Palin, for no reason that she can give me other than she likes the way Palin talks. Not speaks. Talks.
My college educated well traveled brother and sister in law who voted for Bush the second time around, well, because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but then immediately regretted it.
Another family member, who now that the evil Obama presidency is about to start, wants to take off and camp out for the duration on some land that I have in Australia.
Another family member that thinks gays shouldn't have any rights because maybe she doesn't want her fictitious kids to grow up around *those* morals.

There is hope for the next generation, however, because there exists my niece, who is valedictorian of her class, who "doesn't even mind that Obama is Muslim".
posted by newpotato at 2:42 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]

So Ben and Jerry's renamed Butter Pecan "Yes Pecan" after Obama and there's a thread on Reddit asking what the Ben and Jerry's ice cream for Bush would be. My favorite is Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker... Swirl.
posted by spec80 at 3:28 PM on January 11 [12 favorites]

So Ben and Jerry's renamed Butter Pecan "Yes Pecan" after Obama and there's a thread on Reddit asking what the Ben and Jerry's ice cream for Bush would be. My favorite is Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker... Swirl.

Hey! I'm giving away Barack Obama Yes We Can Openers as door prizes at a Good Riddance Bush Party I'm throwing on the 20th.

kinda related...sorta
posted by newpotato at 3:38 PM on January 11

According to the Bush countdown clock at the bottom of my browser, we only have to put up the the Imbecile in Chief for another 209 hours, 19 minutes, 12 seconds...
posted by zardoz at 3:41 PM on January 11

But it's all okay, I mean, yeah, he pretty much destroyed the world, but if you only knew him, gosh, he's such a nice guy.
posted by nax at 3:49 PM on January 11

Caduceus, maybe you could try this list instead?

No, let's not. I'm sure the Bush White House will put out an official press release listing of his "accomplishments"; we don't need an unofficial one from a Heritage Foundation wonk in the Post. Anything that lists "In Iraq, nearly 30 million people are no longer subject to Saddam Hussein's tyranny" as a success is spinning so fast, it'll take off a hand if you touch it.
posted by Amanojaku at 4:18 PM on January 11

While it is true that Bush was a figure head of a vast bureaucratic system, it was his decisions that effected how his administration operated both in the carrying out of his policies and the day to day running of the Government. -- posted by Prunedish.

fcummins, check your own facts and information before attacking someone else’s post. The word effect is the right choice. Effect as a verb means to execute, produce or to accomplish. -- posted by Prunedish.

Prunedish is right.

"Effect is sometimes, though not often, used as a verb, meaning 'to cause.'"

Effect [verb]: to be the cause of (a situation, action, or state of mind) -- [example: classroom discussions designed to effect a change in racial attitudes.]

(I, too, stand corrected).
posted by ericb at 6:17 PM on January 11

I'd prefer that they hang him from a lamp post and then piss on his corpse

I could get behind this, except that when you try and piss upwards, particularly when standing in a circle, everybody gets wet. And nobody likes that.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:09 PM on January 11

Nope. "His decisions effected how his administration operated" is incorrect. Should be "affected".

Compare:
effected: His decisions brought about how his administration operated.
affected: His decisions influenced how his administration operated.

They both sort of make sense, but affected is probably what was intended.
posted by ryanrs at 9:27 PM on January 11

poppycock

...and his son was a dick.
posted by rokusan at 11:50 PM on January 11

txvtchick- Offering up a NY Post op-ed written by this guy is about as helpful and reality-based as offering up the Flying Spaghetti Monster as a viable alternative to evolution.
posted by rollbiz at 10:11 AM on January 12

...why shouldn’t the door hit him in the ass on the way out?
posted by Smedleyman at 12:28 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]

txvtchick- Offering up a NY Post op-ed written by this guy is about as helpful and reality-based as offering up the Flying Spaghetti Monster as a viable alternative to evolution.

I saw Brookes' background too, and thought, Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown - not bad. Clearly his opinion is different from yours, but it's a viable opinion and I share it. As far as the NY Post...[shrug]...you could say the same thing about the NY Times; they're just more pretentious, not more accurate.
posted by txvtchick at 8:48 PM on January 12

For the record, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the most viable alternative to evolution. Don't believe the god-botherers.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:26 PM on January 12