Worst President Ever

Republican talk radio host Doug McIntyre (KABC- Los Angeles) did a segment on his show this past week he called "An Apology From a Bush Voter". It's creating the usual celebration on the left side and derision on the right side, respectively, of the blogosphere. McIntyre discussed how, after much deliberation on the subject, he can no longer support George W. Bush. He apologized for having voted for him and even stated that he might possibly be the worst President ever. He spoke in length about how he came to this decision.

You can listen to the segment here or read a transcript here.

I mostly agree with the overall argument (particularly the worst President ever assessment) and it's refreshing to see him apologize for voting for Bush rather than pretending Bush's problems are recent ones like many Republicans do.

There is some stuff I do not agree with, though... after all, McIntyre is a conservative and I'm sure he and I would disagree on many issues. His disapproval of President Bush doesn't come entirely from the same place mine does (I think he's a dangerous ideologue- religious and political- who shows no regard for our basic constitutional values or the general well-being of our nation)... His seems to come from the popular belief that Bush's problem is simply that he wasn't a good conservative, although that's less true for McIntyre than it is for say, Jonah Goldberg.

I would strongly disagree with the following of McIntyre's statements- his assertion that Al Gore would've been a bad President or wouldn't have gone into Afghanistan, that it's the Democrats and not the Republicans who allowed "demagogic cowards to snipe from the sidelines", that Harriet Miers and the Dubai deal rank among his absolute worst mistakes (they were bad, but nowhere near the worst), and that Bush's tax cuts were ever a good idea. However, with that said, he is right on Bush and he is right that our tired two-party is near a breaking point.

I also give him credit for stating, about those who never supported Bush, that "You were right, I was wrong." It's a bit of a welcome change from the Republicans who are trying to distance themselves from the President for nakedly political reasons, while still mocking liberals and thus ignoring the fact that, if everything the President has done has become a disaster, then we were right to have opposed those things from the beginning. I don't want to paint some sort of idea that it's politically black-and-white, right and wrong, but in the case of George W. Bush, we were clearly ahead of the curve. Perhaps in 2002 and early 2003, when we spoke out about the idea of invading Iraq because it would be misguided and dangerous, we actually weren't unamerican traitors, no?

Here are what I think are the best points made in his segment-

So, I’m saying today, I was wrong to have voted for George W. Bush. In historic terms, I believe George W. Bush is the worst two-term President in the history of the country. Worse than Grant. I also believe a case can be made that he’s the worst President, period...

...[I]n the months and years since shock and awe I have been shocked repeatedly by a consistent litany of excuses, alibis, double-talk, inaccuracies, bogus predictions, and flat out lies. I have watched as the President and his administration changed the goals, redefined the reasons for going into Iraq, and fumbled the good will of the world and the focus necessary to catch the real killers of September 11th...

...The President says we have to stay the course but what if it’s the wrong course?

It was the wrong course. All of it was wrong. We are not on the road to victory. We’re about to slink home with our tail between our legs, leaving civil war in Iraq and a nuclear armed Iran in our wake. Bali was bombed. Madrid was bombed. London was bombed. And Bin Laden is still making tapes. It’s unspeakable. The liberal media didn’t create this reality, bad policy did....

...Presidential failures. James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, Jimmy Carter, Warren Harding-— the competition is fierce for the worst of the worst. Still, the damage this President has done is enormous. It will take decades to undo, and that’s assuming we do everything right from now on. His mistakes have global implications, while the other failed Presidents mostly authored domestic embarrassments.

And speaking of domestic embarrassments, let’s talk for a minute about President Bush’s domestic record. Yes, he cut taxes. But tax cuts combined with reckless spending and borrowing is criminal mismanagement of the public’s money. We’re drunk at the mall with our great grandchildren’s credit cards. Whatever happened to the party of fiscal responsibility?...

...If you roll the dice on your gut and you’re right, history remembers you well. But, when your gut led you from one business failure to another, when your gut told you to trade Sammy Sosa to the Cubs, and you use the same gut to send our sons and daughters to fight and die in a distraction from the real war on terror, then history will and should be unapologetic in its condemnation.

Republicans seeing the light on George W. Bush- it's becoming a recurring theme. And it's good. I wish it had happened in mid-2004 when we could've been spared the disasters of this second term, but hey better late to the party than never showing up at all. The sooner this country is rid of this man's leadership (hopefully before 2009) , the sooner we can start repairing the monstrous damage he has caused.

President Bush's presidency is all but over and Republicans are worried, they know they will go down with him. They're spinning in overdrive to try and distract Americans and keep them from voting for the opposition (top strategy now- trying to scare- ?- their base with reports that all Democrats want to do is impeach ol' Bushie, a fate some Republicans believe is even worse than terrorism), but it would seem more and more Americans are waking from their slumber. They have seen how poorly this country has been run in the past few years and they know who's in charge. I know Rove will be indicted soon working overtime to try and repair the damage, but I don't think even he can work miracles this time around. This administration brags about their ability to 'create their own reality', but the actual reality is just too powerful to sweep under the rug.

As McIntyre notes, history will and should be unapologetic in its condemnation of this administration.