The Top Ten Real Worst Moments of the Bush Presidency
I know, the only thing more ludicrous than Bush saying Kanye West calling him a racist was the worst moment of his presidency was that Kanye actually apologized! And I know that 2 years can seem like a long time but I think Dubya might have forgotten a few horrible moments, thankfully I haven’t. So I now present The Top Ten Real Worst Moments of the Bush Presidency:
1) 911
You would think the worst moment in the Bush Presidency would begin and end with the tragic events that took place on 9/11/01. It seems like it would be kinda hard to forget the worst terrorist attack on American soil. I know being called a racist is bad but can’t we agree it pales in comparison to the deaths of almost 3,000 people? Or maybe he was going along with the Right Wingers attempt to rewrite history to make us think 9/11 happened when Clinton was president.
2) Hurricane Katrina
Remember, Kanye’s comment that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” didn’t come out of a vacuum, it was legitimate criticism of Bush administrations’ complete failure of its handling of Hurricane Katrina. From Bush’s cosign of FEMA’s Director Michael Brown’s total incompetence, to his fly by when thousands of people were drowning to death. Katrina solidified the belief that Bush was completely out of touch when it came to African Americans. By any regard almost losing an entire American city would seem like a bad moment.
3) Collapsing the Economy
Being it was only a few short years ago, you would think the moment Bush had to go on TV and beg the American people for 700 Billion dollars to save the US economy would have been pretty unpleasant. Especially considering the fact that he inherited a surplus for Clinton and he followed the tried and truth Republican rules for economic stability, cutting taxes and eliminating regulations. Unfortunately those policies lead to historic economic decline and job losses. But to Bush being called a racist was the worst than leading America into another Great Depression…SMH.
4) Abu Ghraib
Remember when the Iraq war was all about “winning the hearts and minds” of Iraqis who were sick and tired of that dictator Saddam Hussein? Then it must have at least been a mildly unsettling moment for Bush when pictures were released that showed American soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. Not only did these pictures show physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, they often showed a smiling/laughing US soldier to add insult to injury. It also exposed the inhumane interrogation methods that were being used by the government under the Bush administration and caused any normalized relations with the Islamic world to all but evaporate. Although many of the worst pictures were not released so maybe Bush sees that as a win.
5) Mission Accomplished
Remember that time you put on that pilot’s uniform and landed on that ship and did that big speech about how “major combat operations” in Iraq were over in front of that huge “Mission Accomplished” banner? It had to be a terrible moment when you realized the real fighting had only just begun and a mere 6 months later casualties in Iraq and exceeded those during “major combat operations”. On May 1st 2008, five years after his “Mission Accomplished” moment, 4,058 soldiers had lost their lives in Iraq, 3,924 after Bush declared “major combat operations” had ended. Now that’s a bad moment.
6) No Weapons of Mass Destruction
The Bush administration built its entire rational for invading Iraq on the “fact” that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They went as far as to send poor Colin Powell to the United Nations with “solid evidence” based on “intelligence” that Saddam was about to build a nuclear bomb. I would assume that moment you were unable to find anything close to a weapon of mass destruction had to suck. But most sane people believe that Bush knew all along there were no weapons of mass destruction, and he was just settling an old vendetta.
7) Not finding Osama Bin Laden
Remember all the tough talk Bush was doing after 9/11, how he was going to get Osama “dead or alive” and “smoke him out”? That didn’t work out so well did it? All it did was get the United States entrenched in Afghanistan, leading the longest war in US history. And Osama still hasn’t been caught! Of course some think that Osama has long since been dead and was used as a pasty for 9/11 which was a “inside job”. Even George himself would have to admit that the connections between Bush and Bin Laden are at least….interesting.
8) The Shoe Thrower
Years after that “we’ll be greeted as liberators” talking point was exposed as complete nonsense, Bush thought it was wise to make a surprise visit to Iraq. It was the end of his presidency and he must have thought he could somehow show up and be given a hero’s welcome….ummmm no. Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi had other plans, 2 shoes, but unfortunately bad aim. Not only was Bush forced to do the Matirx to avoid those shoes, but it was another glaring example of how his failed forging policy turned the United States into the most hated country in the world.
9) The Pretzel Incident
The Bush Presidency was almost cut short very quickly. In January of 2002, Bush choked on a pretzel while watching football and blacked out. He regained consciousness and was able to call the White House medical staff, but not before he smashed his face on a table causing a large bruise on his eye. Now I know being called a racist is painful but almost dying has to rank near the top of anybody’s worst moments right?
10) His Entire Presidency
A History News Network’s poll of 109 historians found that 61% ranked George W. Bush as “worst ever” among U.S. presidents. 96% of those surveyed put him in the bottom 10 and 98% deemed his presidency a “failure”. I guess maybe we can look at those eight years a just one long horrible moment.
Bonus Moment: His VP Shot a Guy in the Face
Yes Dick Cheney “accidentally” shot a man in the face while hunting quail on a private ranch. Oh and did I mention Harry Whittington was supposedly Cheney’s “friend” and was 78 years old. Almost 5 years later the man still has 30 pieces of Cheney’s lead in his face…pause, and has never received a personal apology . Bad moment indeed, but at least Bush learned who never to go hunting with.