WASHINGTON POST: George W. Bush will return to the spotlight this week for the dedication of his presidential library, an event likely to trigger fresh public debate about his eight fateful years in office. But he reemerges with a better public image than when he left Washington more than four years ago. Since then, Bush has absented himself from both policy disputes and political battles. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that the passage of time and Bush’s relative invisibility have been beneficial to a chief executive who left office surrounded by controversy. Days before his second term ended in 2009, Bush’s approval rating among all adults was 33 percent positive and 66 percent negative. The new poll found 47 percent saying they approve and 50 percent saying they disapprove. Among registered voters, his approval rating today is equal to President Obama’s, at 47 percent, according to the latest Post-ABC surveys. MORE
BRD1: Bush’s failure, unlike most Presidents, is not because he did one thing really bad, such as Harding who had an incredibly corrupt administration or Hoover because of his poor response to the Great Depression. It’s because Bush did so many things poorly, in other words, Dubya is the worst President in history because he failed at so many things:
– Fiscal: He turned a $250 billion surplus to a $1.2 trillion deficit.
– Jobs: He inherited a country with a 4.0 unemployment rate a few months after he left office unemployment hit 10.0 percent.
– Economy: He presided over the greatest financial crash since the great depression.
– War: He didn’t just start one failed war he started two.
– End Plan: Bush let Bin Laden go at Tora Bora, he failed to follow through and take care of Bin Laden which was the reason for starting the wars in the first place.
– Corruption: Billions were wasted in Afghanistan and Iraq on profiteering and corruption.
– Lies: The Gulf of Tonkin and other lies can barely hold a candle to the WMD fables told about Iraq.
– Failure to Regulate Wall Street: In the year before the crash the Bush federal reserve actually raised the equity limit of assets to loans from 30:1 to 50:1 meaning when we needed to pull back on private bank leverage Bush increased it. He failed to oversee the financial industry at every turn and contributed directly to the financial collapse of 2008.
– Electoral Corruption: Bush 5 to 4 victory in the Supreme Court was a shameful moment in our history when judges appointed by his father thwarted the will of the people.
– Laziness: Bush spent over 1,000 days on vacation at his Texas ranch alone. [via WASHINGTON POST COMMENTS SECTION]