Poll: Presidential Performance

[Iangould]

Thinking about President Bush's overall performance to date do you:

a. approve of his overall performance;

b. disapprove of his overall performance;

c. think he deserves to be horse-whipped;

d. no opinion.

[Dan Apodaca]

Thinking about President Bush's overall performance to date do you:

a. approve of his overall performance;

b. disapprove of his overall performance;

c. think he deserves to be horse-whipped;

d. no opinion.

While I think he deserves to be horse-whipped, I'd prefer a less arcane punishment in actuality.

[BlairH]

Thinking about President Bush's overall performance to date do you:

a. approve of his overall performance;

b. disapprove of his overall performance;

c. think he deserves to be horse-whipped;

d. no opinion.

e:Other....

[Noah Johnson]

Thinking about President Bush's overall performance to date do you:

a. approve of his overall performance;

b. disapprove of his overall performance;

c. think he deserves to be horse-whipped;

d. no opinion.
B and C. Generally, I only favor corporal punishment between fully consenting adults, but what the hell, I'm broad-minded enough to make an exception.

[Iangould]

e:Other....
You have an opinion but it is neither positive nor negative?

[Dan Apodaca]

You have an opinion but it is neither positive nor negative?

Blair has told me in the past that he finds President Bush to be an extremely purple man, and his administration to be one largely comprised of triangles and 39's.

[Cei-U!]

C

Cei-U!
I summon the 10-character minimum!

[Mike Smash!]

Put me down for "b" and "c" as well.

Dubya really needs to be put over someone's knee for his Presidency.

[BlairH]

You have an opinion but it is neither positive nor negative?

It's both!
George W Bush has polarised me just as he has polarised the American populace. I'm not going to go too deep here, but I'll give a brief summary of my opinion:

Things I like about Mister Bush:
-In simplistic terms, he kicks ass and takes names. I really believe that if Mister Gore were President, y'all would still be negotiating with the Taliban.
-He's better than "the other guy". Al-Gore and John Kerry just didn't appeal to me on a personal level. Mister Bush has a straight talking, country-boy way about him, which I like.
-He clearly views his nation's friendship with the UK as being a relationship of great importance. This is good.
-The doctrine of pre-emptive war. He who does not strike first will be first struck. In a world held at knifepoint by several bands of renegades it is important to be able to strike swiftly before we are struck. I do not see anything virtuous in sustaning a massive attack before eliminating the perpetrators, the perpetrators and those who conspire to terrorise the world should be removed from existance before they harm us.

Things I hate about Mister Bush:
-CORPORATE SOCIALISM! Welfare for large companies -at the end of the day- is still a form of welfare. It's not something to be celebrated. It's something that should be looked down upon as an affront to both free trade and Conservative values.
-The Federal defecit: Self explainitory and self evident. Let's face it, Bush has been crap at curbing this.
-He has helped hijack Conservative values in the US. Massive Government spending and civil service bloat has betrayed real Conservatives. Medicare is a disaster. No child left behind is a disaster.
-Border control: "I have an idea! Lets get a foreign Middle Eastern company to secure our frickin' ports!" Then there's the Southern border which is so open you could drive a a Mexican Army batallion right through it and nobody would notice it (many drug smugglers apparently use counterfit Mexican .mil uniforms to cross the border).
-Pissing all over the constitution: Domestic spyng operations. He's not exactly pro-second ammendment either.
-Resistance to an equitable solution to the problems faced by gay people: Homosexuals should be allowed to marry.

On reflection it would seem that my reasons for supporting GWB are largely superficial. However, I'm a really shallow person so it doesn't really matter.

[ragnarok_2012]

B & C.

Blair: How long a list of criticisms would you need to come up with to no longer think that a person "kicks ass"?

[nervmeister]

Thinking about President Bush's overall performance to date do you:

a. approve of his overall performance;

b. disapprove of his overall performance;

c. think he deserves to be horse-whipped;

d. no opinion.b+c. Nuff said.

[Dan Apodaca]

Things I like about Mister Bush:
-In simplistic terms, he kicks ass and takes names. I really believe that if Mister Gore were President, y'all would still be negotiating with the Taliban.

Instead of still not having caught the person responsible for 9/11 and in the middle of a war with an unconnected country.

-He's better than "the other guy". Al-Gore and John Kerry just didn't appeal to me on a personal level. Mister Bush has a straight talking, country-boy way about him, which I like.

I never got this "straight-talking" claim. The man stutters, misspeaks, and loses his place midsentence regularly. Maybe by "straight-talking", you mean "uses simple language and says 'ain't.'"

[Iangould]

I never got this "straight-talking" claim. "

So stupid that he isn't KNOWINGLY dishonest.

[ragnarok_2012]

Actually, Al Gore would be the country boy of the bunch of major party presidential candidates. He'd work on a farm each summer growing up.

Bush hangs out at a ranch he bought in 1999 while planning his Presidential run.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

B and I'll create E: Feel sorry for those of us who kept him in Office.

As Jon Stewart said on Larry King the other night: " These guys wanna pull this really sneak stuff and claim that we should follow them. Because they know whats right. That we shouldn't question them no matter the fact they really haven't gained the publics trust at all in this time. " ( nearly in his words...)


I just watch the news wondering when the next George W Bush disastor is gonna hit. Or will he say something mind boggling stupied ?

[Iangould]

Actually, Al Gore would be the country boy of the bunch of major party presidential candidates. He'd work on a farm each summer growing up.

Bush hangs out at a ranch he bought in 1999 while planning his Presidential run.

You mean just because your childhood was spent shuttling between Washington DC; the family holiday house on Nantucket and various northeastern prep schools means you aren't a Good Ol Boy?

How about if you abbreviate "John Ellis bush" to "Jeb"?

[ragnarok_2012]

You mean just because your childhood was spent shuttling between Washington DC; the family holiday house on Nantucket and various south-eastern prep schools means you aren't a Good Ol Boy?

How about if you abbreviate "John Ellis bush" to "Jeb"?

It's an impressive bit of marketing, isn't it?

I haven't really noticed any straight talking from Bush. He's been caught in so many lies. I thought McCain was fairly honest back in 2000. But he's compromised himself so much over the last few years it's hard for me to respect the guy.

Bush only stutters when he talks about stuff he doesn't care about (like working class families). He gets eloquent when talking about execution or war. To paraphrase Patton Oswalt, you could give Darth Vader a basket of puppies and he wouldn't know what to say either.

[spoon_jenkins]

B and C

It's both!
Things I like about Mister Bush:
-In simplistic terms, he kicks ass and takes names. I really believe that if Mister Gore were President, y'all would still be negotiating with the Taliban.
-He's better than "the other guy". Al-Gore and John Kerry just didn't appeal to me on a personal level. Mister Bush has a straight talking, country-boy way about him, which I like.
It amazes me how much image triumphs over substance.

First of all, it amazes me how much the propaganda machine has influenced right-wingers. The idea that Gore would've coddled the Taliban or Bin Laden is a load of crap. The bipartisan support for going to war in Afghanistan was OVERWHELMING. Statements other are belied by the actual facts. These are myths created by Rove et al. If any righties have ever wondered why some people hate Bush Co., this could be exhibit one. They're trying to revise reality. Just as a person (regardless of whether it's in a political context), I hate that crud.

Bush has taken his eyes off the ball in trying to catch Osama Bin Laden.

It's amazing how much accents and pretense can substitute for actual toughness. Gore and Kerry actually went to Vietnam. Kerry was in combat. But I guess having keggers and skipping out on some of your National Guard service with a Texas accent is tougher and more honest than fighting in Vietnam (shooting enemies and getting wounded with an uptight Massachusetts accent. Not fighting for your country but being a war enthusiast makes you tougher than fighting for your country but coming back with doubts about the justness of the war.

Bush is not plain-spoken. He lies and obfuscates. He finds it hard to be straightforward.

Bush is not a salt of the earth country boy. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He's descended from two rich families (Bush and Walker) in banking, importing, petroleum. Bush's grandfather was elected U.S. Senator when Bush was around 6 years old.

Bush went to Phillips Academy prep school. When I taught an SAT prep class one summer one of my students was a Phillips boarding school guy. A bit bratty with lots of money to spend. But I guess by some definitions, I'd be the elite (even though I went to a state university) and Phillips/Yale-educated Bush is the regular guy. Walkers and Bushes have been going to Yale for a century IIRC.

End of rant that no one will read.

[spoon_jenkins]

Bush hangs out at a ranch he bought in 1999 while planning his Presidential run.
I was going to include that in my rant, but I forgot. I think a lot of people just swallow the marketed Bush persona and don't even realize that his ranch was purchased during his Presidential campaign to give him ordinary country boy cred.

[Dan Apodaca]

End of rant that no one will read.

Well, I read it, but I already agree with you, so I probably don't matter much.

[ragnarok_2012]

Spoon, you are such an elitist. ;)

But c'mon. If Gore had been elected President....er...well, he was kinda elected....I mean, if Gore had gotten into the White House he'd have been working 24-7. He'd have been worn about by the time September 11th rolled around. Sure he might have done something about the alert he'd have received a month beforehand, but he'd have been really tired that day.

Bush kept himself fresh with all that time at his ranch.

[Valmore]

About the only thing Bush has gotten right is his Supreme Court nominees, in that they're highly-qualified for their jobs... and he almost bungled one of those until his party stepped in.

Aside from that... 2009 can't get here fast enough.

[MKTerra]

About the only thing Bush has gotten right is his Supreme Court nominees, in that they're highly-qualified for their jobs... and he almost bungled one of those until his party stepped in.

Aside from that... 2009 can't get here fast enough.The next Prez election isn't till 2009? Aw, jeez... >_<

[Donald Stone]

The next Prez election isn't till 2009? Aw, jeez... >_<The election is in 2008, the next President takes office January 2009.

As for President Bush, I voted for him in 2004, and I now regret that decision. I don't know if Kerry would have done better, but its hard to imagine anyone doing worse.

And this comes from a Republican no less.

[Punchy]

B and C

When I heard that Bush's approval rating was 34%, amongst the lowest ever, part of me smiled and said "at least the general population is getting a clue."

But my smile quickly turned to sorrow when I realized that 34% of people actually think he's doing a good job.

[Adam Crocker]

Well...as you can guess, B and C, mostly for reasons other people have listed here, but particularly in my case the invasion of Iraq and the horrible handling of the occupation


-In simplistic terms, he kicks ass and takes names. I really believe that if Mister Gore were President, y'all would still be negotiating with the Taliban.

Has there ever any substance to this claim beyond a need to bash the Republicans political rivals? I keep hearing this yet no one's provided any real justification to back it up. Just that Gore would do this as though it is self-evident.

-The doctrine of pre-emptive war. He who does not strike first will be first struck. In a world held at knifepoint by several bands of renegades it is important to be able to strike swiftly before we are struck. I do not see anything virtuous in sustaning a massive attack before eliminating the perpetrators, the perpetrators and those who conspire to terrorise the world should be removed from existance before they harm us.


And what did the Bush doctrine of pre-emption bring us? Iraq. And Iran jockeying for nukes as insurance.

Moreover, how effective is this so-called doctrine when a country that actually has weapons, like North Korea, ends up getting handled with negotiations? This is the message that the administration has sent in carrying out its doctrine of pre-emption: if you're an easy target we'll go after you, but you can actually put up a fight we'll go easy on you.

[Parrotheadpress]

I disapprove of his overall existence.

[ragnarok_2012]

B and C

When I heard that Bush's approval rating was 34%, amongst the lowest ever, part of me smiled and said "at least the general population is getting a clue."

But my smile quickly turned to sorrow when I realized that 34% of people actually think he's doing a good job.

And Cheney's approval rating is at 18%.

And hush up with your glass half empty talk ;)

[Wesley Dodds]

I'm for pre-emption, too. Pre-emption means that if someone's about to attack you, you hit them first. So, if the US had known the Japanese were about to hit Pearl Harbour, it would have been fine for them to hit Japan first.

But the Bush doctrine isn't pre-emptive war, it's preventive war.

As it currently stands, the Bush doctrine is "intent without evidence plus the ability to get WMDs". The problem with this doctrine is that it can be used to justify invading just about any country, because intent is in the eye of the beholder and a high school science lab is capable of producing WMDs.

[Wesley Dodds]

To paraphrase Patton Oswalt, you could give Darth Vader a basket of puppies and he wouldn't know what to say either.

Ah, that's brilliant.

[elheffe]

About the only thing Bush has gotten right is his Supreme Court nominees, in that they're highly-qualified for their jobs... \
Right, Harriet Miers was super qualified for the Supreme Court!
I vote for B and C. Bush has done nothing right

[Wesley Dodds]

Bush even said she was the most qualified person for the job (he was asked if that was true and he said yes). Wow, what a flashback to the first Bush.

[Rachel Grey]

Bush even said she was the most qualified person for the job (he was asked if that was true and he said yes). Wow, what a flashback to the first Bush.

If shrub says someone is the most qualified person for a job isn't that the best argument for keeping them the hell away from positions of power?

[Chiasm]

All we get to do is horsewhip him? :( I'll take what I can get but thats letting him off too easy.

[leigh_ann1982]

I agreed with pretty much everything you said too, except ...

Bush has taken his eyes off the ball in trying to catch Osama Bin Laden.

... considering the substantial wealth of the bin Ladens and their ties to the Bush family, I don't think that he was ever really in danger of being caught. If they really wanted to gather intel on where the guy was, don't you think they would've held some of his family members for questioning instead of flying them out of the country on a private jet when all other flights in the days following 9/11 were grounded?

[leigh_ann1982]

All we get to do is horsewhip him? :( I'll take what I can get but thats letting him off too easy.

That's what I'm saying. Since George doesn't seem believe there's anything wrong with the way things are done at Gitmo, I guess it wouldn't be inhumane for him to do a stint there. Maybe they could make it authentic, and hold him indefinitely without charging him, providing access to legal representation, or trial by jury.

[Rachel Grey]

All we get to do is horsewhip him? :( I'll take what I can get but thats letting him off too easy.


Ooh ooh! Since he likes to pretend that he's such a Jesus guy then let's crucify him! :D

[Wesley Dodds]

Ooh ooh! Since he likes to pretend that he's such a Jesus guy then let's crucify him!

I am slightly terrified to live in the same city as you.

[ragnarok_2012]

Man, I'd just like to live in a free, prosperous country at peace.

[Rachel Grey]

I am slightly terrified to live in the same city as you.


Mwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

[Mike Smash!]

Ooh ooh! Since he likes to pretend that he's such a Jesus guy then let's crucify him! :DWes is right... you're moving into Coulter territory with that one.

No thanks.

[Rachel Grey]

Wes is right... you're moving into Coulter territory with that one.

No thanks.

Nah, since simply horsewhipping isn't enough why not just upgrade and be darkly amusing at the same time?

[Mike Smash!]

Nah, since simply horsewhipping isn't enough why not just upgrade and be darkly amusing at the same time?I'd say it's more "cruel and hateful", like when Coulter wishes death on people like Justice Souter or the staff of the New York Times.

No thanks.

[Rachel Grey]

I'd say it's more "cruel and hateful", like when Coulter wishes death on people like Justice Souter or the staff of the New York Times.

No thanks.

Fair enough, I guess your mileage did vary. Shrug.


BTW who is this Coulter person you speak of?

[Wesley Dodds]

Wes is right... you're moving into Coulter territory with that one.

I'm just glad she has no idea what I look like.

[Rachel Grey]

I'm just glad she has no idea what I look like.


...... I wouldn't hunt you down just for looking like that madman... :(

[Wesley Dodds]

...... I wouldn't hunt you down just for looking like that madman...

OK, upset feelings. Sorry, Rachel Gray!

Of course, this implies you would hunt me down for other reasons, such as sport.

[Valmore]

Right, Harriet Miers was super qualified for the Supreme Court!

Why did you not quote my ENTIRE line, which was:

About the only thing Bush has gotten right is his Supreme Court nominees, in that they're highly-qualified for their jobs... and he almost bungled one of those until his party stepped in.

Which means I was well aware he screwed up with Harriet, but then his party stepped in and said, "Uh, no."

Alito, his pick after her, however, was qualified.

Please quote something completely before assuming I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. It's annoying, and makes me want to option C you.

[ragnarok_2012]

OK, upset feelings. Sorry, Rachel Gray!

Of course, this implies you would hunt me down for other reasons, such as sport.

So Rachel Gray has gone from Ann Coulter to Dick Cheney?

Man, she gets around.

[Mike Smash!]

Fair enough, I guess your mileage did vary. Shrug.


BTW who is this Coulter person you speak of?She's a right wing lunatic columnist that regularly said that we should "invade [Arab] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity" as well as many other horrible things, usually involving wishing death on her political rivals.

[Wesley Dodds]

To be fair, Valmore, you said nominees, and she was a nominee. So you had it a bit ambiguous.

[ragnarok_2012]

Why did you not quote my ENTIRE line, which was:



Which means I was well aware he screwed up with Harriet, but then his party stepped in and said, "Uh, no."

Alito, his pick after her, however, was qualified.

Please quote something completely before assuming I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. It's annoying, and makes me want to option C you.

Alito worries me. He wouldn't really take a stand on anything. Whenever they showed him legal arguments he made during the Reagan administration, he'd simply say that he molded his opinions to agree with his boss.

He repeatedly broke his pledge to recuse himself when there was a conflict of interest.

And of course there's the fact that he sent a thank you note to James Dobson & Focus on the Family for his support during his nomination.

So I don't consider him especially qualified for the position.

[Mike Smash!]

And Roberts and Alito are just too horrible on executive power, right to choose, church/state and race issues to be good for the Court, IMO.

And if we're talking just pure experience and skill, Dick Cheney is "qualified" to be president. Doesn't mean he should be, though.

[Rachel Grey]

OK, upset feelings. Sorry, Rachel Gray!

Of course, this implies you would hunt me down for other reasons, such as sport.

No problems. I just imagined the wrong tone. We're still cool :)

As for hunting for sport well, the people I've hunted down havent complained ;)

[Iangould]

I'm for pre-emption, too. Pre-emption means that if someone's about to attack you, you hit them first. So, if the US had known the Japanese were about to hit Pearl Harbour, it would have been fine for them to hit Japan first.


Of course, the Japanese claimed they attacked Pearl Harbour to pre-empt an American attack.

[Wesley Dodds]

Of course, the Japanese claimed they attacked Pearl Harbour to pre-empt an American attack.

Right. Now, the Japanese had a lot more cause to attack the US than you'd know talking to most Americans. In fact, their preventive war was a lot closer to pre-emption than the US attack on Iraq because the US was endangering their vital resources.

But it still falls short of pre-emption, which is legitimate, because the US hadn't launched an attack on them. Pre-emption is a legitimate concept in international law, attacking someone because they're just about to attack you.

The US attack on Afghanistan probably falls under pre-emption because they had Al Qaeda and weren't doing anything about them.

[Iangould]

But, by definition, pre-emption is when you pre-empt the enemy's attack by striking first.

[Wesley Dodds]

Yeah. Prevention is where you attack people because they might attack you one day. Big difference.

Pre-emption: fair enough, you're protecting yourself. Prevention: uh, how is this different from aggression?

[Valmore]

And Roberts and Alito are just too horrible on executive power, right to choose, church/state and race issues to be good for the Court, IMO.

And if we're talking just pure experience and skill, Dick Cheney is "qualified" to be president. Doesn't mean he should be, though.

Except those are based on your political opinions as compared to theirs, so obviously you don't like them. Much as conservatives probably don't like Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but she's as qualified as Alito and Roberts.

Sorry, but by their experience and knowledge of the law, Alito and Roberts are extremely qualified to be on the Supreme Court.

It's like this, "I hate country music but it takes talent to do it."

[Valmore]

To be fair, Valmore, you said nominees, and she was a nominee. So you had it a bit ambiguous.

Okay, I should have made it clear that the ones that made it were qualified.

The one in the middle that got shot down before even getting to a hearing - half the posters here are as qualified as she is for the position.

[ragnarok_2012]

Except those are based on your political opinions as compared to theirs, so obviously you don't like them. Much as conservatives probably don't like Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but she's as qualified as Alito and Roberts.

Sorry, but by their experience and knowledge of the law, Alito and Roberts are extremely qualified to be on the Supreme Court.

It's like this, "I hate country music but it takes talent to do it."

Actually, I was the one saying Alito wasn't qualified.

He's served as a judge. He broke a pledge to recuse himself when conflicts of interest turned up. He argued that the legal opinions he wrote for the Reagan Administration didn't count because he simply argued for the position of his bosses. I don't like what little I can discern about his politics, either, but his record isn't anything extraordinary.

On a tangent, I think Loren would make a great Supreme Court Justice.

[Noah Johnson]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you're opposed to the Constitution, you are not qualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Any other qualifications you have are utterly irrelevant.

Alito supports the right of the president to violate the law on his own authority. He believes that's legal.

Not qualified. Not debatable.

[Valmore]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you're opposed to the Constitution, you are not qualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Any other qualifications you have are utterly irrelevant.

Alito supports the right of the president to violate the law on his own authority. He believes that's legal.

Not qualified. Not debatable.

Oh, so you believe in a strict definition of the U.S. Constitution, and anything not implied by the Constitution is obviously illegal, which means most liberal and conservative stances are also illegal and disqualify almost all Supreme court candidates and members?

Too simplistic and doesn't work that way.

[Noah Johnson]

Oh, so you believe in a strict definition of the U.S. Constitution, and anything not implied by the Constitution is obviously illegal, which means most liberal and conservative stances are also illegal and disqualify almost all Supreme court candidates and members?

I can't imagine how you got that impression from what I posted. To clarify, I believe in the rule of law. The administration's stance is that if the president does it, that means it is not illegal. Alito supports this stance. This utterly violates the very concept of separation of powers as established by the Constitution. There really isn't any wiggle room here.