Bush says he did not compromise his soul for popularity

Well, I've bashed "Dubah" enough, everyone knows all about his administration and what they've done and haven't done. He had a republican congress his first 6 years and a democratic congress his last two. So he has sung his "swan song", so he can fade away like General McCarthur. But he won't get my vote as being a good leader of this great country of ours.

Personally, I feel there are many things he could have done differently that would have helped to make things not as BAD as they are now, and maybe helped prevent and STOP some of the recession that is going on in the first place. Look back to even in August when Gas prices were still at their highest when they all said everything is OK and that was before the housing meltdown, etc. Personally I could never Support him or think he has been Great. Yes, we need the protection due to 911, etc, but when you are always willing to hand everyone in other countries lots of $$ and not worry about the people and what is happening here in your own country how can you not be disliked? I just wonder how we can ever get back to ever 1/2 of where we were before all of this started happening? People continue to loose homes and jobs and Medical care, etc. and I wonder what can anyone do to Stop this? As to whether the US people will ever think better of Bush when he is gone. Only time can tell.

Well Bush might not have compromised his soul for popularity but he had no problem compromising conservatism for the sake of votes. Take for instance immigration, Bush was pushing amnesty and made sure that those two boarder guards got left in jail so the GOP could receive some more Hispanic votes. Take for instance the faith based programs which is nothing more than religious welfare. Think about this, Lilwonders all of Bush's budgets were bigger than Clinton's budgets. Under Clinton the federal government never spent more than 1.9 trillion dollars. The first Bush budget was 2 trillion and end this year at a grand total of 3.1 trillion dollars. As to the war history will look back at the war in Iraq the same way it currently looks at the Korean war. Truman was horrible unpopular due to the Korean war yet most today will say Truman was right. On the other hand France's involvement in the American Revolution bankrupted France and cost King Louis his life. So it is any one's guess how history will judge Bush's actions involving Iraq.

Let's see, once the dust settles what will history have to say about Bush...I'm afraid it will probably be even worse than we think it is now! I'm not joking, I think there will be more things coming out once he leaves office that are going to make even some of his most loyal supporters stop and think. Although, to be honest, I think it's the D1ck Cheney and Rumsfeld who will come out the very worst. To be honest I'm more inclined to cut Bush more slack as far as his possibly believing he was doing the best he could but I don't think Cheney cared one bit about anyone but himself. Things are really starting to pile up on this Administration and much of itis of their own doing. Bush said one of his regrets was the bad intelligence leading up to the Iraq War but when pressed he wouldn't say that had the intelligence shown there were no WMD he wouldn't have invaded. Cheney went on step further and said we would have although Karl Rove said we would NOT have. It kind of looks like Bush is torn between the two men who have really been in charge. Just the other night Bush said "So what?" when it was brought up that there was no al Qaeda presence in Iraq until after our troops were there. Then there's the whole matter of torture which Cheney admits to ordering and which a Senate report shows points to the top, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. I understand there is a call for an independent commission on war crimes which could have dire consequences for some in the Administration. When you add all these things to the current mess our economy is in, in part because all Bush has known are tax cuts and deregulation, and all the "midnight" changes he's making to health, safety and environmental standards I don't think history is going to view his Presidency too kindly. Annie

If our current president says he did not sell his soul to be a popular guy, but that he made decisions that he sincerely thought and believed were in the best interest of this country, I am willing to believe him. It does not mean he made the best decisions or even good decisions, but lets just give him the benefit of the doubt the he truly believed they were the best decisions he could have made. It would just mean he was wrong about his decisions. I started paying attention to politics when Jimmy Carter was running for president. Every president from him forward have entered the white house looking one way and left looking like they took a dose of rapid age. It is obviously a very stressful job. The decisions they make impact our nation and the world. When they make poor decisions, it's out there for the whole world to see and judge. If at the end of the day and the end of his term, he feels he did the best that he could do, I say he and GOD knows the truth.

Bush not only had to fight Muslim extremest, but also the Democrats in Congress who hate him for winning in 2000, and a media that is almost entirely liberal. Considering the battles he's had to fight, I think he's done a pretty good job. I believe he's tried to do (in his opinion) what is best for the country, whether it was popular or not. I also believe that the Democrats in Congress have tried so hard to destroy Bush's Presidency, that they haven't considered the effect their actions have or will have on the nation, or maybe they just don't care. I also believe that many of the economic problems we are facing now are of our own making, but why should we take credit for our mistakes when we can pass it on to someone else? If history is honest, I think Bush will get a better shake than he's getting now.