George W. Bush – Destroyer of Coalitions

I couldn’t agree more with this.   I would also add, as someone who still supports what we’re doing in Iraq, Bush has been an unmitigated disaster for that policy.  He did not lead the country to war.  If a Democrat is elected, and we pull out, with all the horrible consequences that will entail for the region, Bush will share much of a blame for that because of his mismanagement.

3 thoughts on “George W. Bush – Destroyer of Coalitions”

  1. It’s a bit simplistic, and misleading. Bush has done nothing he didn’t say he’d do in his campaign; people apparently weren’t listening. It’s hard to figure out exactly what the author means by expanded government: If he’s talking about Medicare, NCLB, that sort of thing, then yes, but not at all unexpected if you listened to his campaign. If he’s talking about executive powers granted by the Constitution, then he’s full of crap. Bush has fewer executive powers than Kennedy did, because the out of control legislature has been unconstitutionally taking them away. As for destroying the coalition, a small part of that can be laid at Bush’s door, but not much. The coalition began to splinter when one group believed they were entitled to hold the rest hostage. Bush didn’t do that. They did.

    There is plenty the Bush Administration got wrong. The DOJ, for example, which as been a disaster almost from the beginning (Ashcroft wasn’t too bad, but Gonzales was a moron, and the DOJ lack of priorities hasn’t changed since he stepped down). You’d never know there was a war if you just paid attention to the DOJ, and you’d think people were dropping dead of sex toys all over the US.

  2. As for destroying the coalition, a small part of that can be laid at Bush’s door, but not much. The coalition began to splinter when one group believed they were entitled to hold the rest hostage. Bush didn’t do that. They did.

    That’s a reasonable observation. But I would suggest that Bush did little to balance the various factions, and in some cases, such as with fiscal conservatives, threw them to the wolves.

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