|
|
Post by ironbite on Nov 4, 2010 12:07:13 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by m52nickerson on Nov 4, 2010 12:15:37 GMT -5
A quote from the story....
I think Bush has a point. It is one thing to criticize that why someone is doing thing, it is another to say they are doing things because they are racist. I doubt Bush sat back and did not react to Katerina just because New Orleans has black people living there.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tiger on Nov 4, 2010 12:24:52 GMT -5
Bush's incompetence is directly to blame for countless deaths, but his biggest regret is that some idiot celebrity called him a racist?
|
|
|
|
Post by futthewukk on Nov 4, 2010 12:26:44 GMT -5
Bush's incompetence is directly to blame for countless deaths, but his biggest regret is that some idiot celebrity called him a racist? Priorities, man... ;D |
|
|
|
Post by devilschaplain2 on Nov 4, 2010 13:16:00 GMT -5
I'll be honest: I never thought George W. Bush was a racist, at any point in his presidency. I DID think he was classist as all hell, however. If a wealthy black conservative needed help I don't think he'd refuse to lend a hand. But I just don't think poor people are part of his sheltered little world.
|
|
|
|
Post by the sandman on Nov 4, 2010 13:43:29 GMT -5
Kanye got it entirely wrong when he said "Bush doesn't care about black people." What he should have said was "Bush doesn't care about poor people." Bush wasn't a racist. He was a classist.
|
|
|
|
Post by the sandman on Nov 4, 2010 13:48:15 GMT -5
From Bush's book: ". "I faced a lot of criticism as President. I didn't like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all time low."
So he didn't like hearing about his lies and tax cuts for the rich? Tough shit Georgie. I notice he doesn't say he DIDN'T lie....just that he didn't like people SAYING he lied.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Nov 4, 2010 13:53:01 GMT -5
Likewise, I've always viewed Bush as classist, not racist. And I don't think he was malicious towards lower classes, either; it seemed to be more a matter of cultural ignorance than anything else. As much as I disliked Bush-the-president, I've never believed that Bush-the-man was some kind of evil, racist, out-to-destroy-the-world monster.
I get the impression that by "worst moment" he means "the most offensive thing that someone said about me", rather than "my worst mistake" or "the worst thing I had to deal with", which would probably be the Iraq war and 9/11, respectively (your mileage may vary on the worst mistake). It's really bad wording, but he does kind of have a point about the comment being totally uncalled for.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tiger on Nov 4, 2010 14:07:34 GMT -5
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
|
|
|
|
Post by booley on Nov 4, 2010 14:38:06 GMT -5
.... I get the impression that by "worst moment" he means "the most offensive thing that someone said about me", rather than "my worst mistake" or "the worst thing I had to deal with", which would probably be the Iraq war and 9/11, respectively (your mileage may vary on the worst mistake). It's really bad wording, but he does kind of have a point about the comment being totally uncalled for. The problem with that theory is when Bush has been asked his greatest mistake, he draws a blank. The guy really doesn't do introspection. And it's never his fault. Another bit of evidence is how Bush now says he was a dissenting voice in the call to go to war with iraq. (if you're going WTF?!? this is normal) www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/bush-calls-dissenting-voice-iraq/People like Bush do not accept responsibility, it's always someone else's fault. But no, i agree Bush isn't actively evil. No one in the real world is. People tend to think they themselves are good even if they admit they are flawed. But his actions (and inactions) were highly dangerous and caused untold misery and death. So I think calling him on it is perfectly acceptable since it's not as if Bush would ever admit it himself. Stupid or Evil hardly matters if someone's actions have killed you or a loved one. And really, why couldn't he be both? |
|
|
|
Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Nov 4, 2010 15:17:25 GMT -5
I totally agree that he's been less than prudent about owning up to his mistakes. I just meant that he's probably not saying that the Kanye moment was literally the worst part of his presidency. The bit about the Iraq war and 9/11 are my personal opinions, since the closest he's come to admitting to his mistakes was when he stated that he wasn't prepared for war (and even then, he diverted the blame to others, as you've pointed out). I'm also not saying that he shouldn't be called out for his mistakes -- it was Kanye's statement that was idiotic, not all of the other criticism that Bush and co. got after Katrina.
By "evil" I mean "malicious". Stupidity and ignorance can lead to evil actions, even without conscious malice. Believe me, I'm not going to defend Bush's decisions -- I spent most of his presidency bitching about him, and I'm still pissed off about a lot of things his administration did. He's not the first president to screw up royally and then distance himself from everything, but he's definitely one of the most prominent examples of it. He was a lousy president, and a lousy politician.
|
|
|
|
Post by Napoleon the Clown on Nov 4, 2010 16:51:03 GMT -5
Kanye got it entirely wrong when he said "Bush doesn't care about black people." What he should have said was "Bush doesn't care about poor people." Bush wasn't a racist. He was a classist. That would have made Kanye a hypocrite, though. And he's probably aware of that. |
|
|
|
Post by MaybeNever on Nov 4, 2010 16:56:13 GMT -5
I'm not sure it's possible to compare Kanye's perceptions and awareness to those of an actual human. They're simply too bizarre and alien.
|
|
|
|
Post by devilschaplain2 on Nov 4, 2010 16:59:43 GMT -5
.... I get the impression that by "worst moment" he means "the most offensive thing that someone said about me", rather than "my worst mistake" or "the worst thing I had to deal with", which would probably be the Iraq war and 9/11, respectively (your mileage may vary on the worst mistake). It's really bad wording, but he does kind of have a point about the comment being totally uncalled for. The problem with that theory is when Bush has been asked his greatest mistake, he draws a blank. He actually said his greatest mistake was not privatizing Social Security. Well what if he meant he was the dissenting voice in his administration? As in Rumsfeld and Cheney were the most hawkish members of his cabinet and they tried pushing him to use force against Iraq? I think that's likely what he meant. Though according to all leaked documents they had convinced Bush to go to war with Iraq around the time of the 9/11 attacks. |
|
|
|
Post by sugarfreejazz on Nov 4, 2010 17:27:26 GMT -5
Bush mindset: you're never wrong because god says you're right.
|
|
