“If life ends when heart stops, then please explain Dick Cheney.”
— Texas state Rep. Gene Wu (D), in a tweet he later deleted as a “mistake.”
“If life ends when heart stops, then please explain Dick Cheney.”
— Texas state Rep. Gene Wu (D), in a tweet he later deleted as a “mistake.”
A new Gallup survey finds Americans’ views of former president George W. Bush have improved, with 49% now viewing him favorably and 46% unfavorably. That is the first time since 2005 that opinions of him have been more positive than negative.
With James Comey likely to be tapped to be the next FBI Director, The Fix rightly calls his May 2007 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee perhaps the most riveting ever.
It’s definitely worth watching.
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The Los Angeles Times profiles George P. Bush, who grew up “a prince amid Republican royalty.”
“He is the fourth generation to enter the family business: Great-grandpa was a U.S. senator, grandpa and an uncle were presidents, dad was a governor. And even if his aim is conspicuously low, a run for the office of Texas land commissioner, expectations could not be higher — the governorship sometime in the next decade, followed, in the manner of dynastic destiny, with another White House reign.”
Wonk Wire highlights economic research showing that the tax cuts passed by President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003 failed to meet even the administration’s promised results.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was interviewed on Marketplace about his new book, Rumsfeld’s Rules:
Marketplace: “I do wonder whether you read Robert McNamara’s memoirs when it came out”
Rumsfeld: “I have not”
Marketplace: “That book was widely seen as an apology for his role in Vietnam. I looked in this book pretty hard for any rule you might have about apologizing and I couldn’t find one”
Rumsfeld: “And? What is your question?”
Marketplace: “Did you ever think about apologizing?”
Todd Eberly: “What happened to Bush between Election Day 2004 and the Democratic victories in the 2006 election is a cautionary tale that the Obama Administration would do well to consider… Bush had presented himself as a competent manager and a reliable leader – a stark contrast to Kerry. That image collapsed in spectacular fashion in latter half of 2005.”
“Like Bush, Obama was reelected by the same 51% bare majority. Obama’s narrow popular vote victory was bolstered by a more substantial Electoral College victory. Like Bush, Obama was rejected by 49% of the electorate and exit polls showed a majority of voters favored full or partial repeal of the President’s signature legislative accomplishment – health care reform. Much like the Bush 2004 strategy, the Obama campaign spent millions defining Mitt Romney as an unfit leader. Obama was portrayed as the reliable and competent manager who understood there was a positive role for government to play in improving people’s lives. If Obama is not careful, that image will collapse in spectacular fashion.”
“I have no desire to spend my post-presidency trying to enhance my standing.”
— Former President George W. Bush, in an interview with Charlie Rose.
Paul Krugman: “I’ve been focused on economic policy lately, so I sort of missed the big push to rehabilitate Bush’s image; also, as a premature anti-Bushist who pointed out how terrible a president he was back when everyone else was praising him as a Great Leader, I’m kind of worn out on the subject.”
“But it does need to be said: he was a terrible president, arguably the worst ever, and not just for the reasons many others are pointing out.”
Jon Stewart had his own unique take on the George W. Bush presidential library dedication calling it “the Hard Rock Café of catastrophic policy decisions.”
Here’s a must-read: Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House by Peter Baker.
“Taking readers into the offices of the West Wing and the cabins of Air Force One, Peter Baker tells the gripping inside story of the Bush and Cheney era.”
Now available for pre-order.
“George W. Bush’s flaws are greatly overshadowed by his virtues, starting with his moral clarity.”
– Karl Rove, writing in the Wall Street Journal, to which Andrew Sullivan replies that he was also the first president in U.S. history to authorize the torture of captured prisoners.
Keith Hennessey: “President Bush is extremely smart by any traditional standard. He’s highly analytical and was incredibly quick to be able to discern the core question he needed to answer. It was occasionally a little embarrassing when he would jump ahead of one of his Cabinet secretaries in a policy discussion and the advisor would struggle to catch up. He would sometimes force us to accelerate through policy presentations because he so quickly grasped what we were presenting.”
“I use words like briefing and presentation to describe our policy meetings with him, but those are inaccurate. Every meeting was a dialogue, and you had to be ready at all times to be grilled by him and to defend both your analysis and your recommendation. That was scary.”
Harry Enten: “Bush’s retrospective approval is the second worst among presidents in the last 50 years ago. To save you doing the math, Carter’s 52% approval rating is higher than Bush’s 47%. Only the Watergate-tainted Richard Nixon recorded a lower retrospective approval than Bush… Thus, not only did Bush tie for the second worst final approval rating while in office, but he is also has the second worst retrospective job approval rating.”
“From the day I asked Dick to run with me, he served with loyalty, principle and strength. Proud to call you friend.”
— Former President George W. Bush, in remarks about former Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Week lists the nice things President Obama and Bill Clinton said about George W. Bush today at the dedication of his presidential library.
The Daily Beast has a photo gallery of the festivities.
David Leonhardt: “The rise in approval ratings of former President George W. Bush has received some attention this week, in advance of the opening of his presidential library in Dallas. But that rise is exactly what one would expect, based on the history of other ex-presidents’ approval ratings.”
During his speech at the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library, Salon notes Bill Clinton joked about Bush’s dog and landscape paintings – as well as those nude paintings of Bush himself in the shower.
Said Clinton: “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to anyway. Your mother showed me some of your landscapes and animal paintings and I thought they were great. Really great. And I seriously considered calling you and asking you to do a portrait of me until I saw the results of your sister’s hacked e-mails. Those bathroom sketches were wonderful, but at my age I think I should keep my suit.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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