Bush's farewell address was the president at his worst.
Eleanor Clift
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Other presidents have had lower approval ratings. But President Bush holds the record for the longest, sustained period of public dissatisfaction with his leadership. Almost his entire second term has been marked by sub-par ratings. He leaves office with 28% job approval, according to the latest Gallup poll—the lowest of his presidency. Such widespread rejection should provoke introspection, but Bush remains unrepentant. He interprets his dismal standing with the American people as evidence of his willingness to defy public opinion and do what is right, or rather, what he thinks is right, regardless of evidence to the contrary. The lower his polls go, the more correct he thinks he is.
He made a hash of his presidency, but he kept America safe from another 9/11-style attack. That's the core of his presidency, and how he hopes to be remembered. Here's his argument: It didn't happen again and it would have happened again if I hadn't done what I did, so stuff your criticism. The problem for us mere mortals is that it's an un-testable proposition. It might be true for all we know, but it's frustrating to evaluate arguments in the negative backed up by secret information. Bush alludes in general terms to threats warded off and life-saving actions his administration took because of intelligence gained from "enhanced interrogation techniques," a phrase that will go down as emblematic of his presidency in the same way "modified limited hangout" evokes the Nixon era.
Bush is making the same opaque argument on the TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program)—that for all the griping about how his administration mishandled the bailout, things would have been much worse if they hadn't done it. And the fact is that Bush's case is impossible to prove—or refute. It's a little like definitively answering: Is there a God? Like religion, a lot of what Bush is saying has to be taken on faith. Maybe there is classified information about threats that he averted that were clear and present dangers as opposed to the distant and prospective plots that have been publicized. And maybe the necessary information was procured through unsavory means. I'm inclined to give Jack Bauer the benefit of the doubt on "24" as he pursues the bad guys. I'd be more willing to cut Bush some slack if Dick Cheney wasn't running the show.
(More here.)
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Other presidents have had lower approval ratings. But President Bush holds the record for the longest, sustained period of public dissatisfaction with his leadership. Almost his entire second term has been marked by sub-par ratings. He leaves office with 28% job approval, according to the latest Gallup poll—the lowest of his presidency. Such widespread rejection should provoke introspection, but Bush remains unrepentant. He interprets his dismal standing with the American people as evidence of his willingness to defy public opinion and do what is right, or rather, what he thinks is right, regardless of evidence to the contrary. The lower his polls go, the more correct he thinks he is.
He made a hash of his presidency, but he kept America safe from another 9/11-style attack. That's the core of his presidency, and how he hopes to be remembered. Here's his argument: It didn't happen again and it would have happened again if I hadn't done what I did, so stuff your criticism. The problem for us mere mortals is that it's an un-testable proposition. It might be true for all we know, but it's frustrating to evaluate arguments in the negative backed up by secret information. Bush alludes in general terms to threats warded off and life-saving actions his administration took because of intelligence gained from "enhanced interrogation techniques," a phrase that will go down as emblematic of his presidency in the same way "modified limited hangout" evokes the Nixon era.
Bush is making the same opaque argument on the TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program)—that for all the griping about how his administration mishandled the bailout, things would have been much worse if they hadn't done it. And the fact is that Bush's case is impossible to prove—or refute. It's a little like definitively answering: Is there a God? Like religion, a lot of what Bush is saying has to be taken on faith. Maybe there is classified information about threats that he averted that were clear and present dangers as opposed to the distant and prospective plots that have been publicized. And maybe the necessary information was procured through unsavory means. I'm inclined to give Jack Bauer the benefit of the doubt on "24" as he pursues the bad guys. I'd be more willing to cut Bush some slack if Dick Cheney wasn't running the show.
(More here.)
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