@FreeDuck,
Quote:You're on an opinion board essentially arguing that every response to your opinion is just opinion and therefore invalid.
No, I am pointing out that although these claims about Bush are clearly expressed as factual in this forum they are merely opinion, and poorly supported opinion at that.
Quote:Of course it's possible that Bush was using fear for some other purpose, or that he expanded his own power through some other means, but that he used fear and expanded his own power is a fact. You merely need to have a look through the archives to see this.
It is not only possible, it is fairly certain. He was using fear to motivate the American people to support what he believed was action that was essential to our security, just as Obama is using fear to motivate the American people to support what he believes are actions crucial to our economic well being.
You all glibly throw off that Bush "expanded his power." How so? Presumably you can list several of the most dramatic examples of his expansion of the powers of the Executive branch.
Having done so you must then explain the manner in which it was an expansion. An expansion beyond the powers Clinton as the Chief Executive laid claims to? An expansion beyond the powers any other president in history laid claim to?
Quote:Everything is relative. That's why whenever someone comes forward with a complaint about Obama screwing up, people immediately compare it to Bush's fuckups and determine that they are minor in comparison. And why every time Obama screws up Bush fans like yourself use that to retroactively absolve Bush of his fuckups, or try to make them look somehow smaller now that the new president has not embodied perfection.
See above for the actual context of my comment, and while your comments are off the point, they are worth addressing.
Let's assume you are right with the first part of your screed. Are you and others members of the Obama family or some Obama Team? If Obama has, in fact, screwed up, why do you feel it necessary to compare the extent of the screw up to prior mistakes and misdeeds. I could understand if the topic of discussion was "Who is a better president, Bush or Obama?" or "Obama's mistakes are worse than Bush's," but it's not, it is a discussion about Obama and his actions.
If he has screwed up to the detriment of the country, the fact that prior presidents may or may not have screwed up even worse is immaterial when assessing the damage done in the here and . I'm sure you understood this concept when Bush supporters threw Clinton's misdeeds at you upon your criticism of Bush. Tougher to understand now?
The notion that Obama's opponents are pointing out his screw-ups to absolve Bush of his, is simply ridiculous and the point where your comments morphed into screed.
Quote:I'd call it pure speculation based on fact.
If you prefer.
It is a fact that ranchers in the Southwest have, for years, been finding cattle corpses with what appears to be bizzare mutilations. Speculating on this fact a whole cottage industry around Alien visitations has grown. Scientists speculating on quite a few more facts have offered convincing arguments on how the phenomena is entirely explainable by natural (to earth) factors.
Quote:Weakening the rule of law was bad for our country's reputation around the world and for our citizens. Politicizing the justice department resulted in a further weakening of the rule of law, which weakens peoples' faith in their government, which makes it harder to get their support for initiatives that affect the whole country. Signing statements designed to instantly nullify parts of laws passed by congress and signed by him subverted the constitutional powers granted to Congress. Undermining the constitution is bad for the country. What exactly did he do that was good for this country?
Protected us from further terrorist attacks? But I guess in your world view, anyone could have done the same. Why? Because there never was a real threat post 9/11?
In any case your list of charges are nothing more than "speculation based on fact," or "opinion based on bias."
Quote:I can accept that, sure. So what?
I suppose, when push comes to shove, you can in the same way that you can accept there are quite a few morons walking the earth, however what I think you have a very hard time accepting is that the people who believe Bush was not a force of evil, are not evil themselves, or stupid dupes.
Fair enough, I think the people who believe that Obama can do no wrong are stupid dupes.
Frankly, I'm also pretty pissed that you folks who spent the last eight years dumping on Bush can't defend your guy without still dumping on Bush. When does Obama get judged on his own?
