George W. Bush Gave Us Donald Trump. Now He Wants To Be Forgiven. But Americans shouldn't forget so

[niyad]

George W. Bush Gave Us Donald Trump. Now He Wants To Be Forgiven.
But Americans shouldn’t forget so easily.


http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/crop_1009_510_1144_874,scalefit_720_noupscale/58cb2f062c00002100feed9a.jpeg
We’ve all seen the picture. It’s the opening of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and George W. Bush is sharing a brief snuggle with Michelle Obama. The first lady, maternal and forgiving, has both arms around the former president, who looks like he wants a tummy rub. When the hug went viral last September, it triggered a once-unimaginable bipartisan “Awww!” that echoed throughout social and established media. Dubbed “The Embrace Seen Around the World” by The New York Times, the photo seemed to hold the power of magic, or at least the power of the most adorable cat video: It cast a spell accelerating a general public softening toward a man once widely scorned as a historic failure, dismissed by many on the left as a blood-spattered buffoon who belonged in a cell at The Hague.

. . . . .




There are, at least, a growing number of backlash pieces. They point out that Bush did much to create the very conditions that gave rise to Trump ― which, in turn, is driving his own expedited rehab.Much has been made of the idea that the current president is a reaction to the previous one ― a “whitelash” against eight years of Obama, in Van Jones’ phrase. While the argument contains a grain of truth, it is an oversimplification that misses the deeper relationship between Trump and the chaos left behind by Obama’s predecessors. This would be the same chaos that hatched the Islamic State and crashed the economy, lighting a spark beneath a transatlantic, right-wing, ethno-populist movement.


Consider the yawning wealth gap in the U.S. The 2007-2008 financial crisis erased the stored wealth of millions of lower- and middle-income people around the world, the vast majority of whom have yet to recover. Nationalist movements date their current surge to that global crisis, which was preceded and followed by Democratic administrations that also pursued pro-Wall Street policies.

Bush bears a more direct responsibility for the misery in the Middle East. When he took office, al Qaeda was a fringe factor in the Muslim world. The Bush administration’s failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks, followed by the non-sequitur invasion and occupation of Iraq, gave rise to ISIS and the world we know today. Bush, it should be remembered, had plenty of warning: Millions marched in opposition to the Iraq invasion, a street echo of the Arab League’s ominous admonition that such a move would “open the gates of hell.”


Brennan Linsley/Pool/Getty Images
A photo of President Bush hangs alongside other government and military leaders in the headquarters of the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Jan. 20, 2009.
presidents did and why they belong on the other side of the barricades. Or at least back at the ranch, standing before an easel.


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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/george-w-bush-trump-forget-history_us_58c6e69ee4b0598c66989c6e

[DK504]

1. It's not that I will not forgive him for being dumber than a baboon,

I will not allow him to go into the sunset forgotten and unscathed by his deplorable years as president.

" .... a general public softening toward a man once widely scorned as a historic failure, dismissed by many on the left as a blood-spattered buffoon who belonged in a cell at The Hague."

He still must answer for his crimes, as should Darth Vader.

[jrthin]

8. You got that right. n/t

[LisaM]

2. He legitimized voter suppression and stolen elections...

and gave us the Supreme Court that sanctioned Citizens United and overturned the Voting Rights Act.

Those things by themselves contributed to Trump's being elected, and that's not even getting into the massive security failure that led to 9/11 and the illegitimate wars.

[JI7]

3. he well always be a horrible president but if he wants to speak out against trump

That's a good thing.

[haele]

4. The enemy of my enemy is my tool.

Doesn't mean that tool doesn't also belong in a docket at the Hague. Just means I can use him.

Haele

[JI7]

5. Bush supported and signed the bill for that african american museum

[crazycatlady]

6. I wouldn't place the blame on him for Trump

The blame IMO should be placed on Sarah Palin. She brought the 'basket of deplorables' out of the woodwork and instead of telling them their behavior was unacceptable, she ran with it.

Before she came into the picture, politics was a lot more civilized. She ended civiltiy as we know it.

[NWCorona]

7. Will always be the Bush crime family to me.

[pansypoo53219]

9. georgee thinks w/ can forget his lying for A UNNECCESARY WAR

+ has more blood on his hands than ted bundy.

[GeorgeGist]

10. NO. FUCKING. WAY. GEORGE.

TOUGH. SHIT. IF. THAT. MAKES. YOU. HAVE. A. SAD.

[niyad]

11. . . .