Has any incoming president ever scolded the previous one so?

[Philosoraptor]

I've been looking at the text of President Obama's speech, and he definitely gives bush a good dressing down, and bush had shame written all over his face like a naughty school boy. Has this ever happened before? I know the speech was written with diplomacy and goodwill in mind, but there had to be mention of all the shit that bush and cheney have wrought.

(Excerpts)

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

---------These words are condemnations of the last 8 years of bush and cheney, and they were said right to the asshole's faces, for all the world to hear.

[Mist]

1. This puts me in mind of the Truman quote: "I never gave them hell. I just told them

the truth and they thought it was hell." President Obama was enumerating the many problems facing our country, without pointing at * specifically. But the enumeration of those problems is an automatic indictment of the previous administration.

[zeemike]

2. Obama speech did not scold the resident bush

It just told the truth and bush thought he was being scolded.

[Frustratedlady]

9. If the shoe fit, wear it.

I'm sure Laura "got it" since she knows a few more words than George, but I'm not so sure about George and Dick the Prick.

[ThomWV]

3. When Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon it was the ultimate scold

Because what Ford said with his pardon was 'Richard Nixon, you are a criminal but I, and we, forgive you.'

[Catshrink]

4. Certainly no previous president deserved a good scolding.

Probably the first one he every received in his entire life.

[road2000]

12. Colbert's not a president,

but he gave the Shrub merry hell a few years back. Right in his face.

[lunatica]

5. It tells me something very important about Obama

He's capable of dressing people down. And he cuts through and enfeebles the lies fed to the people and which Bush et al count on to gloss over to continue their crimes. Being now a powerful man because of his job he actually stood there and spoke truth to power. His message was as much for those people sitting behind him as it was for the people standing before him. They heard what he said in a very different way than we did, because most of them have been the perpetrators and enablers of the mess we're in, both economically and militarily and they know that he has us behind him. That makes him much more formidable as the 'community organizer' he is. In this case the community is us in relation to the world

[OneGrassRoot]

8. I love what you said....

"That makes him much more formidable as the 'community organizer' he is. In this case the community is us in relation to the world."

That's profound. I love that! Thanks. :)

[lunatica]

All our President's are always what they've been before they were elected

Mostly there are no surprises as far as policy and their daily modus operandi. It's not what they say they'll do because that's about getting elected so there's a lot of what sounds like empty promises. It's what they done their entire lives before running for office. A prime example of this is Bush himself. He has not deviated one inch from what he was before he was elected and the swath of destruction he's left behind has only been one of quantity. Molly Ivins told us to watch what he does and not what he says.

We can already see what Obama has done and so therefore we know something solid about him. He will not change. None of them do.

[Ilsa]

6. No outgoing president has ever needed it as much as *.

I think it really hit him a few years ago when Poppy told him he had to get rid of Rumsfeld and put Gates in his place. That must have been hard enough for the little Chimperor.

[graywarrior]

7. Man, when I heard that I said "whoa" and suddenly the camera shot to George

That was a sweet moment.

[KharmaTrain]

10. It Went Right Over His Empty Head...

My bets are boooshie didn't hear a single word President Obama said...he was in his own Private Idaho, long checked out on any sort of reality or sense of responsibility. He's not used to subtle...but macho. He's not used to complex but knee-jerk. And most of all, he doesn't hear things except what the voices in his empty head say...the reason he will go down among the worst of all time...not just president, but human being as well.

[Ocracoker16]

11. This has been coming for a long time- finally it happened.

Obama definitely criticized him, but I think he absolutely deserved it. One thing about the speech is that it comes after the oath of office so Bush was not an ex-president for too many minutes before Obama let it rip. When Obama was just the PE, he had to kiss Bush's ass so much. So did everyone over the years. All of his friends like Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld and others just patted him on the back. He took credit for the accomplishments of others. Listening to his final sppech, I was sitting there saying for the millionth time, what is he talking about? Has he seen a newspaper recently? He was so out of touch with reality.

However, since he always seemed to be so unaware of the truth, I wonder if he really actually heard that speech. I was watching on tv and his father looked very pained during the speech, but W just sat there.

As for other presidents getting such a scolding, I don't know. However, I think that FDR didn't cut Herbert Hoover much slack.

[Richard D]

13. I saw it as a dressing down . . .

. . . but I also felt that first and most importantly it was a message to the country and to the world that things are not the same as they were, and by repudiating * and his policies and failures, Obama made a very clean break with the evil that was and will be the * empire legacy.

[Marr]

14. Bush Jr. scolded Clinton in the same way with his promise to

"bring honor and integrity back to the White House", as if they were wholly absent for the previous 8 years.

[CTyankee]

15. This had to be proof that Obama will be everything Bush was not.

No way would he stand up there in front of the entire world and say those words without meaning to deliver on them.

He didn't say what he said to make "happy talk." The guy was dead serious and if anybody mistook him they will get a big surprise...

[joeunderdog]

16. Bingo--it was a fullscale BITCH--SLAPPING.

And I haven't heard it mentioned by MSM. Conspicuous oversight. I figured we'd at least hear the "Oh, Obama was mean to Chimpy" crap from the BushCo apologists, but not a word.

I felt alot better about Obama after that speech than I did after some of his appointments. He left little doubt about what a f-up he thinks Bush is.

[Dukkha]

17. and he just has to sit there and take it!

pouting the whole time.