by James Boyd

Created on: September 15, 2010   Last Updated: September 19, 2010

This discussion is presumably about George W. Bush, and not his father. In the midst of all the ranting and raving about “abuse” from the “liberal media”, one striking fact is clear about this former President: Republicans do not want to talk about him. In campaign speeches, his name is almost never mentioned. Republican politicians and pundits talk more about Ronald Reagan than about George W. Bush. Even while they deny, if asked directly, that Bush failed miserably, they spend most of their time trying to blame his disasters on somebody else.

George W. Bush has a long and definitive record of failure. He was a “frat boy” at Yale and spent most of his undergraduate time partying. He was admitted to Yale as a “legacy” admission, because of family members who had attended Yale. His personal academic record would not have gained him admission into that selective institution. When he wanted to further his education, he applied to the University of Texas Law School. In that case, his family connections were not able to overcome his mediocre academic record and less than stellar test scores. Family influence did get him into the MBA program at Harvard. 

The man has two degrees and yet he never bothered to learn the English language. Any time he wandered off his carefully prepared script, he was liable to mangle the language. “Strategery”. These were not just occasional slips of the tongue, but rather the clear signs of an ignorant and remarkably incurious man. Until he actually became President, he had little accurate knowledge of world geography or history. Africa is a continent, not a country.

Despite his apparent lack of interest in much of anything and an almost complete lack of compassion (remember Katrina?), Bush has had a powerful impact on America. He inherited the strongest economy the world has ever seen, and a federal government that was on track to eliminate national debt. He managed to smash that economy and run up unbelievable deficits. He started two wars, which a spineless Congress allowed. The Constitution clearly states that only Congress can declare war, but our representatives abdicated their responsibilities, with disastrous consequences. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to result in capturing or killing Osama, but we managed to let him get away. Now, nine years later, our troops are still in Afghanistan, with no clear purpose and at great expense in blood and treasure. As for

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