Bush: "my biggest accomplishment is that I kept the country safe amidst a real danger."

[sabra]

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/united-states-president-george-bush-chicago-decision-points.html

<snip>

He said the book is the only reason he'll be back in the spotlight soon.

"I have zero desire, just so you know, to be in the limelight," Bush said. "I don't think it's good for the country to have a former president criticize his successor. You're not going to see me giving my opinions in the public arena, until I start selling my book. I'm going to emerge then submerge."

When a member of the audience asked why he had signed off on the bailout of major financial institutions, Bush said he needed to take action before the economy suffered even more.

Bush said he didn't always trust the judgment of his economic advisors, Henry Paulson, the former treasury secretary, and Ben Bernanke, the current head of the Federal Reserve. But when Bernanke warned Bush that if he didn't do something, the situation would be worse than the "Great Depression," Bush said he needed to act -- even if the plan wasn't in line with his political ideology.

"I did not want to be a president overseeing a depression greater than the Great Depression," Bush said.

...

Of his legacy, he said he knows he won't be remembered as Shakespeare, but he hopes he's remembered for his beliefs.

"I would like to be remembered as a guy who had a set of priorities, and was willing to live by those priorities" he said. "In terms of accomplishments, my biggest accomplishment is that I kept the country safe amidst a real danger."

The former president said his greatest failure in office was not passing Social Security reform.

[BlueIris]

1. Amidst a real danger. As opposed to all the fake danger it's in now?

Or was in under other presidents?

[prolesunited]

2. You didn't keep the country safe!!!

Who was president on 9-11?

[HughBeaumont]

3. Amidst a real danger you ignored with tremendous effort.

I just thought of something . . . is this the "October Surprise" . . . Bewsh II Love?

Talk about your all time classic backfires.

[treestar]

4. By starting a war under false pretenses against a nation that had nothing

to do with 911 - conservative doublespeak for "keeping us safe."

[KansDem]

5. PHOTO: Bush keeping American safe.

[AtomicKitten]

6. Sure if W's term started on 09/12/2001 as many of the goons seem to think. nt

[GSLevel9]

7. At least he admits the imminent Great Depression...

Pubs claim the risk of a Great Depression only announced itself after Obama won the election.

[Touchdown]

8. Riiiight! The World Trade Center is still standing.

Thanks for the reality check, Chimpy!:eyes:

[MiniMe]

9. Kept the country safe....

Except for that one time.

[NYC Liberal]

10. When he says he doesn't "think it's good for the country to have a former president criticize his

successor," what he really means is, "The Republicans begged me not to open my big mouth and remind everyone why having Republicans in power for 12 years was an unmitigated disaster."

[arbusto_baboso]

11. Except of course for that one day.....

But we ALL know that 9/11 was Bill Clinton's fault, right? RIGHT?!?!?

Fuck, and the 'Baggers actually eat this shit up with a spoon.

[truebrit71]

12. ..other than 9/11 he's 100% right...

...and if he thought he was successful at that, thank fuck he wasn't as successful at passing SS reform...

[JaneQPublic]

32. But NOT just 9/11 -- He failed to keep American safe from...

...the Anthrax terrorist.

...the horrors of Katrina, with American citizens left helpless and corpses left floating in floodwaters for weeks

...the airline shoe-bomber (after all, if the GOPers can claim the underwear-bomber as a fail for Obama, then the shoe-bomber also counts as one for Bush)

...loss of thousands of American lives and billions of American dollars in a needless elective war on Iraq, waged on the basis of lies to the American public

...the worst economic crash since the Great Depression, brought about by his incompetent and dangerous fiscal policies, with the end result being to eliminate the safety and security of a home, income, and savings for millions of Americans

...An arrogant and petulant stance on the global stage that turned even longtime friendly nations against America and made us all less safe in the bargain

Gosh, need I go on?

[democrat_patriot]

13. Except you FAILED on 9/11. Asshat.

What a buffoon.

[Ghost in the Machine]

14. Yeah sure, fuckface... like that Aug 6, 2001 PDB titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike...

...inside America"?

What a pathetic piece of shit you are, Gee DUHbya...

[Botany]

17. but it didn't give names, flight & seat #s

:grr:

rewriting history the bush/rove way

[Posteritatis]

15. Five digits' worth of American killed, wounded and otherwise injured soldiers might disagree

Among, of course, a great many other people.

[rock]

16. OK, I see that bush* was the real danger but

how did he keep us safe from himself?

[Radical Activist]

18. I'd like to thank Bush for emerging right before the election

to remind everyone what an incompetent, moronic asshole he is.

[damntexdem]

19. Which real danger was that: prosperity or peace?

Dubya certainly kept the country safe from both.

;-)

[Solly Mack]

20. War criminal

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. He kept the country safe for seven years. Except he was in office for eight. n/t

[Proud Liberal Dem]

23. Yup

and he sent 4000+ US service members to early graves on quixotic crusade to rid Iraq of WMD and took a huge dump on our allies and overall reputation in the world in the process as well.

:puke:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

What a douche

:eyes:

He seems to have the same irritating exasperating intellectually dishonest Republican "tic" of ALWAYS FORGETTING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 and how we were NOT "kept safe amidst a real danger" on THAT particular day, a danger HE KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT BEFOREHAND! :mad: :banghead:

Adding to the list, he FAILED to keep American service members safe from harm by PUTTING THEM IN HARM'S WAY by invading and occupying Iraq, something which had NOTHING to do with September 11, 2001 nor posed an "imminent threat" the security of the United States of America or its citizens. He made a bad situation worse by failing to properly protect them- physically- while they were serving in Iraq for the remainder of his (P)residency by failing to provide them with the proper tools and equipment to do so.

His greatest "failure in office"- to get his Social Security privatization scheme passed- was one of the very few "victories" for Democrats and progressives during the eight years of Bushco.

Considering that they're not being prosecuted yet for all of the things that happened during their time in office, I'd say that Bush, Cheney, Rove, et. al would do well to, at the very least, keep their mouths shut and spare us their presence from 01/20/09 to the end of time.

[Politicalboi]

22. Asshole. You WERE the danger

And you still ARE a danger. Why doesn't somebody tell this asshole he is really a fucking fool. This is what happens when we are too nice and don't go for the throat. Bush should have been harassed daily for his stupidity. Instead now we get to hear how this POS kept us safe from Cheney. Fuck him and ALL Republicans.

[City Lights]

24. Yeah, except for that September 11th thingy.

:eyes:

And those anthrax attacks.

:eyes:

George W. Bush=FAIL.

[LeftinOH]

25. He's absolutely right: He kept America safe for 8 and a half months.

[eShirl]

26. bullshit, halfwit!

9/11 ring a bell?

[Dawson Leery]

27. And about half the population believes that LIE!

At least a third believe that LIE, for certain.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Not Sure About That

That was true in 2004, but by the time he was done, most people disapproved of his presidency and of him, personally. So, there is probably quite a bit less than half.

The fact that it is almost certainly more than a 3rd is just as depressing.
GAC

[Renew Deal]

28. What are the chances Bush will go on the Daily Show?

:D

[leveymg]

30. He kept the 'country & western' part safe, alright. Guess Manhattan & DC aren't really America.

Sure thing, no terrorists blew up "landmark structures" in Dallas, TX or Birmingham, AL while Bush was Preznit. He kept "the country" that elected him safe, alright, "amidst a real danger".

Insane and stupid.

[Ramulux]

31. Except for that small little thing called 9/11

[EC]

33. It looks to me that his assignment for his tenure was to

pass Social Security reform since that was his biggest failure...I'm sure this will be the future assignments from on high for all Republicans...

[Hubert Flottz]

34. He means Dick Cheney I guess...

He regrets not being able to become a full fledged dictator like his hero adolf.

[alsame]

35. 9/11, anthrax, Katrina. Heckuva job. nt