Jen Rubin, every day she’s trollin‘.
It took less than 4 1/2 years of the Obama presidency for President George W. Bush to mount his comeback. While doing absolutely nothing on his own behalf (he’s been the most silent ex-president in my lifetime), his approval is up to 47 percent according to The Post/ABC poll. That’s up 14 points from his final poll in office. For comparison’s sake President Obama’s RCP average is a tad over 49 percent.
The joke of course is now that Bush is back in the news, people will recall exactly why the man was somewhere around that three touchdowns number by January 2009. Alas, the Bush Failtress Of Failitude is opening this week, where you too can be presented with eight years of “well duh, this was a stupid and immoral choice” and make the right one instead.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Rubin might want to be thankful that people tend to forget things over time, rather than relying on it as an argument.
James Hare
The Washington Post is basically one big troll these days. That and absolutely abominable comments. I try to avoid any news about politics there and stick to sports. Sadly even the sports section is now becoming a haven for racist/misogynistic posters.
Ben Franklin
Days before his second term ended in 2009, Bush’s approval rating among all adults was 33 percent positive and 66 percent negative. The new poll found 47 percent saying they approve and 50 percent saying they disapprove. Among registered voters, his approval rating today is equal to President Obama’s, at 47 percent, according to the latest Post-ABC surveys.
Americans are very forgiving to ex-presidunces. I think this polling has more to do with being glad he’s gone.
peach flavored shampoo
I’m having real hard time understanding why she’s comparing apples to Cameros, but I guess that’s why she’s so gainfully employed.
Why not also compare Obama’s pants size to Bush’s percentage of AQ #2s his admin captured/killed? Seems reasonable, since it will all makes sense to Jen.
DougJ
I’m in the camp of approving of how Bush has conducted himself as an ex-president.
Comrade Jake
I can’t believe you quoted the first paragraph of her post and not the second:
Why the shift? Aside from the “memories fade” point, many of his supposed failures are mild compared to the current president (e.g. spending, debt). Unlike Obama’s tenure, there was no successful attack on the homeland after 9/11. People do remember the big stuff — rallying the country after the Twin Towers attack, 7 1/2 years of job growth and prosperity, millions of people saved from AIDS in Africa, a good faith try for immigration reform, education reform and a clear moral compass.
She is fucking delusional.
Laur
Now that Bush is just sitting in his ranch, painting amateur watercolors of landscapes and his dogs, it’s easy to forget why he was THE WORST.
Ben Franklin
“Obviously, it’s a big moment for him,” former British prime minister Tony Blair said in a telephone interview from London. “It’s a chance for him to explain that his political philosophy encompasses much more than the decisions he had to take after 9/11. We forget this sometimes. . . . This is a much more rounded person with many more dimensions to him than the caricature often portrays.”
I’m moving his dimensional persona from 1 to 2-dimensions just because Bliar(sic) says so.
Chyron HR
It’s strange how the Beltway Snipers were tried as terrorists, and Republicans bragged that they had (finally) caught some terrorists, but apparently none of the things they did actually counted as terrorist acts occuring on Bush’s watch. Go figure.
Ben Franklin
I think I’m getting the hang of these openers @ BJ.
gene108
Sigh…
I wonder how many Americans believe Obama’s worse than Bush, Jr. internally discount the fact the security fuck-ups leading up to 9/11/01 were because of Bush, Jr.’s Presidency?
I think the number should be significant, given the amount of time right-wingers say “there were no terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, when Bush, Jr. was President” (at least Ruben has the decency to qualify it to after 9/11/01) and the ditto heads, who follow them.
Also, too North Korea got nukes because of Bush, Jr.’s policies, but we should let that slide as well.
Laur
@Comrade Jake: Remember those thousands of troops who died and the tens of thousands of civilians who died in all those wars that were totes necessary? LULZ.
Cacti
That means Dubya is still 7-points less popular than Jimmy Carter.
SatanicPanic
There is a UN convention against allowing the publication of stuff this stupid and disingenous but the United States joins Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Yemen in not signing it.
Bulworth
This is very great news for Mitt Romney
Comrade Jake
@Laur: the cognitive dissonance on display by Rubin here is fairly striking.
I’d agree with the suggestion that she’s trolling if I thought she was smart enough to pull it off.
kooks
WTF is it with these idiots and “THE SURRRRGGGGGE”? You have a problem securing areas in Iraq and you *gasp* throw a bunch of military personnel at it – what a fucking novel idea of military genius! It’s almost like we should have listened to Gen. Shinseki prior to the war. These assholes continue to pat each other on the back for doing what should have been completely obvious.
Cacti
@gene108:
I always marvel at the mental gymnastics that allows wingnuts to disregard Bush presiding over the greatest breach of national security in the history of the Republic.
The Dangerman
I’m surprised she forgot Ronnie, who, after a couple paydays, didn’t say shit.
kd bart
Didn’t Clinton sit in the 50s and 60s throughout Bush’s 8 years?
danielx
All that is lacking is a David Brooks column elucidating on how the epic parade of suck and fail that was the Bush Administration wasn’t really all that bad, and rehabilitation will be complete. Jeb!/Marco in 2016!
Comrade Dread
Cripes, Lord knows I’m not always the biggest Obama fan, but wow…
I made the assumption that Bush was more favorable now because he’s done his level best to let us all forget about him by staying home and painting rather than making the Sunday rounds and America has the attention span of a toddler with ADD hopped up on 3 espressos.
It takes an epic troll to somehow blame Obama for that.
Mark B.
I think Bush’s painting has had a more positive impact than anything he did while in office, so my approval of him has increased over time. I still think he should stand trial for his crimes against humanity, but I think without Cheney to push him, he seems to be pretty harmless going forward.
EconWatcher
Hey, if they want to reinstate W. as their symbol and standard-bearer, who are we to stop them?
scav
Objects in the rear view mirror may appear to have larger popularity than they really enjoy.
Cacti
@kd bart:
Of the living ex-Presidents, Dubya is the only one with a sub-50% favorable rating. Carter is 54%, Poppy Bush is 59%, and Big Dog is a whopping 66%.
Morzer
Less than 4 1/2 years, eh? Well, there’s some impressive comeback velocity!
Omnes Omnibus
Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Comrade Dread
@Chyron HR: Ah, you’re confused. I will explain.
When guns kill people, it’s not terrorism. Doesn’t matter if the shooter killed more people than the bombers. Still not terrorism.
This rule applies doubly if the shooter happens to be white.
Yutsano
@Mark B.: Bush stopped listening to Cheney around 2006 after the loss of the House. At that point Boy Blunder realised he was really a major fuck-up and his legacy was gonna be shit, so he (too slowly) started moderating his positions and listening to other advisors. Of course by then Iraq and Afghanistan were total Charlie Foxtrots and Katrina had destroyed whatever domestic legacy he wanted to achieve.
Mark B.
@gene108: During Bush’s tenure, about 3,000 civilians killed by terrorists on U.S. soil, and on Obama’s watch, approximately 3. By that measure, Obama is about 1,000 times better [edit] as a president, which in my estimation is fairly accurate. It’s not that I’m saying that Obama is a great president, it’s just a measure of relative worth.
taylormattd
Don’t forget Ron Fournier:
http://wonkette.com/513483/ron-fournier-judge-george-w-bush-by-his-bro-ness-not-his-horribleness#more-513483
Gex
If you disregard all of my major failures, I’m really quite successful. So is W.
Foregone Conclusion
What’s History’s Greatest Monster’s approval rating these days, I wonder? Almost certainly higher than Bush’s, I would have thought. Presumably Carter is therefore New George Washington?
“7 1/2 years of job growth and prosperity”
Ooh, I wonder what happened in that other six months? I’ve forgotten.
scav
@Morzer: Totally explains how he’s being dragged from pillar to post by repub candidates hoping to benefit from his prize-/ election-winning mana.
danah gaz
You know who *else* wanted page clicks?
dmsilev
@Omnes Omnibus: That was Clinton’s fault. Or maybe Jimmy Carter’s.
Or possibly FDR’s.
But certainly not Bush’s fault.
Morzer
@scav:
I’d be mildly interested to see how the demographics break down on the poll, but I suspect that I already know. Remember all those polls showing Romney ahead – that turned out to be composed mainly of conservative white southern men?
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@EconWatcher:
Considering how much I am looking forward, based on the premise of the quoted article, to the very prominent prime-time speaking slot the GOP will undoubtedly be giving W at the 2016 Republican National Convention, I imagine Jeb must be thrilled beyond belief.
Mike E
@Comrade Jake:
FTFY
Morzer
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
Maybe Dubya can extend his artistic talents to a soulful rendering of:
“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother…”
Omnes Omnibus
@danah gaz:
My Mom.
/Muscle Man from The Regular Show
Morzer
@Gex:
And viewed from the right end of the kaleidoscope Enron was a model of business efficiency and honesty.
dmsilev
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: That’s an interesting point. Traditionally, ex-Presidents get keynote or similarly prominent speaking spots at conventions. The Democrats will, in 2016, have Clinton and Obama and possibly Carter. The Republicans will have Bush the Younger and possibly Bush the Elder.
Maybe they could invite Romney back to give another rousing speech?
Roger Moore
@kooks:
The worst part of the whole thing is that it wasn’t the extra troops that really made the difference. The big change was the result of two things:
1) Bribing a whole bunch of rebel leaders into cooperating with us and to a lesser extent the Iraqi government instead of trying to blow us up
2) Ethnically partitioning Baghdad so there were military checkpoints between people who had been trying to kill each other
And honestly, it’s not as though we totally pacified the place and made everyone into believers in representative democracy. It’s still a frightfully dangerous place; it’s just that we don’t have substantial force there anymore, so we’re not the ones getting blown up. That keeps it out of the news, so people can ignore how bad it still is. And, getting back to the article, that helps Bush’s reputation, since people who want to forget how awful the Iraq debacle was have an easier time doing it.
Morzer
@dmsilev:
“Give him the chair, Clint!”
Gex
OT: These attorneys are driving me insane. They keep pestering me to make sure I will keep making the house payment. The fact that I emailed them telling them that and the fact that I paid the February, March, and April mortgage payments seems to have no effect on them whatsoever. I’m sure they’ll get to the bottom of this though, no matter how many billable hours it takes.
SatanicPanic
@Omnes Omnibus: heh love that show
TOP123
@Foregone Conclusion: Apparently something ended up happening toward the end, but the Titanic was the epitome of ocean cruising for the first three days of her voyage.
Epicurus
Our Dear Jennifer is definitely making a grab for the Peggy Noonan crown of “Most Delusional, Lying Columnist of All Time.” A few more like this one will cement her win.
bemused
Rightwingers always rebrand history and conjure up comebacks. I’m reading Perlstein’s Before The Storm. Different players, different times but that’s the only difference. Same rigid ideologies, projections, conspiracies, methods…not surprising but still a bit startling.
GregB
9/11, or as it is known in political circles as the Bush Mulligan.
Ted & Hellen
Well, since Obama declined to prosecute the Bush Boy War Criminal, and has feted him at the White House where he palled around for photo ops with him, and will now be in attendance to help dedicate Dumbya’s Fortress of Fail, why should anyone assume the current president doesn’t whole heartedly believe W is awesome?
Even the Obots here.
? Martin
Well, Bush’s approval rating is pretty high with me. I strongly approve of him not being president. I strongly approve of him painting dogs rather than leading the war charge against Iran or whoever.
Aside from him not being in prison, what’s not to like?
Roger Moore
Funny, that’s not what I remember. I remember a recession at the beginning of the Bush II presidency, followed by about 6 years of anemic job growth and stagnating wages for all but the best off, and finally a year-long slide into the worst economic crisis of my lifetime. Then again, I live outside of Rubin’s privileged bubble, so I actually got to see how poorly people in the bottom 80% of the income distribution did during the Bush II years.
Maude
@Gex:
Email them and tell them to stop that.
Thinking of you. It will work out and you are doing so well.
Patricia Kayden
@dmsilev: Yes, let’s see if Bush I and II are asked to speak in 2016. That will show whether or not Rubin and company actually believe what they’re saying or are just serving up more ish.
Morzer
News to make Ted and Hellen weep:
Max Baucus has retired.
Patricia Kayden
@? Martin: Funny that 47% is considered “high” by Rubin. But I agree that him being out of power makes him a little more likable. It’s comforting to know that he’s ruined things for any relatives (looking at you, Jeb) who would want to run for high office in the future.
Roger Moore
@? Martin:
FTFY.
Chyron HR
@Ted & Hellen:
You seem upset, Tim. Still mad that the Boston Bombers turned out to be members of the glorious white race instead of “dark-skinned” guys like you kept insisting?
Cacti
@Patricia Kayden:
That’s the share of the popular vote that President Romney won.
Honus
@Chyron HR: Or the anthrax attacks which killed five people.
They are also starting to broadcast the fact that the Boston MArathon Bomber regularly read jihadist web sites. I’m sure they’ll give those writers the same consideration they showed Beck, Limbigh and Coulter when their writings were found in the homes of the Pittsburgh police killer.
Boots Day
@Foregone Conclusion: That’s not the worst thing about the whole “7 1/2 years of job growth and prosperity” claim. The worst thing is, it’s a complete lie. The economy suffered 14 straight months of job losses between March 2001 and May 2002, and then again for the entire last year of Bush’s presidency.
There weren’t just six months of job losses during the Bush presidency; there were thirty-nine. People get fired for lying like that, but not at the Washington Post.
Citizen_X
47% approval rating, eh? I seem to remember someone else who had 47% of the people approve of him. I also seem to remember that guy using that same number in some other context, too.
Cacti
@Boots Day:
It’s almost as if Jenny deliberately disregarded the US economy being in 3-straight quarters of negative growth before the September 2008 stock market crash.
Or that the Bush “prosperity” went almost exclusively to the top 1%, with median household income declining 4.2% overall during his 8-years in office.
Or that the Bush “growth” was fueled by real estate speculation, and people borrowing against their homes, as encouraged by Alan Greenspan.
Persia
@Cacti: And ignore the anthrax attacks and various mass shootings.
Gex
@Maude: I think we got it settled. One final email, with a touch of “which part of me saying I would pay this did you not understand” attitude seems to have done the trick.
Thanks for your thoughts. You have been very kind to me and I appreciate it a ton.
The Moar You Know
@Roger Moore: Weird, I remember the same thing.
Bush did something to fix that first recession. Sent out a bunch of checks or something like that. A lot of people got money. I think that’s called “stimulate” or something like that. I remember everyone approved.
Roger Moore
@The Moar You Know:
ISTR that he also lowered tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, which I’m sure had more to do with ending the recession than mailing out checks did./Republican
Ted & Hellen
@Chyron HR:
You and Menmospleen are simply incapable of replying without lying and misdirecting. It’s really pathological.
And since you completely ignored the issue of your president doing all he can to help rehabilitate GWB, I’ll assume you agree with him that Dumbya is awesome.
Ted & Hellen
Speaking of lying and misdirecting, what became of General Stuck? I don’t recall a grand GBCW post…
El Caganer
@The Moar You Know: That stimulateralizing is hard work.
Cacti
Will his new facility be called the George Dubya Bush memorial Presidentin’ Liberry?
Kay
They’re setting it up for Jeb.
Jennifer is MOSTLY conventional. That’s her “ideology” , safety. Whatever is the most conventional pick is the one she makes.
I think a lot of pundits are like that. It’s amusing because they all pretend to this weary sophistication. They’re basically the younger table at the Rotary Club.
dance around in your bones
As far as I’m concerned (after gratefully and cheerfully watching his last helicopter ride out of the White House) the best thing Bush has done is to keep his pie-hole shut.
I wonder if he has developed some sense of shame? Or is someone advising him that the best thing to do is keep quiet and let ‘history’ sort it out after he is dead?
I wouldn’t read Jennifer Rubin if you paid me a million dollars, or even one dollar.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Boots Day:
Fixt for today’s media environment. Hired liars all of them, until proven otherwise.
Suffern ACE
@Kay: Yeah, that’s pretty much it. They can’t hide Bush II when Bush III is running, so they need to make him popular.
Now, how are they going to convince the public that they aren’t going to bring back all those bush folks in their bush cabinet? Some of them were off their rockers at the time and some are bonkers now.
I’d like to think that if we could just go through two more terms with any Democrat at the helm that we’d get rid of the Bush Team members just due to age. But then they pulled Rumsfeld from the Ford Administration 24 years after that ended. Who knows what friends they’d pull in this time.
Patrick
@Comrade Jake:
This is beyond stupid. But OK…
911 happened during Bush’s term! Why is this difficult for right-wingers to comprehend?
Furthermore, Obama did what Bush failed to do. He killed bin Laden! Heck, Bush had given up on ever catching him.
Rallying the country? He divided our country by his idiotic decision of attacking a country that had nothing to do with the attack.
The fact that some poll shows Bush at an 47% approval rating just goes to show how dumb people are. That poll is no different than the polls just before the Iraq war started that showed about 67% of all Americans approved of the attack. And then, lo and behold, just a few years later now they are against it. And they are also concerned about the deficit conveniently forgetting that they themselves had no problem spending a $trillion on the Iraq war that they themselves approved back in 2003.
Voters are stupid…
TenguPhule
@Comrade Jake: 9/11, his watch. Anthrax Mailer, NEVER CAUGHT. Washington Snipers.
8 years of burning our economic infrastructure to feed the Tax Cuts Fires of Borrow, Spend on War and Cut Services.
Bush and Cheney can’t die too soon and their corpses not defiled enough to make up for their crimes against humanity.
Sublime33
When I first heard that George W Bush was a grandfather, I thought there was little chance he could screw that up. But what if he takes the wrong kid to Disney World?
TenguPhule
@? Martin: That his head and neck are still connected and not being defecated on by Iraqis.
Roger Moore
@Patrick:
Because they don’t want to admit that their guy was responsible for the most colossal failure since Pearl Harbor. It’s an important enough point that they’re going to engage in any kind of crazy sophistry to give Bush a mulligan. Why is this so hard for lefties to understand?
Kay
@Suffern ACE:
Jeb will be a good candidate. The Bushes have 3 generations of political connections to trade on.
I just think we have to face reality :)
Political media will love it. HUGE sigh of relief! Someone they know and trust.
I get a kick out of it. I’d like a 2nd chance to beat a Bush. Come on! It’ll be FUN!
Anyway, he’s who we’re getting.
LanceThruster
America, Fuck Yeah by Trey Parker
America…
America…
America, FUCK YEAH!
Coming again, to save the mother fucking day yeah,
America, FUCK YEAH!
Freedom is the only way yeah,
Terrorist your game is through cause now you have to answer too,
America, FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt, and suck on my balls,
America, FUCK YEAH!
What you going to do when we come for you now,
it’s the dream that we all share; it’s the hope for tomorrow
FUCK YEAH!
McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK, YEAH!
Rock and roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!
FUCK YEAH!
Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney world, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed bath and beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)
Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Democrats, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (republicans)
(fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books
gene108
@The Moar You Know:
Bush, Jr. ran on mailing out “Surplus refunds” in 2000. It was just a co-winky-dink that him getting into office and the 2001 recession overlapped, so he could redub the “surplus refunds” as “stimulus”.
I know people, who wanted vote for Bush, Jr. because he was giving them $300, if he got elected.
Suffern ACE
@Kay: Can’t we get at least some establishment not-Bushes into the discussion? Even with Romney the establishment types kept floating up Thune, or Pataki or Daniels. Heck even Perry was the establishment not-Romney for a week or two because he went to a fair in Cowboy boots.
Cacti
@Kay:
The wingers will be apoplectic when the Clintons beat them for a second time.
Trollhattan
@DougJ:
Well, yeah, shutting the fuck up is vastly preferable to the vile high-profle shadow presidentin’ as practiced by presidents Cheney and McCain.
Kay
@Suffern ACE:
People should give up on Mitch Daniels. He’s busy privatizing public universities.
They’ll have a primary, but they need a safe bet, and Jeb is ACTUALLY a wing nut, despite his bland exterior. He’s really far Right. He’s not dumbbell enough to go the Tea Party route, but he’s plenty wingnut enough.
I think he will be hard to beat. Not impossible, but difficult.
Kay
@Cacti:
I have to come out for Round Two just so I can monitor the fundie vote again. I had no idea what I was doing, but I think they thought we had “a plan”
Maybe this time we will. Have a plan :)
Roger Moore
@Cacti:
Clinton vs. Bush II: The Second Time as Farce
Patrick
@Roger Moore:
What makes you think I’m a lefty?
Steeplejack
It could be that Bush’s approval rating is up because people approve of him STFU’ing and staying out of sight the last four years.
Would be interesting to compare and contrast with Cheney, who still emerges periodically like the kraken to make stupid, malicious remarks.
Random J. Nerd
About 10 years ago I got a call from a political pollster, long enough ago, that you got an actual, located somewhere in the US, human, and not a robot and “press one for…”
It was the usual come up with approval numbers. Anyhow she asked me how I thought The Shrub was doing. Options were the usual 5 steps from great to poor. I said “You don’t have abysmal as an option.” Got a good laugh in response.
D.N. Nation
Hey, wingnuts. It’s your conventions where W. is never mentioned. If America loves him so much, apparently, why don’t you?
Ted & Hellen
Is there any other sane person here who doesn’t think it’s a good idea for a “democracy” (ha! I know!) that the White House change hands back and forth between members of elite family dynasties, even if one of them allegedly plays for the progressive team?
Morzer
@Ted & Hellen:
Dear me, how Hilary Clinton frightens you. Diddums.
Patrick
@Ted & Hellen:
I agree. It is not good for democracy. On the other hand, today’s GOP has become so extreme that it would be even worse for democracy if a Jeb Bush, Rubio or what have you were to be elected. Ronald Reagan would not recognize what happened to his party.