In noting additional failures of the Bush Presidency not identified in my Broad Outline of Where W Went Wrong, commenter (and blogger in his own right) V the K points out that president naively expected “the Democrats to put aside partisanship for the good of the country.”
Building on my own first point (how the president took didn’t do “enough to defend his character and promote his programs”), I would offer a similar thought to V the K. The president naively assumed the MSM would put their liberal leanings aside to do their jobs and report the news.
In the wake of his 2004 reelection victory, the president probably thought the media would be less hard on him because he couldn’t run for election again in 2008. In the run-up to 2004, they had been hard on him because they were doing their utmost to prevent his reelection.
Having failed that, he must have just assumed they would give him a fair shake in his second term.
But, alas, it seems those in the media don’t just want to defeat Republicans, they want to discredit us as well.
Thank you for the tip. (I’ll get that instalanche yet!) What is galling is the same people who spent the last eight years ripping Bush apart are now saying let’s all be united and sing kum-ba-yah. Frack them! If dissent was patriotic before 1.20.09, it sure as hell ought to be patriotic after.
V, you seem to anticipating an upcoming post!
VtheK, As proud as I am of our country, I can’t get onboard with obama. I don’t want him to be an abject failure – our country deserves better.
But, there is some schadenfruede at seeing AlGore’s global warming wreck havoc on the 5 day inauguration celebration. I know, the millions are out there despite the weather, but they can’t be comfortable.
A whole gaggle of European leaders (Italy, Britain, Germany. Spain, France and the Czech Republic) came to Israel yesterday – a mini G8 meeting with the American President there. Gee, maybe there are consequences to ‘one president at a time’.
To be honest, I’ll be happy when most American are more excited about American Idol than the resident of the White House.
Leah, Public belief in Global Warming is declining, just as the most fanatical manbearpig-true-believers in history take power. Schaden up that freude.
Obama will get better treatment than either Bush or Clinton did when they first took office because Obama was able to achieve a majority of the votes. Obama is the first President in 20 years to take office having won a majority of the vote for his first term.
Clinton was a plurality President, winning only 43% in 1992 and Bush was a minority President, having won fewer votes than his opponent in 2000. The reception for each was rocky as a result.
But it will be different for Obama. He comes to office with a clear mandate. He won the majority.
I remember as a wee little one (of the single digits) going to George H.W. Bush’s inauguration in 1988. My parents are Democrats. They voted for Dukakis. But we still went to the Inauguration to celebrate. When a President-Elect come to office the clear winner, with the majority, it makes a big difference. Clinton didn’t have that. W didn’t have that.
Yes, Bush won a majority in 2004. But it’s different when you are a President-Elect. And after Florida in 2000, the well was poisoned against Bush. The 2000 election turned the last 8 years into a revenge war. It was V is for Vendetta.
That’s all over tomorrow.
And with the country in such bad shape now and with so many hoping that Obama will succeed, if Obama even has marginal success, the country will praise his name. It will be different. I fully expect in the months and years to come, you’ll say it’s bias. But really, it’s the fact that Obama comes to office with the majority.
I do and the fact that our country deserves better is exactly why. There are consequences for every election and we’re all gonna have to take a bite of the super-deluxe shit sandwich that will come with this one.
His got a race card in his front pocket and anybody who doesn’t tow the line will be destroyed.
Thanks to the liberals. Hey! Let’s elect more liberals to screw us over even more! Better yet, let’s elect a radical with no record or credentials, but who can say nothing better than anyone!
Brilliant.
The left and the Dems didn’t give one day of honeymoon to GWB and I don’t intend to give one day of honeymoon to B. Hussien Obama. The left demonized Bush, they didn’t give the man credit for anything he accomplished, they spewed hatred like I’ve never seen before. If the left thinks I’m suddenly going to be sweet and kind to B. Hussien, they are sadly mistaken. I will damn, condemn, and demonize just as they did, and I don’t care what he might accomplish. Althought the right doesn’t have the MSM on its side, we still have the blogs and our own voices. As far as I’m concerned, I hope B. Hussien fails miserably; we know his ideas and they are bad for this country, therefore his failure is our gain. I’m willing to bet that within 12 months his most ardent supporters will be asking themselves “What didn’t he lie about?”.
I fully expect in the months and years to come, you’ll say it’s bias.
Oh, it’s clearly bias.
String up effigies of Obama and it’s a hate crime; string up effigies of Palin and it’s endorsed and supported by liberal gays.
Palin has family members help with her kids and she’s a bad mother; Obama ditches his children for a year with relatives and he’s a great father.
Obama endorses and supports unrepentant domestic terrorists and white racists and gets a free pass; Palin records a greeting for an obscure political party with which she disagrees and gets slammed.
We could go on for hours with this.
I will say this, I hope the Obamas continue with their version of the Barney Cam:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/barney/barneycam2008.wm.v.html
Call it childish or whatever, but I’ve enjoyed the Christmas videos with Barney & Miss Beazly. In fact, I recommend Bruce do something similar with Saxby & Shadow.