The Bush Years (2 Updates)

I don't think anyone can logically argue that George Bush and the Republicans gave the war in Afghanistan the attention it deserved. The one country with actual ties to 9/11 was put on the back burner to invade and occupy a country that had nothing to do with September 11th. Whatever the case may be that President Obama needs to do more or less in that country, the brevity Bush gave the war that engulfed all but 9 months of his two terms was and is a chronic failure. Whatever the White House decides to do to wind the war down is at the direct result of Bush punting the war off for someone else to handle. Like it or not, this is something that should have been handled years ago.

Needless to say, no elected president has ever inherited two ongoing, endless wars tripled by an economy on the verge of collapse. Monumental circumstances doesn't even begin to describe the world Barack Obama inherited or the failure of office George Bush gave to us all. So when you hear Genius Boy Karl Rove cry like a little baby about being blamed for stuff it's only because he knows exactly he's largely responsible for cataclysmic failure not seen in American history.

*Update:

Reminding America of the damage bestowed upon us during the Bush Years, it was quite the populist for President Obama to not let us forget that the very same people responsible for the last 8 years are today cheering for failure and acting like dirt isn't on their hands.



"[W]hat I reject is when some folks decide to sit on the sidelines and root for failure on health care or on energy or on our economy. What I reject is when some folks say we should go back to the past policies when it was those very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

"Another way of putting it is when, you know, I'm busy and Nancy's busy with our mop cleaning up somebody else's mess, we don't want somebody sitting back saying, 'You're not holding the mop the right way.' Why don't you grab a mop, why don't you help clean up? 'You're not mopping fast enough.' 'That's a socialist mop.' Grab a mop -- let's get to work."

The Bush years were really that bad. Own up and let's make things better. I don't think Republicans have any problems wanting to make things better. I truly believe they want America to succeed. It's that they can't come to terms with wanting to move America forward without the slightest bit of acknowledgment for how bad they screwed things up.

**Update:

Listening to the president's speech in the clip above reminds me of a mini-speech in 2004 when he was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois. I was with Obama at this speech on March 18, 2004 when I heard him talk about political labels. This has to be my "sold ya" moment for Obama. He seemed to cast aside the old stereotype of political labeling in a brief moment of prose. He refused to abide by the status quo of "liberal" or "conservative." And then he took it one step further; he also challenged it. I knew right then I was part of something that was much bigger than a U.S. Senate race.

I was hoping to find an article about his visit to the airport that day because it stands out so much in my mind especially when I hear him today telling people to 'grab a mop' and quit with the status quo of politics as usual (luckily I did). 'Quit with the labels, grab a mop and let's get something done.'