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Do you remember the Bush years? (9/11, Katrina, Valerie Plame, etc.)

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B

Back-In-Black

Banned
Ever since Trump won the election we've already seen a taste of what a return of Republican rule looks like. But, I realized perhaps for many new young adults they probably don't remember exactly what those Bush years were like, and perhaps even some older voters have long since forgotten those dark days. With President Obama we were spoiled with 8 years of a scandal free White House, by a President who wasn't afraid to "talk smart," and an administration committed towards equality, civil rights, and environmentalism.

On the other hand, the Bush White House brought us:
-9/11
-The Iraq War
-Valerie Plame scandal
-Dick Cheney in general.
-Halliburton shenanigans. Blackwater shenanigans and rise of the PMC.
-Department of Justice political firing of attorneys
-PATRIOT Act
-Guantanamo Bay. Enhanced Interrogation. Abu Ghraib.
-Hurricane Katrina/FEMA response bungle.
-Jack Abramoff scandal.
-Further deregulation of Wall Street. Drill Baby, Drill.
-Karl Rove existing.

Now, I've been less critical of Bush when he came out of office and recognize the unique situation he was in as well as the internal forces working against him. However, when you stack them all up like that I suddenly remember how awful those years were and how AMAZING Obama seems in comparison.

So GAF, do you remember all of that and MORE? How much worse will Trump's presidency be?
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Back-In-Black
Member
(Today, 09:44 AM)
 
I

ImpracticalPassword

Member
Yes, I remember all of these vividly. I think I have clearer memories of the GWB years than the early Obama years. Probably because it felt like every other thing that happened during the GWB administration was making my head explode. (...2001-2008 me had NO idea what 2016 me was going to feel like.)
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
I mostly remember how good the daily show was and Stewart's Bush impressions

You also forgot all the fuckery that Rumsfeld was up to, but also on the other hand a TON of people kept predicting how the USA was going to turn into a wasteland or suffer economic collapse "real soon" but after the 2008 financial crisis the country has roared back under Obama's even hand, but extremely unequally - rich got much, much richer, tech and finance and globalization guys got much, much richer, middle class has shrunk and poor have gotten stomped on.

Peak oil was also a HUGE thing with everything predicting $250+ gas barrel and the collapse of trade and stuff but instead oil is down to $50 or less and we now know there are trillions of barrels of oil in other forms (shale, fracking, etc) ready to be unlocked if oil prices rise above $70, and that ceiling price drops every year due to tech.

Now the predictions seem to be about how Trump is going to start WW3 and Europe is going to collapse any day now, given how wrong most pundits are at this kind of thing I wonder what will really happen.
 
B

Back-In-Black

Banned
?

I'm not asking if you remember 9/11, I'm talking about the Bush years in general and the Republican rule that followed and all the scandals that went with it.
 
F

Fury451

Banned
Didn't Bush have to deal with a US spy plane landing in Chinese controlled territory, and a collision of a US submarine with a Japanese boat (resulting in deaths) in like his first month of office too?

Whether you like him or not, I got a great amount of insight from reading his book on the key situations he dealt with in office. I'm not sure how anyone would've handled 9/11 in the immediate moment better, but the War with Iraq was a tragic farce.
 
S

SecretMoblin

Member
I wouldn't really say the Bush administration "brought us" the events of 9/11 but it was obviously the defining event of his presidency and affected nearly every aspect of domestic and foreign policy for the rest of his 8 years.

It certainly is fascinating how "fascist" is coming back into vogue.
 
C

Cesare Borgia

Banned
Anyone remember Jeff Gannon? Cindy Sheehan? Speaking of fake news, the far left went off the deep end during those years.

What a time...
 
P

Pinko Marx

Banned
I was in 6th grade on 9/11. I was home playing sick that day, and my dad was watching me cause he knew I was only pretending. He just so happened to have the news on as I was laying on the couch in the living room eating chicken noodle soup. I went to school later that day and during lunch my friends and I were all joking about bombing the fuck out of some Middle Easterners.
 
O

Ovid

Member
You're missing the start of the recession -- late 2007, early 2008 financial crisis.

That was under GWB's watch.
 
B

bob_arctor

Tough_Smooth
Those were my best/most active years in PoliGAF, going back and forth with awesome dudes like mandark, APF, guileless, toxicadam and scorcho, may he rest in peace. Good times discussing not so good times.
 
B

Back-In-Black

Banned
Ovid said:
You're missing the start of the recession -- late 2007, early 2008 financial crisis.

That was under GWB's watch.
Click to expand...

Oh I left plenty out but wanted to focus on those big things early on that people tend to forget these days. No one is forgetting the economic recession we are still climbing out of.
 
M

Mesousa

Banned
A lot of people don't remember how much we all hated Bush. Time makes the heart grow fonder. I even see some people saying they'd rather have Bush than Trump. Trump would have to be a true disaster for that to ever be true to me.
 
L

Lmo911

Member
Man you forgot Enron. That was the harbinger of the coming economic collapse and took countless people's retirements with it.
 
C

cordy

Banned
I remember being in Algebra 1 when the towers were hit. I remember that day vividly. I remember some of it, not a lot but a good amount of his years.
 
T

TreIII

Member
Yes, indeed.

It's such a shame we're going to get 4 more years of scandal and ignorance that likely will make the Bush years look like "good times".
 
N

norm9

Member
The Bush years had the most interesting daily press briefings. The reporters would ask a question, Perino would dodge it, someone else would ask something, there'd be another dodge. I think I read a majority of them during his two terms just because of the moxie of his press secretary.
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
Remember angry Keith Olbermann? I remember him. He brought us the awesome Rachel Maddow, who eventually took his place.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
-Internets
-Go fuck yourself
-Mission Accomplished

What a time to be alive.

But yes....Bush was an awful President. And although I wouldn't specifically blame him for 9/11, the fact that they didn't pay closer attention to the briefings was very damning. But 9/11 ultimately occurred because of a variety of problems, like the fact that government agencies weren't communicating with each other.
 
B

Blader

Member
tearsintherain said:
I mostly remember how good the daily show was and Stewart's Bush impressions

You also forgot all the fuckery that Rumsfeld was up to, but also on the other hand a TON of people kept predicting how the USA was going to turn into a wasteland or suffer economic collapse "real soon" but after the 2008 financial crisis the country has roared back under Obama's even hand, but extremely unequally - rich got much, much richer, tech and finance and globalization guys got much, much richer, middle class has shrunk and poor have gotten stomped on.

Peak oil was also a HUGE thing with everything predicting $250+ gas barrel and the collapse of trade and stuff but instead oil is down to $50 or less and we now know there are trillions of barrels of oil in other forms (shale, fracking, etc) ready to be unlocked if oil prices rise above $70, and that ceiling price drops every year due to tech.

Now the predictions seem to be about how Trump is going to start WW3 and Europe is going to collapse any day now, given how wrong most pundits are at this kind of thing I wonder what will really happen.
Click to expand...

Why are you conflating predictions of the Bush administration with the actions of the Obama administration? People predicted that Bush and a Republican government would wreck the economy, and they did! People predicted that oil prices would make gas seriously expensive for Americans during the Bush years, and they did!

If a Democrat wins in 4-8 years, they may be able to fix up any damage done during the Trump years. That doesn't mean that damage won't suddenly matter, or hurt less, for the time being.
 
L

luxarific

Nork unification denier
Not enough people remembered. I do find it amusing that every generation needs to go through the "voting for a third party in a two party system can lead to unexpected results" and "both parties are the same" phases.
 
R

RangerX

Banned
I think Gaf skews toward the older crown so i think most people here would remember that period. I was 16 when 9/11 happened so yes I remember all of it. I'm not American though. We all had a weird feeling about America while he was the president.
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
I also remember rocking against Bush.
Rock_Against_Bush%2C_Vol._1.jpg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w09kT1n0J18
 
B

Blader

Member
luxarific said:
Not enough people remembered. I do find it amusing that every generation needs to go through the "voting for a third party in a two party system can lead to unexpected results" and "both parties are the same" phases.
Click to expand...

Not even every generation, just every 8 years. Just long enough for the same generation to forget how bad it was the last time they indulged in both-partiesism
 
K

kirblar

Member
luxarific said:
Not enough people remembered. I do find it amusing that every generation needs to go through the "voting for a third party in a two party system can lead to unexpected results" and "both parties are the same" phases.
Click to expand...
It feels like we're going to be eternally screwed every 8 years after a Dem president because the resulting 18-25yo new voters just straight up won't remember how bad it was under an R.
 
S

studyguy

Member
Dude Abides said:
Member when Bush lost conservatives with Medicare Part D and Harriet Miers?
Click to expand...

I remember he lied to congress about the true costs on Medicare lol. What a fucking time. $390b or something ballooning to almost $800b iirc and a big flurry of anger over withheld info.
 
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