Bush Praises Obama, Scorns Palin

[Pangloss]

According to the link below, Bush mentions Obama 10 times in his book, apparently favorably each time. He has a lot of criticism for McCain, and only a single word for Sarah Palin: "Unqualified."

 

He's apparently not a fan of the Tea Party Movement either. Check out this quote, which comes from a recent interview with the Times of London, the subject being "right-wing populism":

 

"Here is what I am most concerned about: isolationism, protectionism, and nativism, the evil triplets that occasionally hold hands in America."

 

Nice line. I can't help but wonder if we may be headed toward a post-White House reinvention of ol' W, much as we saw with Clinton.

 

http://www.thenation.com/blog/155939/obama-finally-gets-some-love-george-w-bush

[Moontanman]

I would imagine, and this is just my own speculation, that being president gives you a perspective that transcends party lines and allows you to ignore them too.

[Pangloss]

I would imagine, and this is just my own speculation, that being president gives you a perspective that transcends party lines and allows you to ignore them too.

 

I think that's a good observation. It's one of the slicker moves by the framers to set things up so that the president needs to work with a wide variety of political representations in order to get something done, and I'm sure that has an influence on any president's thinking.

 

I'm also always glad to see the former presidents mainly getting along. It's a pretty elite club, of course, but it's also for good reasons and with good motivations. I imagine nothing wakes you up from partisanship faster than being handed a little card with some numbers on it that can kill everyone in the entire world.

 

(Of course if you're Clinton you leave it in a pocket and forget about if for months, but that's another story.)

[lemur]

According to the link below, Bush mentions Obama 10 times in his book, apparently favorably each time. He has a lot of criticism for McCain, and only a single word for Sarah Palin: "Unqualified."

 

He's apparently not a fan of the Tea Party Movement either. Check out this quote, which comes from a recent interview with the Times of London, the subject being "right-wing populism":

 

 

 

Nice line. I can't help but wonder if we may be headed toward a post-White House reinvention of ol' W, much as we saw with Clinton.

 

http://www.thenation...e-george-w-bush

 

 

Huh?!? First you demonstrate with a quote how the tea party nativism is contrary to GW Bush's globalism and then say that Palin is going to reinvent him? Is this supposed to make sense on some level?

 

 

[Pangloss]

I don't think Palin is going to reinvent W. I wondered if he might be reinventing himself.

[lemur]

I don't think Palin is going to reinvent W. I wondered if he might be reinventing himself.

 

Aha. I see. How then?

[Pangloss]

By making intelligent observations about current political events. He was regularly accused of being an idiot, just as Clinton was, but Clinton was able to turn that around after leaving office by involving himself in world events.

 

Still, at the moment I don't really see Bush doing that. He's actually saying more to the contrary, really, expressing a desire to stay out of politics.

[mississippichem]

I like the fact that Bush will not criticize Obama because he has "too much respect for the office". It shows political maturity on his part. I think the history books in twenty or forty years will be kinder to Bush than many expect.

Take Clinton for example. The right pretty much stayed in an uproar the whole time he was in office. But now I know more than a few republicans who will concede that times were good under Clinton, especially with respect to the economy.

Times weren't so bad under Bush for his first term and at least half of his second, though some of that could be credited to Clinton. Bush's polls are already on the rise and the memoirs will probably contribute to that.