That 'Dictator,' George W. Bush

One of the complaints of oh, so victimized conservatives is that Democrats and liberals blame former President George W. Bush for everything.

It is whining at its finest. Little did we know, however, that, though rarely criical of George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh apparently believes he was a "dictator." On May 7, he said

Our debt is outta control. We don't have any money. Unemployment is at about 10%. Obama is out there today taking credit for how well things are, how swell things are going. This is what dictators do. This is how they try to control their images and public opinion.

Aside from the debt not being "outta control" and recent unemployment figures indicating that additional jobs are being created in the U.S. economy, Limbaugh's claim that "taking credit for how well things are.... is what dictators do" is damning to the former President. Let's recall those words of May 1, 2003, President Bush (video below) standing on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, bragging "We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons," amidst a banner strewn above reading "Mission Accomplished." That was 4,000+ American deaths ago.

After years of failing to concede any errors, at his last press conference before relinquishing the presidency handed to him by the Supreme Court, President Bush demonstrated he "mostly regrets poorly executed symbolic gestures." Asked about "the single biggest mistake" he had made, Bush replied

There have been disappointments. Abu Ghraib obviously was a huge disappointment during the presidency. Not having weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment. I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not, but they were -- things didn't go according to plan, let's put it that way.

That's right- "not having weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment." Neither misleading the American people nor the war itself was a disappointment, but Sadam Hussein lacking weapons of mass destruction was. Contrast that with Barack Obama who, after two weeks on the job, was confronted by Brian Williams with three of his nominees (two of them for cainet posts) withdrawing their names from consideration. This President admitted

Oh it made me angry and disappointed and it's something I have to take responsibility for.... I'm here on television saying I screwed up and that's part of the era of responsibility, is not never making mistakes, it's owning up to them and trying to make sure you never repeat them and that's what we intend to do.

George W. Bush was no dictator. (Neither is Barack Obama.) It is, however, just another example of someone who can make millions of dollars a year, largely for shooting off his mouth and serving as a spokesman for corporate America.

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