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SARS was 2002-04, and GWB became a pandemic nerd in 2005. He deserves credit for responding meaningfully to a near-miss. He read an actual book, got an actual idea and did something about it. It wasn’t mere legacy-seeking then, and it’s not mere reputation laundering now.
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GWB era was odd. People compare to Trump era repeatedly but it’s not a meaningful comparison. He had 3 big disasters he didn’t cause on his watch (9/11, Katrina, subprime) and one he dud (Iraq). The fraction of people who detested him was an order of magnitude less than Trump.
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In the context of the extraordinary challenges he faced, and making allowance for GOP values (from back when the party existed) he wasn’t a terrible president like the left likes to pretend. He was mediocre. That’s why I am fine with his rehabilitation
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I’ll admit the steady attempt to rehabilitate GWB’s image since he left office has lowkey worked on me. Started with his picking up the painting hobby in retirement and I also liked his origin story of quitting alcoholism and running marathons. abcnews.go.com/Politics/georg
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That's all reasonable, I get your point, but Iraq is unforgivable. <News story about suicide attack at a mosque> <Photos from Walter Reed> <Photos from Abu Ghraib> <Numbers>
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There's a level of power where excuses like that become unacceptable, and the oval office is way above it. To bend over backwards, knock it down to criminal negligence and give him 10% of the blame, that still puts him in the lowest circle of hell.
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Bush's handpicked subordinate is to blame, not him? He was the executive, the "decider". And "before he found his feet"? Iraq war started after his first term was half over!
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