Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[wierd]

Such a rare thing, Ideological Purity...  When held up to group scrutiny, NOTHING is found to satisfy the conditions.

[Frumple]

And ironically, both are much closer to the other side than they're ever given credit for.

... what did GWB do that was crypto-leftist, again?

[Sheb]

No kid left behind, extend funding for aid against AIDS, expending the size of government.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Bush was left enough to get denounced as a RINO, that's for sure. It's also important to recall the actions of Vice-President-In-Chief Lord Dick "& Balls" Cheney when remembering the Bush Administration.

[Bohandas]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Seems relatively balanced. It says three negative things about each of them.

[Frumple]

No kid left behind, extend funding for aid against AIDS, expending the size of government.

No kid left behind was... not what I'd call leftist. It basically fucked much of the country's education system, and in many ways did pretty much the exact opposite of what left-leaning/progressive educators would have told someone to do. The second, okay. Had forgotten about that. The third is... debatable. The right-wing in the US doesn't exactly shirk expanding the government, so long as it's expanding in the direction they want. Talk a lot against it these days, but their ass cashes not the check their mouth writes.

... is there anything else? I mean, okay, he got some detractors calling him a RINO (I... don't recall any of that in the conservative-as-hell area I'm in, but okay -- I wasn't paying much too terribly much attention to anything he was doing that wasn't the wars or contributing to screwing over my state's education system, at the time), but what'd he do to deserve it?

[Bohandas]

No kid left behind, extend funding for aid against AIDS, expending the size of government.

The third is... debatable. The right-wing in the US doesn't exactly shirk expanding the government, so long as it's expanding in the direction they want.

Yeah, expanding the military and the secret-police doesn't count as "big government"

[RedKing]

Extended Medicare benefits (the prescription drug benefit that many Republicans said would wreck the system and bankrupt America).
Signed the TARP bailout and the loan to the auto industries (easy to confuse that with Obama, as much of it was as he was headed out the door).
Clear Skies Act of 2002.
Backed renewable energy.
Made some noises about immigration reform and "path to citizenship".

[Frumple]

There we go. Actually remember the medicare and clear skies things a lil', now that you mention it. That's a bit more clear cut, so thanks.

Not quite sure that makes 'im as close to center as Obama is, but that better explains where some of the fuss was coming from.

[wierd]

Again, ideological purity. It only exists within single minds. When more than one comes to be, compromise necessitates its removal.

By this axiom, in a highly polarized demographic like the US's political sphere, the truly sensible politicians trying to plot a sensible course will be demonized by both extremes.  The most progressive (as in, achieving progress toward demonstrably workable compromises) candidate will be the most reviled.

[Moghjubar]

No kid left behind...

I remember several friends in education calling it "No Child Left a Dime" during GW due to its unfunded mandates and... other issues.

Ironically, it seems some of the tea party has adopted that same phrase to blame/cast stones at Obama.

[wierd]

I called it for what it really was. "No child allowed to shine."


(When every child gets the same trophy, the trophy means nothing.)

[nenjin]

If this were DF, it'd be "No child left to mine."

[Loud Whispers]

If this were DF, it'd be "No child left to mine."

[wierd]

Children are just fine, as long as you poke the right personality bits in memory with therapist.