Sunday, August 23, 2009

Comparing Bush and Obama

The source of this viral e-mail which also appears on many forums and blogs, is buried somewhere around early July--the two earliest I found were both African American sites. But I can't find any untruth in it, although I'm sure my loyal liberals will drag out comparisons of Bush with Clinton or Carter.
    If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how he inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

    If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

    If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

    If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

    If George W. Bush had mis-spelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of what a dunce he is?

    If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

    If George W. Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

    If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

    If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

    If George W Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

    If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

    So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 5 months -- so you'll have three years and seven months to come up with an answer.


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5 comments:

Norma said...

Some of you e-mailed me your own comparisons, not really worthy of note, but the point is NOT did Bush do anything wrong, but have you objected when Obama did what you objected to in Bush? And no, I don't recall Bush heavily using a teleprompter when he talked to reporters, or that he took Laura on expensive theather dates. Perhaps he did--after all, he never pretended to be anything but the son and grandson of wealth. Obama on the other hand, loves yukking it up with the rich, privileged and wealthy and looking down his nose at the common man.

Sam Freedom said...

Way to go, Norma!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for pointing out the vast hypocrisy going on in the minds of those least-suited to lead.

Unknown said...

Part 1
When I first read this I thought, OK, I guess Obama is guilty of those things. Then I did a little research and discovered that, as usual, this right wing propaganda email is full of lies and half truths. And Bush did most of these things too! The responses in black are from various sources on the internet.

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

The president uses a teleprompter for his opening remarks at press conferences, after that it is never used for questions. IF YOU HAVE EVER WATCHED THE PRESIDENT IN A PRESS CONFERENCE YOU WOULD KNOW THIS.
Okay, he uses it more than most. But for a guy known around the world for being as effective as he is at communicating, he shouldn’t change a thing. If that’s what works for him (using the teleprompter), that’s what he should do.

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

Dubya spent entire months on vacation.
George Bush took a total of 237 Vacations (1020 DAYS) during his presidency. This is an average of 2.5 vacations per month every month he was in office. Are we seriously talking about Obama’s ONE NIGHT IN NEW YORK?
"George W. Bush had made 149 trips to and spent 487 days at Camp David, with another 77 getaways to (and 490 days at) Crawford. Toss in 11 visits and 43 days at his folks' compound in Kennebunkport, Maine and President Bush spent 1020 days - 35% of his presidency - getting away from the White House. Breaking the record for vaction days."
HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THAT RAN US?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/11/politics/uwire/main3927378.shtml

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

This stuff about Obama ordering the firing of a CEO, man, that was great. I fully supported that and I see nothing wrong with it either. That CEO, Rick Wagoner of General Motors, was about to cost taxpayers billions of dollars in bailout money. The government that says, "You want a bunch of our money, then you're going to have to fire that incompetent f**" is much, much more impressive than the government that says, "Here's a bunch of money to squander as you please."
http://liftwithcaution.blogspot.com/2009/10/yet-another-stupid-right-wing-e-mail.html


If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

Obama’s self deprecating humor got the best of him. Not in good taste and cannot defend this. The chairman of Special Olympics did accept his apology and offered to have a special Olympian who had bowled 3 perfect games to go to white house and give the President some lessons.

*If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

It was a set of 25 DVDs of classic movies. That was mildly tacky but having it on this list is pitifully trivial. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1159627/To-special-friend-Gordon-25-DVDs-Obama-gives-Brown-set-classic-movies-Lets-hope-likes-Wizard-Oz.htm


*If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

It would...if only the IPOD had any Obama Speeches on it. It did however have show tunes that she has been well known to like and pictures of a visit she had to the U.S. Nothing about Obama was on the IPOD... so this is just a flat out lie. But while we have the queen in mind I would be a little mortified if my president winked at her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/world/europe/02ipod.html

Unknown said...

Part 2

*If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

What if he held his hand like they're going to a courthouse wedding in Massachusetts?

Bush even kissed him!

*If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

The language of Austria is Austrian German. So trivial and petty. As was laughing at Bush for all his Bushisms. But Bush did it so often.
This did actually happen and is reminiscent of Bush thanking Australian premier John Howard for allowing him to visit their 'Austrian' troops... funny how soon we forget.
Also, who can forget when Bush said he "doesn't speak Mexican"....Is that a language?

*If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

If 3 out of 30 is considered "FILLING HIS CABINET AND CIRCLE OF ADVISORS" then this is correct.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-durst/the-best-cabinet-money-ca_b_168535.html

*If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

Yes that would have been embarrassing. However, another lie. (You have to question why there would be so many lies in only one e-mail. What do republicans have against the truth?)
It was a joke because they were celebrating it a day early.
Quote: "Bienvenidos. Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro -- (laughter) -- Cinco de Mayo at the White House. We are a day early, but we always like to get a head start here at the Obama White House." was the exact quote.

*If George W. Bush had misspelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years, like Dan Quayle and potatoe, as proof of what a dunce he is?

This is just incorrect. It is a handwritten letter that had the word "advice" in it and someone mused that his "c" looked like an "s"..... Seriously? This is to the point it is humorous. Really grasping at straws.

*If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

Bush did burn many gallons of jet fuel in 2004 to go to Wells, Maine to celebrate earth day, In 2005 Bush flew to Tennessee to celebrate earth day...we could go on and on....but no one seems to care how much Bush spent so this would be pointless. Otherwise we would have seen big e-mails making fun of Bush flying around for earth day, which did not happen. More grasping at straws.
*If George W. Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

Ignorant haters would like to think that Barack Obama was personally responsible for this. He wasn't. Will that stop them from trying to pin it on him? Of course not. That's not hot ignorant haters operate.
*If the George Bush administration allowed Saudi evacuees to leave our country within 6 days of the attacks and then denied it until the 9/11 commission record came out and then rewound the first lie and stated ... When Roemer asked "why the Saudis were allowed to leave the country, who were on the planes, how many, and why the decision was made," Clarke said the government "feared for their lives...some of them were bin Laden family members, and the Saudi embassy requested their evacuation."
The Saudi embassy requested there evacuation after we had been hit by all Saudi Arabians and this was allowed?????? WTF?
Where was your anger and "wondering" then???

Unknown said...

Part 3
*If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
Another lie. 1836 people killed and over 275,000 homes were lost in Katrina. The Midwest flood killed 24 people and approx. 10,000 homes were lost. What is the comparison and what does it have to do with Obama who has passed additional funding for the midwest flood relief?

*If George W. Bush had created the position 32 or more Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have approved?
Ooh, that’s scary! - It’s called a cabinet and advisors.
It's funny that czars were not a problem in any other administration ever, but Obama gets a chance to name a few for HIS administration...and oh my god, we're all commies now.
*If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
This stuff about Obama ordering the firing of a CEO, man, that was great. I fully supported that and I see nothing wrong with it either. That CEO, Rick Wagoner of General Motors, was about to cost taxpayers billions of dollars in bailout money. The government that says, "You want a bunch of our money, then you're going to have to fire that incompetent f**" is much, much more impressive than the government that says, "Here's a bunch of money to squander as you please."
*If George W Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
When Bush took office, the national debt in Jan. 2001 was 5.7 Trillion.
The National debt in Jan 2009 was 10.7 trillion.
Was this a trick question?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jan/22/rahm-emanuel/5-trillion-added-national-debt-under-bush/
*If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?
Can I get the place that proposal came from? Funny enough I cannot find a quote from Obama proposing to double the debt again 10 times within the next few years. And by the fact checks of this e-mail I am going to go out on a limb and say this too has been fabricated.
*If George W. Bush had spent more than all the Presidents combined since George Washington, would you have approved?
Bush did that.
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 10 months -- so you'll have three years and two months to come up with an answer.
Facts. logic, self reflection and an ability to see irony don't really seem to be strong points of the modern day conservative.
-If Obama had invaded a sovereign country based on lies, would you approve?
-If Obama had allowed illegal wiretaps of US citizens would you approve?
-If Obama had revoked Habeas Corpus, would you approve?
-If Obama had given tax breaks to the upper 1% of the people in the economy, would you approve?
-If Obama used torture as an instrument of national policy would you approve?
-If Obama Fired federal prosecutors who refused to abuse their positions for political purposes would you approve?
The main reason Obama is forgiven for making occasional mistakes is because, as a former Harvard Law Review president, constitutional scholar and self-made man, he's not generally viewed as a moron.
We all know why the GOP is attacking Obama and why they are instigating the TeaParty/Birther crowds. They care not one iota about the middle class and will do anything to regain power so they can go back to defending the shockingly rich
How to spot a fake chain email:
http://factcheck.org/2008/03/that-chain-e-mail-your-friend-sent-to-you-is-likely-bogus-seriously/