George W Bush's greatest contribution

[Follow the Bush]

Most people will have heard of George W Bush. Many will have a low opinion of him. But despite his weakness in a couple of areas (domestic and foreign policy), he has made one long lasting contribution, and that is to English literature.

Ever since he uttered the words "collateral damage", those two words have appeared in hundreds of different books around the world. I see them in everything, from newspapers, to action and military sci fi books to even the CSI book I am reading at the moment (in extremis).

This is one thing that is sure to outlive his term in office.

[fareastjunebug]

The moron didn't coin that term. Predates him substantially.

[TheWrathOfGrapes]

Wrong thread lah! Oh, maybe not. Bush's verbal gaffes and malapropism are indeed very entertaining.

 

[mORON]

oH WELL, that's as good as Henry Kissinger's phrase denying that the US got their asses kicked in Vietnam. Rather, they "tactically withdrew".

[Some nerve]

The moron didn't coin that term. Predates him substantially.

YOU have the nerve to refer to someone else as a moron?  Someone who calls himself "fareastjunebug" and has a picture of fricken Yoda icon.  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!  Bet you don't sit to piss, eh?   

[fareastjunebug]

Looks like we have an agitated two time W voter, a.k.a. slow learner!

Now - how to best bait you? Wanna talk about Obama - the next president? Or about the Bush legacy?

[Some nerve]

Nah, no interest in discussing politics.... especially with a little pansyass like you.   

[fareastjunebug]

paraphrasing your hero - bring it on...

[Some nerve]

What are you going to do, Yoda?  Zap me with your light sabre???  HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Talk about morons...

[yalie]

Of course the "moron" got better grades at Yale than Kerry, an MBA from Harvard, flew fighter jets and successfully ran a major league baseball team. Can't say I agree with Bush on everything -- he's a fiscal train wreck -- but so much of the smug, anti-Bush talk does seem to reflect a certain simplicity in one's view of the world.

Wrongly attributing the phrase 'collateral damage' to Bush while simultaneously ridiculing Bush for being ignorant is a perfect and all too common example of this kind of thing.

Of course, the flip side of mocking Bush for his mangled syntax is worshiping Obama for mastering his. That so many people would choose Obama as the most powerful person on the planet almost solely because he is a great speaker is -- for me -- a worrying indication on the state of America than anything Bush has done. 

[voter]

People aren't necessarily voting for Obama because he is an elequent speaker.  In many cases, people will vote for him because he is not McCain and not Republican.

Furthermore, he is more than just an eloquent speaker.  He is the product of a mixed race and mixed heritage marriage; had the intelligence and drive to become educated and successful; and he has charisma.  Many claim that he is lacking in experience, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

[another american]

Yalie - well said.  One of American's greatest Presidents Bush Jr is clearly not.  But to act like he's a drooling idiot is also wrong.  A couple if Ivy League degrees, a jet fighter pilot - these aren't things that many people have done.

Voter - ethnicity is irrelevant, it's not a qualification!  How is a lack of experience not a bad thing?

[Another American Two]

Add to all of this the fact that the economy, until recently, has grown consistently (50+ quarters of positive growth, a record for the USA), and that there have been no attacks on US soil since 9/11, and Bush doesn't look so bad.

In contrast, Obama is a megalamaniac who poses as a new messiah for the world, who is virtually untested and has missed the most significant foreign policy development in his tenure as a senator (opposing the surge, saying flatly and repeatedly that it just "wouldn't work, it's the wrong strategy"), and it makes one wonder how anyone could ever vote for him. The fact that he's "not Republican and not Bush" is just stupid as a reason to vote for him. Think long term!

[Not an American]

I've never got this "Obama is the greatest speaker since JFK" thing. Doesn't strike me as that great.

[Vulcanl]

I can't understand how anyone can defend George W Bush.  The man has done untold damage to America's reputation in the World.  Graduated Yale?  Flew fighter jets?  These things are not hard to do at that level.

The current state of the US economy is the result of ineptitude and neglect on the part of his administration.  The supposed record quarters of growth were the result of 2 asset bubble economies that have since popped.  He inherited budget surpluses and respect on the World stage.  Look at us now.

As for no attacks on US soil, that is of course true but there is not way to attribute that to what his administration has done.  And even if it were possible, it has come at a great price in the form of reduced freedoms.

I hope our next president (whoever he is) can undo all the harm Bush has done.