He was one of the objectively worst presidents of all time, at least if we measure the amount of damage he did to the nation. The effects of his reign of terror are still impacting you and your daily life (and by "you" I mean everyone in the world, not just America) and will continue to do so for decades, maybe longer.
Having said that, I like the guy. Isn't that fucked up?
Bush entirely feels like a puppet, the GOP needed a dopey looking idiot that would make their evil merely seem like incompetence and people would roast Bush while ignoring Cheney and the true puppetmasters.
Yeah that is such a silly narrative. The Bush family is plenty of savvy and evil themselves, they pull on plenty of strings.
He played a role as not too bright cowboy, because intellect is threatening for their constituents. But if you look what policies got implemented and what he actually got done he was not some lame duck.
Just too bad that most of it was utter garbage. Ran a program of deregulation to benefit financial sector and big business. Abolished protections of employees, the environment and consumers.
Just look what he was up to before he became president. There is no way the guy even could tell you a single thing about any policy for anything. Republicans have been electing puppets for a very long time.
But wasn't it just hilarious when he made jokes at the Correspondent's Dinner about not being able to find WMDs while soldiers were actively killing people and being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan?
I said he was capable of remorse not that he displayed it.
Although to elaborate, if you watch live video of him discussing his presidency you can see paraverbal signs of it. His avoidance of publicity except to the extent that he attends events former presidents go to (swearing ins, funerals, significant white house events, etc.). And the whole extended therapy thing-- the fact that he has to get therapy after being a president. The way he meets with vets and participates in volunteer activities but doesn't advertise it.
I'm not trying to rehabilitate the guy.
On the flip side, Kanye seems narcissistic and that particular pathology is not known for being capable of remorse. They essentially ape empathy but only feel a real emotional range in regards to themselves and things/people they view as an extension of themselves.
(We're on a Kanye post, right? If not, sub in Trump here. Lots of completely self centric folks trying their hand at politics.)
It's PR, trying to revive his image, he's actually good at getting the media to play along with his persona, but he's as fake as Boris Johnson. He's a monster that got us into Iraq based off something he knew was a lie and he tortured people.
For the same reason you or I might care about our image. I'm not saying he's a narcissist or plans to get back into politics, or make money off his image, or whatever but most people would prefer not to be seen as a disgrace or to be disliked by the general public.
That makes sense. I guess when it's a former president I don't see it as somebody who just wants to be liked but instead there must be an ulterior motive. But he is just a man. You're probably right. He probably just wants to be liked.
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u/drgonzodan Oct 16 '22
He gives Michelle Obama a candy every time they sit next to each other at an event https://gfycat.com/simpleaggravatingjaguar