Pajiba

I actually think that Kanye West bit might be one of the most nakedly honest things he's ever said.
Think about it: as humans, the parts of our brains involving abstraction were the last to evolve. So to him, deep down, being called a racist probably WAS the worst part of his presidency for HIM. Worst part of his presidency? Hell no. But I have a feeling, especially given the extremely concrete (opposite of abstract) thought processes he's evidenced in his public speaking, that he'll remember Kanye a lot more vividly than the things that didn't happen to him.

As long as they yelled "Hate Crime!" right before doing so.

Tracer Bullet for the win.

I think I can understand why the Kanye thing might have bothered him so much.

When you become president, surely you expect people to blame you for things, say that you're stupid, not agree with your actions and etc. because there is no one person who will ever be loved and accepted by every person in the country. I always believed that President Bush was a good man, a moral man, and a man who truly believed that he was doing what he thought was right when it came to deciding what should be done for the country. Did I agree with everything? Hell, no, but I didn't for a second believe that he wasn't sincerely doing what he thought was right.

Now, put yourself in his shoes for a second and imagine that you have been busting your ass trying to lead a nation of people through some pretty horrific shit, a bunch of people who hated you and said you were an idiot, but still, trying to take care of them. Then imagine some asshole taking a moment (an inappropriate moment) to basically say you don't care about the same people you have been trying to help, and basically calling you a liar and a fake. That could be devastating to anyone...and not because that person was weak minded.

To me, it's like a parent finding out one of their kids was in a terrible accident, having to make hard medical decisions, thinking that their decisions are what is best for their kid, and then have some rude motherfucking jerk stand in the hospital doorway and tell a group of visitors in the hallway that the parent didn't really care about the kid at all, and if they did, they would have never agreed to amputate their leg, or let the doctor give them blood thinners.

Now, I don't personally care what your political feelings for President Bush are because I'm not thinking about him as a president right now. I'm thinking of him as just a man who had to deal with a lot of unpleasant shit, and one who basically felt that all of his work and effort was pissed on. That kind of moment would be an ice pick in anyone's heart, I imagine.

I think I'm falling in love with W. He clearly does not give a fuck. I mean, the balls on that guy. To be able to plow on into stupidity...it really is amazing.

Chris from Delaware has started my morning off right.

Worst moment of eight years in office:

a) More 3,000 people dead in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history
b) Major city drowns while FEMA director twiddles his thumbs
c) Ugly, embarrassing and incompetent cover-up of death of Pat Tillman
d) Pop star hurts feelings

See folks I have a different take on this interview/catharsis. Bush’s problem is that he hasn’t gone off the rails, I submit he’s never even been on the rails. Bush’s personality has never developed past the Id phase.

ZombieNurse,
I like your child in the hospital analogy. It's kinda like saying, "There was my child, laying in the bed...and I found out that our insurance had a $500 deductible. To add insult to injury like that...it was devastating."

For all the fucktard things he's done, and all the fucktard things that have been said about him, he's genuinely a friendly person. I think it's true, cause I've seen him shake a room. He honestly wants you to like him, he wants to be your homie. It's why he's well suited to the job. It's what the Republicans have for h version of a 'rock star.'

The Kanye commentary is revealing, and even if Stone's "W" is more fun to point and laugh with, Journey's With George by Alexandra Pelosi des insight on a great number of tidings, both in the process of the 2000 campaign, and the character of George W Bush himself. She doesn't like Bush, but it's more because she has nothing in common with him than she disagrees with his politics at that point. He tries earnestly to get her to like him, which you can clearly see from their interactions. As the campaign closes, he had the rest of the press plane (minus 2) following his year long campaign eating out of his hand. None of this is explicitly stated in the documentary, but there are all kinds of interesting things going on in it. Highly recommended.

He was buffered from the massive movement of ill will towards the man. I assume he still is. After all, it isn't difficult for a Republican to find circles of people who are exactly like them. Having Kanye, or anyone public (i twinged when I almost left iconic) point out, that he and America were no longer friends probably was devastating for a man like that.

That bag of dicks.

You can thank or blame the Bush administration. He wants to accept blame to appear as a leader. It's easy to do when you're role is being explained to you, the days or minutes before.

Zombie'd be right if we could thank or blame Bush, by himself, for anything.

Chris from Delaware, I heart you. I'm from Texas, and I sound like it. When I visit New York, people latch on to my accent and automatically think I'm retarded, disregarding everything I say. Just because I drawl and have a rather adorable habit of peppering my speech with colloquialisms doesn't mean I'm stupid.

"To me, it's like a parent finding out one of their kids was in a terrible accident, having to make hard medical decisions, thinking that their decisions are what is best for their kid, and then have some rude motherfucking jerk stand in the hospital doorway and tell a group of visitors in the hallway that the parent didn't really care about the kid at all, and if they did, they would have never agreed to amputate their leg, or let the doctor give them blood thinners."

I buy the analogy if the parent never listened to a word the kid said, made their own call, and then clung to that call without taking in anything but their own disorted view of what's right. Zombienurse, give me a break. We're not talking about Jimmy fucking Carter or another misunderstood president who is legitimately a good, caring person who is committed to the good of the world. We're also not talking about somebody brilliant and reflective but who made terrible decisions like Robert McNamara. We're talking about a dude who masterminded (or permitted the masterminding of) some of the darkest chapters in this country's history and says that the worst moment of his presidency was having his ego flicked by the likes of Kanye.

I'd like to add that, ridiculous though that moment was, a reflective person (which Dubya is not) would've taken that in and thought about why a member of his constituency felt so strongly that he'd say such a thing on television. And when Lauer pointed out that he was zeroeing in on somethat that hurt his feelings rather than KATRINA ITSELF, Bush responded "Don't care." Sorry, I'm not seeing a deep well of emotion or thought here.

Well, samantha t, I'm not sure how you know the true intentions of every political leader, but here's to you. That's quite the gift.

Obviously, I'm not an American. Anyway, when Kanye West said that, there were a lot of people who share his skin colour who agreed, and I don't know why we're ignoring that...again. The statement has turned into a springboard to talk about 'What Kanye Did'. Of course, he's not right because A, B, C,...or we try to dress it up as something else. I don't think anyone has ever said that the guy is a member of the Klan, but based on what they were experiencing, if they came to that conclusion who are we to say 'Okay, no listen, I'M going to tell you about how it really is, I'M going to explain your own life back to you, I'M going to shape your opinion into something more appropriate and less incendiary and I'M going to speak for you because I know what's best.' It just feels like everyone thinks he has a right to co-opt this thing and shame anyone who 'tries to play the race card'. I wasn't there and he was never my president, so I wouldn't presume to rob Americans of their interpretations--but it feels like this is going on with a big chunk of the people who actually were there. Everyone always has his own story and agenda, but by saying that 'X and Y just isn't so...oh, remember that time when Kanye West raped all of those nuns, locked them inside of their convent and set it ablaze!?' feels like an attempt to silence some of those voices with an 'Oh, here we go again' attitude. I just think that the fact that it keeps going back there is a coincidence, or the game of a bunch of shiftless black people who are more interested in making up hyperboles than mending bridges, moving on or taking responsibility for their own lives. I'm also not going to say that Bush picks on blacks and no one else, so let's not play that round of Oppression Olympics. I'm just saying that I don't remember seeing a lot of evidence to the contrary. Was that all his fault? No. It was piece of shit reporters who made the difference between 'looting' and 'feeding his family' and so forth, but if there was this consensus amongst blacks who were saying the same thing, I'm not about to tell them they're wrong and should behave themselves. Public outcry's a bitch, people's feelings get hurt, but at least the erstwhile president didn't drown.

He and Taylor swift should start a 'Kanye Ruined Our Lives' club.

He meant well, so Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Iraq, Katrina, all that, fuck it. Poor guy was just trying to do right by his principles.

That should be the single most telling statement regarding this idiot's presidency.

It's really just more of the same sad narcissism:

"The worst part of my entire presidency was when I was hurt."

Yeah, history will judge you well, eh George? Well, there's always hope. These idiots still think Reagan was a great leader.