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John Bolton: US Voters agree George W Bush left Barack Obama with a mess
TheTelegraph ^ | May 30, 2012 | Jon Swaine

Posted on 05/31/2012 7:38:41 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo

John Bolton, Mr Bush's ambassador to the United Nations, said it would not be helpful for the Republicans to more vigorously defend the former president's record, which Democrats have sharply criticised.

Mr Bolton urged Mitt Romney, the party's nominee to face Mr Obama in November, to focus on the future and resist arguing over whether their last president left behind "a big mess or a little mess".

His remarks came as Mr Bush prepared to return to the White House for only the second time since leaving office in January 2009, for the unveiling of his official portrait.

"I think people would agree with Obama that he was left with a mess," Mr Bolton told The Daily Telegraph.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bho44; bolton; bush43
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Bolton does say later in the article that history will treat Bush better than his current low standing would suggest.
1 posted on 05/31/2012 7:38:48 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

They may have to dedicate the Fraud’s “official portrait” while he still occupies the White Hut.


2 posted on 05/31/2012 7:41:59 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
"I think people would agree with Obama that he was left with a mess,"

Regardless, he's made it a worse mess.

3 posted on 05/31/2012 7:42:03 AM PDT by grobdriver
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

Just wondering....does anyone ever ponder how bad things could have been under Presidents Gore or Kerry?


4 posted on 05/31/2012 7:44:47 AM PDT by csmusaret (I will give Obama credit for one thing- he is living proof that familiarity breeds contempt.)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

And US voters will have realized Obama the problem-solver is triple, no ten times, worse.


5 posted on 05/31/2012 7:45:19 AM PDT by Sir Napsalot (Pravda + Useful Idiots = CCCP; JournOList + Useful Idiots = DopeyChangey!)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

This is a question better saved for historians... Did GWB leave a bigger mess for BHO than BHO left for Romney? It will be a no brainer. But for now, focus on replacing BHO.


6 posted on 05/31/2012 7:46:08 AM PDT by StraightDave (.)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

The media successfully “borked” W. W certainly didn’t help himself on many issues. If I were a strategist trying to have Bush help on the campaign trail, I’d keep him to solidly red states and military bases.

As much as I hate it, everywhere else he is a reminder of why people voted for “hope and change” in the first place.


7 posted on 05/31/2012 7:46:28 AM PDT by Personal Responsibility (Behind enemy lines in the city where it's illegal to buy a Big Gulp)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

George Bush was a failed President.


8 posted on 05/31/2012 7:47:46 AM PDT by DManA
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

As far as I’m concerned, it was al Qaeda that left us the mess. REMEMBER 9-11!


9 posted on 05/31/2012 7:48:37 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
"I think people would agree with Obama that he was left with a mess,"

with a little help from the media, of course.

10 posted on 05/31/2012 7:48:38 AM PDT by Baynative (REMEMBER: Without America there is no free world!)
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To: grobdriver

I think Bolton would agree that the mess Bush left had it’s roots in the Clinton intelligence services firewalls and the Clinton era Frank/Dodd houses for louses programs.


11 posted on 05/31/2012 7:49:07 AM PDT by bossmechanic (If all else fails, hit it with a hammer)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

The housing and financial mess happened under Bush, but were caused by Democrats in Fannie, Freddie, HUD, Justice snd for the last 2 years in the House and Senate. Bush expressed concern, but Barney Frank famously said “There is nothing wrong with Fannie and Freddie”.


12 posted on 05/31/2012 7:49:11 AM PDT by MtnClimber (To the left wrong is right, down is up and backward is "Forward")
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
So what if Bush did? (although I would argue the democrat congress deserves equal blame). When we vote for a president we are essentially the board of directors electing a CEO to manage the country for the next four years. Following that analogy, do you honestly think that after three plus years with no results that the board would accept the excuse “It's not my fault, the other guy left a big mess.”. No, they hired you to clean it up, not make excuses. So from the day you took over it became YOUR mess, and now it is YOUR fault it's not fixed.
13 posted on 05/31/2012 7:50:11 AM PDT by apillar
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

Remember, that the Democrats had both Houses the last two years of the Bush presidency and they were hell bent to sabotage anything good coming from the WH. The anti-Bush hype and vitriolic attacks designed to take him down were at a crescendo during those years.


14 posted on 05/31/2012 7:50:58 AM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
I agree with Bolton. Bush DID leave a mess. He signed TARP, signed every spending bill Congress could devise, got mired in nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan ( which I supported at the time but now regret) and sent the wrong message to the nation and the world a million times about 'the religion of peace'. But he was a damned sight better than any of the alternatives at the time.

I too think history will be kinder to W. than many of us now are willing to be and trying to run a campaign as an apologist for the Bush administration would be a very bad idea. This campaign has to be about the future. With Romney we may have one, with obama we won't.

15 posted on 05/31/2012 7:51:02 AM PDT by pgkdan (ANYBODY BUT OBAMA!)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

Is Obama going to sign Bush’s portrait? He has graffitied everything else, shuck n’ jive tinhorn that he is.


16 posted on 05/31/2012 7:51:07 AM PDT by pallis
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To: bossmechanic

Our foreign policy mess today is the product of three poor jobs done by Clinton, Bush and Obama.


17 posted on 05/31/2012 7:52:17 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: pgkdan

He will be vilified by history as the last guy who had a chance to prevent the collapse of the US but chose to punt.


18 posted on 05/31/2012 7:55:46 AM PDT by DManA
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To: apillar

Excellent analogy.


19 posted on 05/31/2012 7:55:59 AM PDT by nodumbblonde ("The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity." - Ayn Rand)
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To: elpadre
Remember, that the Democrats had both Houses the last two years of the Bush presidency and they were hell bent to sabotage anything good coming from the WH.

But it was the GOP that passed prescription coverage, expanded Medicare and Medicaide and eneacted No Child Left Behind. They also spent like drunk sailors in a whore house and Bush signed all the checks.

Romney needs distance between him and W. If W ever shows his face on the campaign trail it will cost Romney votes every time. As much as I like and admire George W Bush on a personal level I think his presidency was by and large a failure and a disappointment.

20 posted on 05/31/2012 7:56:30 AM PDT by pgkdan (ANYBODY BUT OBAMA!)
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