Wonder why you’ve been reading so much about George W. Bush lately?
It’s because the Bush Library is about to open. The dedication ceremony is today:
The bullhorn Bush used to address rescue workers in New York in September 2001, a twisted steel beam from the World Trade Center and the pistol Saddam Hussein carried when he was pulled from a spider hole in Iraq are among the artifacts on exhibit. A standard attraction at presidential museums ”” a replica of the Oval Office ”” also will be on display.
But two other presidential libraries within a few hours’ drive ”” Lyndon B. Johnson’s in Austin and George H.W. Bush’s in College Station ”” also have Oval Office reproductions, suggesting another challenge that the Bush center’s management could face: presidential library glut.
I’m not so keen on presidential libraries, although I did enjoy LBJ’s house in Austin. Mt. Vernon and FDR’s home at Hyde Park are wonderful, too, but the unsurpassed pearl of them all is Monticello.
I guess I’m not so big on the libraries; much prefer the homes. And I absolutely hated the MSM’s monument to its own wonderfulness, the Newseum.
Amen.
I despise Presidential libraries, They are by their very nature anti-democratic.
The previous Newseum in Arlington, VA was great. The new one seems ostentatious and self-indulgent for a dying industry. And by dying, I mean suicidal. They brought this on themselves.
Rush talked with President Bush today as well.
What shines through President Bush is a goodness. It is that same goodness which Mitt Romney could have given to this country. But much of this country doesn’t want an example of goodness, at least yet. They want the “honesty” of a Clinton, which “honesty” relieves them of being virtuous.
Hopefully, the improving number of those who appreciate and approve of President Bush is caused by a larger number of people seeking moral and spiritual improvement.
At least he kept us safe after 9/11.
On the other hand, ‘Five Jihadists Have Reached Their Targets in the United States Under Barack Obama’.
Actually it’s six if you count the Benghazi consulate as sovereign territory.
Beats reading about Benghazi Barry!
Here is a take on Bush’s intelligence:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/04/25/george_w_bush_is_smarter_than_you_118125.html
I share Neo’s skepticisim about Presidential libraries. On the other hand, if people want to contribute their own money to construct these very expensive edifices, then that is their business.
I watched Laura Bush’s opening remarks. It reminded me again what a classy First Lady she was, and how much I miss her. I had to leave, so I hope my wife recorded G.W. I understand that Obama turned his talk into a political harangue. Surprised? No. There is low class, and there is no class. Take your choice in his case.
I have been to Nixon’s boyhood home. Very modest. I also visited his library. The only things of real interest to me were the Disney model railroad display, and the displays about the air war in Vietnam. I have seen Monticello and Mt Vernon, and both are magnificent, of course. James Monroe’s home in Charlottesville is more modest. Looking forward to visiting the Reagan library in the near future.
The only library I have visited is the Reagan Library in Simi CA. The Reagan Library is very well done. The exhibits really do allow you to recall the events of his presidency. A bit over the top, but they have the B-707 (Donated by Boeing) that was used as Air Force One. Very interesting for an old Navy pilot to ramble through. It was not nearly as plush as the present B-747 that serves as Air Force One. It seemed to be outfitted for utility and in-flight work. Amazing, they tried to be practical/cost-efficient in outfitting the plane. ‘Twas a different day.
The libraries are primarily designed to provide help to historians and researchers. Their archives are invaluable for that purpose. However, the trend seems to be much like that of the pyramid builders: That is to build ever grander edifices for each succeeding President. I hate to think what Obama’s edifice will look like.
I used to live a couple of miles away from the Reagan Library. I used to ride up the long driveway on my bicycle; no mean feat as I weighed over 300 pounds at the time. I sometimes wonder how many visiting tourists I scared doing that, because I always made a “heart attack” face on that climb – not intentionally, of course. Climbin’ ain’t easy for fat guys.
Apologies if I scared any of you!
From expat’s link on Bush’s intelligence:
Get John Kerry away from a teleprompter, and you get an incoherent jumble of words- “nuance” my foot! Or when you can figure out what Kerry means, he is quite often speaking utter nonsense, such as his stating that terrorists “have no belief system.”
While Dubya may have occasionally mangled his syntax- I loved “edjumacation”- there is never any doubt about what he means.
}}} Newseum.
I’m pretty sure that’s mis-spelled. There’s an “a” there in place of the first “e”. It’s Latin. Ad…
:oD
“}}} Newseum.
“I’m pretty sure that’s mis-spelled. There’s an ‘a’ there in place of the first ‘e’. It’s Latin. Ad…”
Appreciated!
The issue of Bush’s intelligence is sort of fascinating. Jonathan Chait had an article this week that was obviously intended simply to reassure his liberal readers that Bush was in fact a “simpleton” and that they could therefore safely ignore all evidence to the contrary. Chait’s logic, however, is so flawed as to call into question his own intelligence. Basicallly, his approach is to cite a handful of unflattering anecdotes allegedly demonstrating Bush’s intellectual limitations and treating those cherry-picked examples as being dispositive of the whole question. Chait also engages in some goalpost-shifting by suggesting that in order to regard Bush as being “pretty smart,” we should be comparing him to other presidents, not against ordinary human beings. That’s silly, of course, as W’s critics never make that distinction in criticizing his intelligence. They never say, “Bush is an idiot, COMPARED TO JEFFERSON”; it’s always, “Bush is an idiot,” period.
Finally, Chait operates on the laughable premise that Bush’s policy choices and what I’d characterize as his firmness in holding to those choices show a lack of intelligence. This suggests Chait doesn’t really understand what intelligence is. He’s conflating intelligence with other qualities he wishes Bush possessed (e.g., weenie-like liberalism).
The whole discussion is sort of stupid, if you will, because it seems to assume that general intelligence is the most important predictor of presidential success. Granted, a president needs to meet a threshold level of intelligence in order to absorb and manage all the information that comes his way. But having a little more raw brainpower beyond that threshold level is far less important than having strong focus, judgment, character, “people skills,” energy, and an understanding of how America works. While I really can’t think of a president who failed because he wasn’t bright enough for the job, I can think of plenty of presidents who either failed or fell short of expectations on account of these other factors. So can you and so can anyone else if they think about it for five minutes. That’s why the fixation on Bush’s supposed lack of intelligence is so stupid (ironically).
I don’t much care about Presidential libraries given an overweening federal budget of 4 TRILLION dollars.
The subject of Bush’s intelligence is just another smear by the left. Does anyone think that the imbecile buffoon Biden is intelligent? The left has no morals, no values, no principles, no ethics. They will say and do anything whatsoever to achieve and hold power.
The problem with Bush was that he was/is inarticulate. He refused to defend his positions and the war abandoning the debate to the left giving us Obama and Pelosi.
We’ve had more then enough Bush. Let’s pick a candidate who is intelligent, articulate and charismatic. There has to be someone on the right who fits the bill. Otherwise just curl up in the fetal position and wait for the collapse of the country.
Conrad, I stopped reading Jonathan Chait after his essay on epistemic closure, where he set himself as the impartial judge to conclude that wingnuts – as opposed to libs- do not consider opinions which would upset their conceptual apple carts.
Chait is such an objective judge that some years previous he bean an article in the New Republic thusly: “I hate President George W. Bush.” Such a person setting himself as an objective judge is , to put it mildly, absurd. Chait is just a partisan hack. A bright hack, it is to be admitted, but still a hack.
Its not because of theclibrary…
If you canblow off maggies funeral whats a library??
Maybe ghey dont want you to notice natinalizers (nazi) dojng there thing to voting
The Commission will focus on polling places, how better to train and recruit poll workers, managing voter rolls and poll books, voting machines, ballot simplicity, English proficiency, and absentee ballots. The states–not the federal government–traditionally have responsibility over such matters.
And not notice gliechshaltung
Or lots of stuff
But i have learned a sucker is a sucker by nature
So you get what you deserve based on what u ficus on
Focus on living, a future, lives, freedom
U have a chance of protecting them
Put ur head up ur but with ur hind quarters up trying to bd dntertained u end up with getting screwed
We forget tge lesson of weimars cosmopolitans who did not want ghe party to stop so tgey refused to focus on whats important jn dangerous times
Its why hitory repeats
U dont see ur opposition taking diversions
Do you???
Just remember two things
The fool who drives off ghe cliff thoight their reasons as good as anyones as we all do. The outcome is what decidss and abdicating ghat left the field to two despotisms n no third choice..
The environment is fertile…
We are not battlkng one despotism
But many
And their behavior shows gheh know it
But r not sure who will grab the undefended prize
Better take a look what they did while u r distracted
Ever see hunters catch skjn, eat distracted prey
Or bone piles from being driven
To ghink its gokng away with barely a protest
As the victims have termjnal adhd in a forest of distractins they cant navigate out of as they keep forgetting what hey were dojng and what brought them ghere
Its like watchkng a dog go from growlkng a d protectjng all to dancjng for a hotdog
And until ghey hit bottom
They will believe their fantasy over experience
Want to know the dofference between young and whole and old and dxperienced
SCARS
The youts fofget we were yojng and beautiful toobefore zcars
They will have deeper scars because they will be naked before gheir keepers..
I came here tlfind some dizcuzsion on key things but notice its not here…. here where there r claims that such a negative end…. ibnores it like ignoring the titanic sknking while discussing the music and cannopes
Unti now
I found it hard to belive my family
But now its zcarier
They were right
The key people abxicate their livescto the focused
The focused are free to take if away too
The closer the change the less the more important want to look
It dont matter if losers focus on it
They cant stop it with no head
It matters the smart n able whlcould think take a mental vacationhoping things get better while yhey afe absent
Soon tbere will be no place in the universe u can go to be free and live ur life
The last place is going with less derense than the firsts
EO 13635: Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
EO 13636: Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
EO 13637: Administration of Reformed Export Controls
EO 13638: Amendments to Executive Order 12777
EO 13639: Establishment of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration
EO 13640: Continuance of Advisory Council
EO 13641: Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
delegation of powers is unconstitutional, becase those who dont own the power, cant delegate it. and they are representatives, as the people own the power, and so, our representatives are not technically allowed to delegate powers.
but since people who are smart enough to know that, like neo, and others here, dont talk about it, we get ideas about the libraries, not any ideas as to what is being done or dismantled.
The doctrine of nondelegation describes the theory that one branch of government must not authorize another entity to exercise the power or function which it is constitutionally authorized to exercise itself. It is explicit or implicit in all written constitutions that impose a strict structural separation of powers. It is usually applied in questions of constitutionally improper delegations of powers of any of the three branches of government to either of the other, to the administrative state, or to private entities
anyone remember that?
anyone remember the rule of law
Magna carta?
i guess it dont matter if you remember it if you dont care to defend it, does it?
Executive Order 13637 of March 8, 2013:
Section 1. Delegation of Functions. The following functions conferred upon the President by the Act, and related laws, are delegated as follows:
so it starts off with delegation of functions conferred on the president, to others.
he basically reorganized our government and its powers and you think a library is whats important?
he just transferred huge things to the secretary of state… John Kerry and to the secretary of defense… (i guess they will owe him big time, no?)
Those under section 3 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2753), with the exception of subsections (a)(1), (b), (c)(3), (c)(4), and (f) (22 U.S.C. 2753(a)(1), (b), (c)(3), (c)(4), and (f)), to the Secretary of State.
Those under section 5 (22 U.S.C. 2755) to the Secretary of State
Those under section 25 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2765) to the Secretary of State
Those under section 34 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2774) tto the Secretary of State
Those under section 35(a) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2775(a))to the Secretary of State
Those under section 36(b)(1) with respect to the certification of an emergency as provided by subsection (b)(1) and under sections 36(c) and (d) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(b)(1), (c), and (d)) to the Secretary of State
Those under sections 36(f)(2) and (f)(3) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(f)(2) and (f)(3)) to the Secretary of State
.
Those under section 38 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) to:
(i) to the Secretary of State, except as otherwise provided in this subsection.
Those under section 39(b) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 2779(b)) to the Secretary of State.
Those under the portion of section 40A of the Act added by Public Law 104-164 (22 U.S.C. 2785), to the Secretary of State insofar as they relate to commercial exports licensed under the Act
Those under the portion of section 40A of the Act added by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132) (22 U.S.C. 2781), to the Secretary of State
Those under section 2(b)(6) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended (12 U.S.C. 635(b)(6)) to the Secretary of State.
Sec. 3. Allocation of Funds. Funds appropriated to the President for carrying out the Act shall be deemed to be allocated to the Secretary of Defense without any further action of the President.
i guess if your going to make a one party council system like a soveriegn democracy akin to china and russia, your going to have to violate the constitution and going to have to distrat the smart people so that you can act, and they will be looking at the decorations and bs at a photo op you created for the point.
how can people so smart be so dumb?
all this has to do with reworking who we can sell weapons to… like the muslim brotherhood, and other such self proclaimed enemies…
and its unilateral, delegated, and makes the people who were just given a job, more powerful than congress can make them!!!
care how reagan library is decoratd, and what was said that was offensive? then i guess you dont care about the kings writs by the dear ruler dictating law and reverting us to pre magna carta rule.. REX LEX!!!! as LEX REX is dead!!!
i guess its like the Carney hobo said
the Rubes get what they deserve…
because you cant save them from being rubes
[once they learn the hard way, they stop being rubes”
but if the hard way negates a future, then it matters not]
How can you say John Kerry’s not smart? He’s the smartest person I’ve ever heard of — he’s the only one I know who did what my mother told me to do — “It’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich girl as it is a poor one,” not once, but twice!
Bush did come across as a simplistic, awkward speaker on TV. And it’s frustrating that he would not give detailed defenses of his policies when he should have offered contextual perspective and corrected misinformation, and countered propaganda. Not doing so hurt the nation.
However, the disconnect is that Bush’s speeches – when read – offer a lot of substance. Bush also comes across more polished as a speaker in person than on TV.
Kerry was so smart he got off his swift boat and ran down some guy and executed him in the back of the head with a gunshot. That’s how smart he was.
The Left has a craving for that kind of narcissistic nihilism.
” I hate to think what Obama’s edifice will look like.”
One assumes there will be a united country left to build it. I wonder about that.