www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall For President Bush

I will pray for him and thank him for his protection of human life.

Ung

I will as well. I think every President leaves office with personal victories and defeats. President Bush has had many of each. I agree with those who say that history will be much kinder to him than the media machine was.

Sadly, a crowd somehow gathered close to where he was leaving and sang that old song - can't remember it's title - na, na, na, na, hey, hey, good bye. They said he was greeted with dead silence at the ignaugration. So rude!!!

LORD, PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON THE BUSH'S AND US ALL!

Yes, I think we are dealing with an almost base, irrational hatred of the man for which he is completely underserving. But what do you expect from emotional adolescents?

I think the Obamas have handled things very well so far. I cannot say the same for all of those who support them.

As President, "W" had his good days and bad days. Unfortunately, he was misled by political operatives, cronies and lobbyists to do things that were not helpful to the nation.

Scientific reports had to be vetted by the White House and were changed. (The Food and Drug Administration lost thousands of scientists who resigned - there was a full page ad in the Washington Post for jobs.)

CDC reports (I helped write one) took 2 years to make it through the Public Health system - not good when dealing with diseases.

MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) regulations requiring 'safe areas' with air and water were removed from the requirements since they were an 'undue burden' on operators. Remember Kentucky and Pennsylvania 2 years ago?

Financial requirements regarding income and 10%-20% down-payment qualifications were erased, leading unqualified folks to get mortgages they couldn't afford. (But the brokers get paid up-front, before the default.)

Workplace regulations regarding musculo-skeletal problems were erased so that computer data folks/office workers had no guidelines/protections against carpal-tunnel disorders.

The Presidential Commission on Americans with Disabilities was disbanded. (With a paralyzed Mom in a wheelchair, I worked as a volunteer on a sub-committee there.)

The "No Child Left Behind Act" was a great idea, but the Administration provided absolutely no support for it, - neither in terms of classroom resources, nor in terms of support to fill out the multi-page reports. (The teachers had to do that in addition to their classroom duties.)

So, there are reasons why a large number of Americans are glad to see an end to this Administration. Although President G.W. Bush had good visions for America (as did Laura Bush with her leadership on early education and reading programs), he got torpedoed by operatives from the money folks. (They pushed real hard to privatize Social Security - "put part of your money into private firms' investment accounts". Many folks - myself included - with private firm stock investment accounts have lost 40% of their contributions. At least my Federal Social Security stuff is still there and I hope I won't have to become a Target Greeter when I'm forced to retire. Businesses hate old folks.)

I will indeed pray for "W" and for the kind-hearted Laura. And I pray that their retirement in Dallas will be a peaceful one. -- And not too hot or humid; but then again: it's Dallas.

Dr. John

Oh dear Pani Rose, I wish you hadn't written that--it has made me literally sick to my stomach... The poor man. He has dignity, and unlike the shambles the White house offices were in when he came to office, he and his lovely wife were gracious to the president-elect in every way.

A camera shot today also showed Laura and her daughters trying to talk to Sen. Hilary Clinton with Sen Clinton looking away from them rudely. Lord have mercy! Nothing can trump graciousness and character, and sadly, those old world values are not respected anymore. Personally, there is one thing that I cannot tolerate and that is deliberate rudeness of one person to another. I find it to be about as unChristian as one can get.

Anyway, I would like to share this which I read today from the retired chief usher of the White House (from www.bbcnews.com [bbcnews.com]):

Very emotional

Any gossip from my time at the White House? Not really. I would say that President Bush is somewhat guarded in public. He is actually a very emotional man, much like his father.


Changing the Oval Office is one of the most complex tasks for staff

They have a wonderful bond in the family and he is a great gentleman to be around, very jovial. That's why I believe he and Prime Minister Tony Blair got along so well.

They both had a very good sense of humour and were very caring men, and I believe that this president will go down in history at some point in a much better light than he is being shown right now


Alice

God bless President Bush.

Stephanos I

I would very much be interested in a link to the Hillary Clinton incident. It seems very "unWashington" politico. Help on this?

Also, when the first week of January came along, and the Obama girls had to be ready for school at Sidwell-Friends (Quaker) school, the adminstration had reserved the Blair House residence for a FORMER prime minister of Australia thereby depriving the Obamas of a temporary home in D.C. They ended up in a hotel across Lafayette Park for 7 days. This was either an incredible breach of protocol or a deliberate snub. Either way, it's a dark stain on the Bush administration.

As Alice notes: "graciousness and character, and sadly, those old world values are not respected anymore. Personally, there is one thing that I cannot tolerate and that is deliberate rudeness of one person to another. I find it to be about as unChristian as one can get."

The poor Secret Service officers had to jump through hoops to ensure the safety of the President-Elect and his family, unlike the transitions of the past 30 years I've lived and worked here.

I pray for "W" and First Lady Laura, and I hope that they find a wonderful retirement and life in Dallas.

Dr John

No, not at all.

The date at which the Blair House is made available to the incoming President is long established by tradition.

The scheduling of the Australian visit predates even the election, iirc. Certainly it predates the unusual request by the Obamas that it be made available that early.

hawk

I stood up and cheered in my living room when President Obama said, "We will restore science to its rightful place."

I am a writer-editor and worked for several years as a consultant to the research branch of the U.S. Department of Justice. About one year into Bush's tenure the word came down from the top: We were no longer allowed to use statistical terminology in our publications. Words and phrases such as methodology, median, standard deviation, double-blind, and even ratio were BANNED from our documents because they were deemed too technical. Please bear in mind that I was writing RESEARCH reports for the RESEARCH community. I was not writing summaries for the public affairs office to distribute; I was not writing pieces for John and Jane Q Public to read. I was writing hard science papers for the research community, so that the research could continue.

The work that scientists in several different fields had devoted their careers to was essentially flushed down the toilet, because their findings were blocked from publication for being "too technical." Millions of dollars that the United States had already spent on research was wasted, because the findings from that research were blocked.

Let us restore science to its proper place ... AMEN!

Sorry, Bush got exactly what he deserves.

As much as people seem to hate former President Bush, I can only hope President Obama works miracles. The lack of respect shown by some for an outgoing President is just pathetic. (Na Na hey hey good bye?)

Did the Bush staff remove "O"s from White House keyboards?

I don't see how you can hate Bush. He's been a decent man. I never voted for him and think he did less right than wrong, but he's a good man and I respect him for that.

This was a thread for President Bush. Those who do not like him or want to criticize him have had more than enough opportunities, along with the dictatorial press and media, to do that.

Statements like 'he got what he deserved' sadden me. It tells me that there is no sense of charity and old world manners left in the world. I find that a really terrible thing to say. It reminds me of the many Europeans I have met who have said that America deserved what it got with the horrible terror of 9/11!

I agree with Etnic. Not only is it pathetic and extremely immature, but it reflects quite negatively on the character and integrity of those particular people, and whether they like it or not, as the supporters of President Obama, their actions will also inadvertently reflect negatively on our new President, and will only further serve to distance Americans from each other.

Therefore, such intolerable behaviour should be condemned, and never justified. Not only is it unfair to President Bush, but it is also unfair to President Obama and to all Democrats. (For instance, when an Orthodox acts hateful and inappropriate to a Catholic, as an Orthodox, I feel that that one person has unfairly reflected upon me and my whole church.)

Besides that, as Christians, we do not believe that ANYONE has the right to be hurt psychologically or physically, nor to be treated disrespectfully! We value every person for the dignity God has bestowed upon them as His creations.

In the words of an older generation that had more wisdom and more integrity: if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all.

May God bless (former) President Bush.

May God bless our new President Obama.

Let's also remember that in the Eastern churches, we pray for our leaders, whoever they are. Amen.

Alice

I disagree with you all and you may not like it but, immaturity and being Christian has nothing to do with whether or not someone deserved what they got,and he did deserve it. He was awful.I didn't say anything about the snubbers' behavior or even if I would've done the same, I just said he deserved it,or rather earned it.

If I had said anything bad about him before it would have been attacked and probably removed since this forum is biased in his favor. I wish him well,but good riddance.I have the right to express my opinion,negative or not.