Bush most commendable actions during his term

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2008-03-19 11:11am

While Bush has done his best to screw his country over (and a good chunk of the rest of the world for that matter), which of his actions would you hold in high regard?

CaptJodan · Post by **CaptJodan** » 2008-03-19 11:25am

Not an easy question.

I was under the impression that he helped to reignite NASA into ventures that go beyond LEO, looking to the Moon and Mars, and helped to pass funding for those ventures. Assuming I don't have my facts wrong somehow, I'd say that was his most enviable action of his Presidency.

TithonusSyndrome · Post by **TithonusSyndrome** » 2008-03-19 11:27am

I've heard he's actually done some laudable things in Africa, but I haven't really looked into the slant that the press reporting these events has taken.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2008-03-19 11:28am

As a hopeful escapee I have to applaud the steps he has taken towards immigrants. It has helped some of my American dwelling relatives who had problems. If I ever get back to US who knows maybe something Bush did could help me as well.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-03-19 12:47pm

Um.... He was nice to his dog?

J · Post by J » 2008-03-19 12:49pm

He didn't nuke anyone after 9/11. Also, he's kept the SPR topped up and has plans to expand it.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2008-03-19 12:51pm

Patrick Degan wrote:Um.... He was nice to his dog?

So he took Truman's advice about having a friend in Washington?

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2008-03-19 01:09pm

CaptJodan wrote:Not an easy question.

I was under the impression that he helped to reignite NASA into ventures that go beyond LEO, looking to the Moon and Mars, and helped to pass funding for those ventures. Assuming I don't have my facts wrong somehow, I'd say that was his most enviable action of his Presidency.

His space exploration plan was a lot of talk with no real increase in funding to back it up (imagine what we could get done if we'd given NASA even a fraction of the monies allocated to fight the 'War on Terror',) and with little reason for his successors to keep it going beyond fielding the Space Shuttle replacement.

Zixinus · Post by **Zixinus** » 2008-03-19 01:20pm

Isn't the upcoming Orion system also just an up-scaled and a bit modernized version of the Apollo?

Strider · Post by **Strider** » 2008-03-19 01:32pm

We could have thrown up a Space Elevator for the Iraq War. I don't give Bush any credit for helping NASA.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2008-03-19 01:36pm

Strider wrote:We could have thrown up a Space Elevator for the Iraq War. I don't give Bush any credit for helping NASA.

No, we couldn't have. There's quite a bit of work beyond "throw money at it" that would have to go to building a successful space elevator. The same goes for people who say we could end world hunger or solve global poverty on the Iraq war budget.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2008-03-19 01:45pm

The only thing I agree with Bush on is killing the 'Assault' Weapons Ban. Whoopty doo. I can get a perfectly capable shotgun without all that TacticLOL stuff like pistol grip and flash hider; and as long as my first shot's on target, mag limits, while insanely dumb, still won't matter.

Everything else Shrub did blows ass!

Strider · Post by **Strider** » 2008-03-19 01:48pm

I'll backpedal from hyperbole a bit: I'm not saying it'd be done now. The Iraq War isn't done either. But the total investment is on the same order of magnitude, and more importantly the deficits caused by Iraq are going to cause slashes in the NASA budget eventually, even if Bush isn't the hatchetman.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2008-03-19 01:49pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:The only thing I agree with Bush on is killing the 'Assault' Weapons Ban. Whoopty doo. I can get a perfectly capable shotgun without all that TacticLOL stuff like pistol grip and flash hider; and as long as my first shot's on target, mag limits, while insanely dumb, still won't matter.

Everything else Shrub did blows ass!

Bush doesn't even deserve the credit for that.
He said he'd sign one if it got to his desk, but Congress declined to renew it.
It's one of the few things the Repub Congress did right.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-03-19 02:13pm

Zixinus wrote:Isn't the upcoming Orion system also just an up-scaled and a bit modernized version of the Apollo?

And? It was an excellent capsule, and you could say the exact same thing about Apollo as well. It was just an upscaled Gemini, which was simply an upscaled Mercury...except not quite.

Besides, it's only superficially similar to the Apollo. There's a lot of new technology coming in, including a real toilet (this will do wonders to mission endurance)

Haruko · Post by **Haruko** » 2008-03-19 03:07pm

I remember a recent segment on The Daily Show, whereas Jon Stewart and John Oliver mentioned the good Bush had done in Africa. Towards the end of the segment, John Oliver expresses his anger over the thought that George Bush has actually been capable of consciously doing good, but that he's just been choosing not to do so in any other cases.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2008-03-19 03:12pm

I heard something about him pushing to reduce some of the red-tape on building new nuclear power plants. Was that him, or was that just Congress again?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-03-19 04:34pm

Missile defense.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2008-03-19 04:44pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:Missile defense.

wow we both agree on something

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-03-19 05:31pm

Enabling an economics policy which tanked the greenback so that I can mail order stuff for cheap from the US.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-03-19 06:35pm

iirc, someone here said that they supported Bush for putting his foot down on the Congressional prohibition of the Pakistani company trying to acquire ports.

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-03-19 07:40pm

Qwerty 42 wrote:iirc, someone here said that they supported Bush for putting his foot down on the Congressional prohibition of the Pakistani company trying to acquire ports.

I think you're thinking of the Qatari (or was it Dubai?) company trying to get the contract(s) for port administration.

And I would disagree. He botched that one up. If he wasn't such an incompetent jackass he wouldn't have tried to slip it by and then end up with a shitstorm when everyone misunderstands what the hell was really happening.

Raw Shark · Post by **Raw Shark** » 2008-03-19 10:21pm

The Spartan wrote:
Qwerty 42 wrote:iirc, someone here said that they supported Bush for putting his foot down on the Congressional prohibition of the Pakistani company trying to acquire ports.
I think you're thinking of the Qatari (or was it Dubai?) company trying to get the contract(s) for port administration.

And I would disagree. He botched that one up. If he wasn't such an incompetent jackass he wouldn't have tried to slip it by and then end up with a shitstorm when everyone misunderstands what the hell was really happening.

It was Dubai/UAE. I find it particularly ironic that the deal was torpedoed by the kind of blind ZOMFG TEH MUSLIMS! xenophobia that Shrubby himself introduced into the national consciousness.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2008-03-19 11:15pm

went on vacation enough to minimize the damage he does do....

eeeps....

oh and lots of bread and circuses, everybody likes bread and circuses.

Battlehymn Republic · Post by **Battlehymn Republic** » 2008-03-19 11:43pm

Are you kidding? If he brought us bread and circuses, the economy would be booming. Though then again the Web 2.0 bubble is happening under his watch.