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George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, Dies At 94 (washingtonpost.com)
George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, has passed away tonight at the age of 94. As The Washington Post reports, he was "the last veteran of World War II to serve as president, he was a consummate public servant and a statesman who helped guide the nation and the world out of a four-decade Cold War that had carried the threat of nuclear annihilation." From the report: Although Mr. Bush served as president three decades ago, his values and ethic seem centuries removed from today's acrid political culture. His currency of personal connection was the handwritten letter -- not the social media blast. He had a competitive nature and considerable ambition that were not easy to discern under the sheen of his New England politesse and his earnest generosity. He was capable of running hard-edge political campaigns, and took the nation to war. But his principal achievements were produced at negotiating tables.
Despite his grace, Mr. Bush was an easy subject for caricature. He was an honors graduate of Yale University who was often at a loss for words in public, especially when it came to talking about himself. Though he was tested in combat when he was barely out of adolescence, he was branded "a wimp" by those who doubted whether he had essential convictions. This paradox in the public image of Mr. Bush dogged him, as did domestic events. His lack of sure-footedness in the face of a faltering economy produced a nosedive in the soaring popularity he enjoyed after the triumph of the Persian Gulf War. In 1992, he lost his bid for a second term as president. Bush's spokesman Jim McGrath announced his death on Twitter, but didn't provide the cause of death. In 2012, he announced that he had vascular Parkinsonism, a condition that limited his mobility.
UPDATE: George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has issued a statement on the passing of his father: "Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died. George H. W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41's life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens."
Despite his grace, Mr. Bush was an easy subject for caricature. He was an honors graduate of Yale University who was often at a loss for words in public, especially when it came to talking about himself. Though he was tested in combat when he was barely out of adolescence, he was branded "a wimp" by those who doubted whether he had essential convictions. This paradox in the public image of Mr. Bush dogged him, as did domestic events. His lack of sure-footedness in the face of a faltering economy produced a nosedive in the soaring popularity he enjoyed after the triumph of the Persian Gulf War. In 1992, he lost his bid for a second term as president. Bush's spokesman Jim McGrath announced his death on Twitter, but didn't provide the cause of death. In 2012, he announced that he had vascular Parkinsonism, a condition that limited his mobility.
UPDATE: George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has issued a statement on the passing of his father: "Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died. George H. W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41's life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens."
Want a good argument against term limits?
I'm in favor of no term limits but also in favor of votes of no confidence.
If a politician has a legitimate a good idea, they have a very limited time to achieve it. So, let's take Obama for example. He wanted to implement socialized medicine. American's call it "Single payer" where in Europe we just call it "health care".
So like everything else Obama ever did... he did it completely half-assed and other than the name of the bill, it was not what he planned.
See, here's the thing. He came into office with strong popularity and had more support walking in than probably anyone since Reagan. He had some struggles and he couldn't just bully people into what he wanted. But he also knew that if he was to deliver on the "Affordable Care Act" he would have less than 2 years to get something onto paper and get it through at least one side of congress.
So, what he did is that he took a bill written by republicans that could have been the starting point. He added his own changes, but nothing revolutionary. The only flaw in his bill was that it was federal and the republicans wanted state level. The bill itself was shit because it certainly didn't offer European style medical coverage, but there was clearly hope that if this bill got in, it could eventually evolve into something useful.
Then he send the bill to politicians on both sides of the isles and each on chopped something they didn't like and earmarked something utterly unrelated onto it. I haven't read the whole thing, but at some point I think Oklahoma tried to earmark eliminating science from school in favor of creationism. Even the democrats and his supporters were earmarking the shit out of the bill hoping to slip things like road work projects and such in.
When the ACA finally reached his desk to either be vetod or approved, about the only thing left in the plan that was from the original document was the title and this was because he knew that if we wanted to actually get a chance to start implementing it, he couldn't fight each change, he just accepted everything like an idiot. The end result was he had less than a year and a half to start implementing possibly the worst health bill ever and attempt to prove that it would work.
Then the government hired a contractor to write the software. And as with any good American Funded government project... they outsourced the entire thing to India... everything got rushed and botched to hell and it was WAY over budget and WAY late because well... software takes time to write and the lawyers running thing apparently are just stupid.
My point which I'm making is that if Obama didn't have term limits to worry about and instead of wasting an entire year of his time in office trying to get more time in office, he could have used well timed votes of no confidence to extend his time in office long enough to fight for a real ACA and to implement it. But because of term limits, the US now has the ACA which must be the worst thing ever.
And then you have the follow up which is Trump who believes the ACA has to go and he has a limited time to work and he isn't proposing an alternative and he's stomping his feet to make good on the promise because if he doesn't pull it off, everyone will tear him apart during reelection for failing at this. Then how will he get one of the biggest construction projects in history to be named for him?
Fun fact: guess what Obama's approval rating was at the same time in his presidency? No, lower...
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
ORANGE MAN BAD? Wow, seriously? Damn I've been talking to an NPC. Wow, I didn't realize it .
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
"NPC" is your little pet name for "people who have access to facts", I'm guessing?
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.