What Really Happened To George Bush?

[jankren]

To be honest Im quite wow'd by George Bush in this video of his presidential debate against Al Gore. He came across as a wise, intelligent and charismatic guy. Al Gore looked creepier and stupider than him.

So how did he transform into how he is today?

Anyway, God forbids the same thing will happen to Obama after he becomes president.

[christof139]

You never know.

Chris

[Finn]

After 911 everything changed.

[Erik]

After 911 everything changed.

After he got elected, everything changed.

Happens every time.

[WrathofTulkas]

9/11 and listening to Dick Cheney. Seriously Dick Cheney and the Neo-Cons had full run of the White House - Bush was a decent man , just dumb and weak.
Why do you think all of them resigned? Except the VP

[mrmouth]

The people who chose Bush is what happened to him.

The founders, and behind the scenes players from the Project for the New American Century had a plan written up in the late 80's for essentially the same thing we saw with Iraq in '03. Bush Sr. proved to be a tough nut to crack, and even after Saddam invaded Kuwait, he refused to remove him from power and take control of Iraq.

As Bush Sr. was running for a second term, they once again had nobody to influence, although they had apparently pressed Clinton a bit only to realize he wouldn't bite either.

So finally Bush Jr. came along, and the rest is history. By that time the PNAC was officially in existence and they are essentially got Bush the nomination, and got him elected.

Whether Bush actually believed anything he said in the video above and was pressed after he was elected, or actually was in fact lying to the world is anyone's guess.

[jankren]

The people who chose Bush is what happened to him.

The founders, and behind the scenes players from the Project for the New American Century had a plan written up in the late 80's for essentially the same thing we saw with Iraq in '03. Bush Sr. proved to be a tough nut to crack, and even after Saddam invaded Kuwait, he refused to remove him from power and take control of Iraq.

As Bush Sr. was running for a second term, they once again had nobody to influence, although they had apparently pressed Clinton a bit only to realize he wouldn't bite either.

So finally Bush Jr. came along, and the rest is history. By that time the PNAC was officially in existence and they are essentially got Bush the nomination, and got him elected.

Whether Bush actually believed anything he said in the video above and was pressed after he was elected, or actually was in fact lying to the world is anyone's guess.

Hmm, I never really heard of PNAC. Very interesting.

Anyway, if I were Dubya I would find my ex-president father to be an invaluable asset for personal counsel. Too bad he probably wanna prove that his dick is bigger than his dads.

[alhoon]

The people who chose Bush is what happened to him.

The founders, and behind the scenes players from the Project for the New American Century had a plan written up in the late 80's for essentially the same thing we saw with Iraq in '03. Bush Sr. proved to be a tough nut to crack, and even after Saddam invaded Kuwait, he refused to remove him from power and take control of Iraq.

As Bush Sr. was running for a second term, they once again had nobody to influence, although they had apparently pressed Clinton a bit only to realize he wouldn't bite either.

So finally Bush Jr. came along, and the rest is history. By that time the PNAC was officially in existence and they are essentially got Bush the nomination, and got him elected.

Whether Bush actually believed anything he said in the video above and was pressed after he was elected, or actually was in fact lying to the world is anyone's guess.

That's sounds like a conspiracy theory...

I had the weird experience of emigrating from Russia to Austin, Texas in 1999. Bush was my Governor and he was respected throughout Texas for his rather rational approach and relatively oratory competence. There is such a stark difference between Bush's tenure as governor and president, it is outstanding. I have also heard the same thing about Palin from Alaskans and her current "National-level Coming of Age."

I was studying at the University of Crete in 1999 (mineral resources engineer, we have interest in oil among other things) and after Bush secured the nomination all we heard was about his disastrous reign in Texas and how he bankrupted the state etc.

[mrmouth]

That's sounds like a conspiracy theory...

It might sound incredible, but its absolutely true.

Just about any Frontline special in which Bush is featured will also included commentary on Woflowitz and his 'defense planning guidance draft' to the defense department.


"Part of this 1992 Defense Planning Guidance is really expressing a lot of continuity, just in a not very politic way, with American policy since the second World War. Since the containment doctrine was drafted, and since George Kennan's famous "X Article" in Foreign Affairs, the U.S. had identified about five regions of the world that had the potential to create global military power. And, the objective of the United States during the Cold War was to make sure that the Soviets didn't add any of those regions to their orbit and, therefore, change the global balance of power.


So now, you have a shift in which there are not Soviets. And the question is whether any of these powerful regions -- and this is because they have technology, resources, population, economic power -- are going to grow the military power that goes along with that, and rise up to challenge the United States.


There was one important addition, and that was that the United States would be prepared to preempt the use of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons by any other nation -- even, the document said, where our interests are otherwise not engaged. That is to say, in a war somewhere else, that's not about us. It spoke of punishing or retaliating for that use. But it also said "preempt." This is the first time.


Now you have to remember, these are exactly the same people [in 1992] who are most influential right now in the U.S. government, and in the formation of U.S. strategic policy. It's Dick Cheney as defense secretary. It's Paul Wolfowitz as undersecretary [of defense] for policy. And it's a guy named Scooter Libby who is, right now, Dick Cheney's chief of staff and chief strategist, who was deputy to Paul Wolfowitz. And they were the three drafting authorities for this Guidance."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...emes/1992.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ows/iraq/view/

[Celsius]

I prefer Gore

[mrmouth]

Honestly, I think his dad told him to off.

Around the time of the first rumblings that Iraq might be a target, his dad came out and made at least one comment about how he thought it was unwise. That was about the last anyone heard out of him aside from those disaster relief commercials with Clinton.

I think Bush will have a very interesting autobiography as PNAC is out of business, and its main players have either been completely ostracized, or are hanging on to very little power and influence. No need for Bush to protect them, but Bush might not necessarily want to fall on his sword either.

[Max Headroom]

I think Bush was unprepared to deal with the events of and related to 9/11. After that, Bush had a much harder job to deal with.

[Mikelus Trento]

I'm not too sure I would agree with the 9/11 alteration. The 2 points in time I will always look most favorably on George Bush was when he stood with the firemen at the smoking base of the former towers the day after 9/11, and then 2? months later when we woke up on a Sunday morning and heard Afghanistan was being attacked.

Maybe the advisers.

[Admiral Piett]

Rove is who prepared him for those debates. I have strong doubts that what he said he actually believed. I would say that manipulation by Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Donald Rumsfield is what really ruined Bush. Bush is an egotistical man, but is not a good decision maker. He's a knowledgable person who comes socializing and meeting people, but public administration and politics simply is not his forte. He tends to rely too much on his friends and advisers instead of his own conscience. That's why we see Bush taking dramatic u-turns on and off throughout his whole Presidency. That and I don't doubt that the military-industrial complex was strongly behind some of Cheney's initiatives. I also think his fundamentalist style of government policy also made him unpredictable.

[horatius]

At the beginning of the video did the moderator says, "Should the people of the world look at the United States, uh, Governor and say..."?

Governor of the US? I think he forgot the word "president" and was probably pretty embarrassed about that.

[cfmonkey45]

No, actually, the question was directed at then Texas Governor George W. Bush.

[horatius]

No, actually, the question was directed at then Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Oh, okay. That makes a lot more sense.

[Lebron James]

What Really Happened To George Bush?

9/11 maybe, I don't know for sure. But what I do know is that President of the United States (other than maybe being a parent) is the hardest job in the world...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Hunter Makoy]

9/11 maybe, I don't know for sure. But what I do know is that President of the United States (other than maybe being a parent) is the hardest job in the world...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

u said it! Poor Clinton lost all the green in his hair.

[YuriVII]

I had the weird experience of emigrating from Russia to Austin, Texas in 1999. Bush was my Governor and he was respected throughout Texas for his rather rational approach and relatively oratory competence. There is such a stark difference between Bush's tenure as governor and president, it is outstanding. I have also heard the same thing about Palin from Alaskans and her current "National-level Coming of Age."