Positive:

Americans, who were generally apathetic about politics 8 years ago, are now much more involved than they've been in decades.

Granted, the reason for that is the complete cluster-fuck that his Presidency was... but hey... at least people are engaged again.

Negative:

One could write a book.   To me... the BIGGEST blunder was the complete lack of oversight by the SEC, which has basically driven this country to the precipice of another Great Depression.

The "deregulation" fervor of conservatives in charge is the single biggest negative of the past 28 years.  The past 8 are just the culmination.

The free market works... but it MUST be regulated.   It needs rules, and it needs cops to enforce those rules.

If the economy is a football game... the conservatives in this country want there to be no referees, while the far left want every game to be manipulated so it ends in a tie.

The sweet spot is in between.   We need referees that guarantee that there is a level playing field, but not guaranteed outcomes.

The Bush Administration... specifically his SEC chair Cox...  put blindfolds on the referees.

...and chaos has ensued.

Maybe that's why I like it.  More drama than action now.  Odama is almost a crybaby, but I think the characterization of 'em all is great.

Nuclear wiped out terra sucked though.  Sure hope we make it through without goin' through that.

I am still mystified by his nomination in 2000; his skill set, seen clearly by the vast majority now, was visible then.  He was always an inept and rather mediocre businessman, lacking personal charm and judgment, and was the least qualified scion of a highly ambitious but quite lackluster political family.    But his super-slim victory reminded the Democrats of the dangers of splitting their party vote over trifles; those who thought Gore wasn't pure enough gave us George instead.   It was also a reminder to the general populace that in key states, anyway, every vote does matter.

His actions in office galvanized the opposition.  Thousands (millions?) moved from one-way screaming at the television to the two-way interactions on the internet.   Some of those bloggers moved themselves and others to more concrete actions.  We don't yet know how that will morph over the upcoming four years, but a more-engaged populace is a good thing, IMHO.

His win in 2004 was pure partisanship.  Most by then could see what he was, yet the Republican voters lacked the courage to act.  In 2008, this resulted in the loss of control of the federal government to their opposition.  I hope this results in the breakup of the current GOP, because the last eight years should have taught them that their current coalition stands for too many conflicting things.  I think the time is ripe for orange ;-)  Big-government conservatism is an oxymoron.

Much of the world looks differently upon the US now, after these eight years.   Perhaps this has encouraged them to develop their own strengths more than they have in the past, having seen that the US is perhaps not as stable as they once assumed. Having an effective world "team" might turn out much better than having the USA always carrying the ball.

I could write more, but this is long enough.   I'll be glad to turn the page, and I am hoping that we don't spend too much time looking backwards, and that we are more concerned about tomorrow than yesterday.

President Bush was a great subject to make fun of, but that means when growing up, it's been hard for me to take politics so seriously. I am not kidding when I say this, but it's the main idea that I get from Bush's presidency: that politics is a bad joke.

What a punchline!

A surprising opinion piece from a surprising media source.

Bush showed U.S. is no paper tiger

[...]

How will history judge Bush?

Osama bin Laden once told Time magazine that the U.S. withdrawal from Somalia after the murder of 18 U.S. troops on a humanitarian mission made him realize "more than before that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat." Members of al Qaeda have told intelligence officials that they never thought that Washington would respond to the 9/11 attacks as ferociously as Bush responded. They expected a few bombs to be dropped, no boots on the ground, a swift withdrawal if casualties mounted - the usual short-attention span foreign policy that warped Lebanon, the Persian Gulf War, Somalia, the African embassy bombings and the attack on the destroyer Cole.

Bush showed America's enemies a country that does not retreat in fear, does not bomb with impunity, and most important, does not desert civilians or foreign governments that trust us. If you think that doesn't matter, look at Libya, which disarmed its weapons program. And see how much easier Obama's presidency will be, because Bush kept the faith.

Osama bin Laden may live, most likely quivering in a cave. But no one thinks America is a paper tiger anymore.

 After visiting some Islands in the Pacific, he was so struck by their beauty that he declared them a National Monument.

<blockquote>President George W. Bush on Tuesday will designate three remote Pacific island areas as national monuments to protect them from energy extraction and commercial fishing in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history. </blockquote>

_____

 During the historically awful Presidency of George W Bush, the one action that he took that was to my mind most damaging and most overlooked was cutting taxes during a time of war. He ordered that cost of war be paid for 'later'. The thinking that tax cuts are always good, because deficits don't matter. Besides you can live on the credit from the inflated value of  your home.

 In '04 the Federal Govt cut the budget of the Solar Research Institute, just miles from where I live, thus forcing them to lay people off, a few days before the President had scheduled a campaign speech touting his research cred. He expected the folks still left there after his budget cuts to stand behind him and smile while he campaigned.

 It was a sickening farce, and a cynical political ploy to ask folks that were having their research budget cut to stand happily behind him so he could play politics with the truth.

 The wool that Bush is trying to pull over people's eyes, about his legacy, is the same wool he pulled over people's eyes about the War in Iraq, taxes and everything else.

Good-bye double vision, double messaging, and double standards. And good-bye to Karl Rove's K-Street project and the dream of a 100 year Republican majority.

If you hate government, then you don't deserve to run it.

Glenn Beck is coming to the Fox News Channel

5PM Eastern.  You go girl!