Bush: I Never “Compromised My Soul” For The Sake Of Popularity

Ain’t that the truth:

WASHINGTON (AP) – President George W. Bush knows he’s unpopular. But here’s what matters, he says: “I didn’t compromise my soul to be a popular guy.” In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News Channel, Bush also praised the national security team assembled by President-elect Barack Obama, offered hope to U.S. automakers seeking government assistance and said the people of Illinois will have to sort out allegations that Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought kickbacks in choosing a successor for Obama’s Senate seat.
Bush said presidents fail when they make decisions based on opinion polls.
“Look, everybody likes to be popular,” said Bush.
“What do you expect? We’ve got a major economic problem and I’m the president during the major economic problem. I mean, do people approve of the economy? No. I don’t approve of the economy. … I’ve been a wartime president. I’ve dealt with two economic recessions now. I’ve had, hell, a lot of serious challenges. What matters to me is I didn’t compromise my soul to be a popular guy.”

Love Bush or hate him, you’ve got to give him this. He campaigned on compassionate conservatism, and we got compassionate conservatism. He campaigned on staying the course in Iraq, and we’ve stayed the course on Iraq.
You can say he did the wrong thing – and as someone who voted for the guy in 2004 I can say that he’s been wrong more than he’s been right, and these bailouts at the end of his administration will probably overshadow most of the good he’s done – but he always lacked that duplicity you get with other political leaders who say one thing and do another.
Political leaders like, oh I don’t know, Barack Obama.

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  • http://fargophantom.com/ fargophantom

    History wil Be the final judge…always

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    He only had high morals to those with CBS*.

    {*Conservative Blindness Syndrome}

  • Rusty

    Well George, I guess it worked…you’re not very popular at my house!

  • imagine

    Stupid is as stupid does.
    Jan 20th can’t come soon enough.
    The best thing I can say about Bush is that now we have a benchmark for what it takes to be the worst president in the history of the nation.

  • http://2mdh.blogspot.com/ C. Y.

    “We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.” — Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

    “The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons…” — Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

    “I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force — if necessary — to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.” — Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

    “There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years … We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction.” — Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

    “He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do” — Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

    “In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members … It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.” — Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

    “We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction.” — Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

    “Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime … He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation … And now he is miscalculating America’s response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction … So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real…” — Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

    Image and video hosting by TinyPic

    He will go down in history as one of the great presidents of our time.

  • Mickey

    The best thing I can say about Bush is that now we have a benchmark for what it takes to be the worst president in the history of the nation.

    Jimmy Carter won that accolade long ago. If Obama follows his lead as he is so far, then they will share that benchmark honor.

  • gustave776

    DannyBoy- you have not a clue what this president went through keeping us safe. He did his level best to work with an absurd congress who’s leader are nothing short of being communistic. He has some unpopular views according to the “faithless” liberals and “do what feels good” crowd. GWB is a very disciplined man and selected a very good cabinet to lead an administration along which he thought was the right thing to do. All this liberal pouting and feet stomping is getting on the nerves of the conservatives and we will rally our base and kick you liberal asses back to submission where it belongs. You know you need to let conservatives rule to keep this country from having a free for all. I do believe Obama needs bi-partisan support to get his agenda jump started and I am man enough to respect the power he has earned to become president. I will hold him in respect just as you liberals should have respected your leader when GWB was in power.

  • RebTex

    Huh – and all along I thought that Jimmy Carter followed Gerald Ford. I gots to get me one of them liberal history textbooks!

    It’s filed under “Revisionist History” or you might find something under “fake but accurate accounts of history”

  • RebTex

    No matter how much the BDS sufferers whine, they’ll not be able to turn back time nor change the fact that G.W. served with high morals.
    I understand the confusion by them, though.
    They’re not used to high moral leadership.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    I’m not even sure Ford remembered he was President.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    Not sure what it says about me? Why don’t you tell me.

    What does it say about you and the others here who spend so much time tearing down Obama and hoping he fails before he even takes office? You run a blog devoted to it!

    At least we have 8 years of failure to judge bush on. All you have with Obama is speculation, scandal-mongering and character assasination.

    But I guess I should hang my head in shame because I was disrespectful, huh?

  • http://northerngleaner.blogspot.com/ Gene

    This story is why I LIKE and will MISS GWB.

    He is a principled man and doesn’t care what the polls say.

    Why even try to satisfy the left, they will hate him anyway.

    He will go down in history as one of the great presidents of our time. Time heals all wounds and wounds all heels. Look at how the perception of Clinton and Carter has drifted.

  • History Student

    Huh – and all along I thought that Jimmy Carter followed Gerald Ford. I gots to get me one of them liberal history textbooks!

  • Hawk

    He campaigned on compassionate conservatism, and we got compassionate conservatism.

    Huh?

    Choosing poor courses of action and staying with them is not a virtue. He has chosen not to learn and remain ignorant. He has no intellectual curiosity and should never have been President.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

    “I’m a Uniter, Not a Divider”

    Governor Bush
    February 29, 2000

    “Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat.”

    George W. Bush
    Sept. 17, 2004

    “You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”

    George W. Bush
    Sept. 6, 2006

    “It very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left here to go to America, because of their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom, helped change America.”

    The President of the United States
    Dakar, Senegal
    7/8/2003

    “There is a huge trust. I see it all the time when people come up to me and say, ‘I don’t want you to let me down again.’”

    George W. Bush
    10/3/2000

    “I hope you leave here and walk out and say, ‘What did he say?’”

    George W. Bush
    Aug. 13, 2004

  • http://2mdh.blogspot.com/ C. Y.

    “One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line.” –President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

    “If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program.” –President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

    “Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.” –Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

    “He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983.” –Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

    “[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.” Letter to President Clinton, signed by: — Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998

    “Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.” -Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

    “Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.” — Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

    “There is no doubt that … Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies.” Letter to President Bush, Signed by: — Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), and others, Dec 5, 2001

    “We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e means of delivering them.” — Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

    “We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.” — Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

    “Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.” — Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    No one was revising anything. Ford served a short time as caretaker of Nixon’s policies and had his hands full restoring faith in government destroyed by Nixon.

    But since you mentioned it, the Ford years were less than Utopian with out-of-control inflation and recessionary pressures, the same as when Nixon was in office. You do remember his campaign to curb inflation by wearing “WIN” buttons for Whip Inflation Now? :)

    It was stellar policy initiatives like that that sent him on way to losing to Carter in 76.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    George Bush will be remembered in history for presiding over the end of the USA due to his policies creating the Truly Great Depression.

    That is if the liberals win the civil war. If republicans win, no one will read in the future and merely communicate with violence and a series of grunts and animal noises. You know, like from the brainstem.

  • fishdweeb

    He may not have compromised his soul, but he sure as hell compromised everything else on the planet. Sadly his legacy will be around for a very long time. History will treat him exactly as he deserves.

  • Mickey

    You can come down here and wax that elementary school snark but if someone calls your lameass out for doing it, take it like a man.

    bingo

  • Mickey

    In a modern, progressive society, failure is the most accurate predictor of success. Where failures are understood to be instructive and corrective in nature, societies flourish. In cultures where failure is always regarded only as a source of shame, embarrassment or humiliation, societies usually cannot sustain themselves.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

    Well thank GAWD for that, huh.

    Love Bush or hate him, you’ve got to give him this:

    “I don’t think our troops should be used for what’s called nation building.”

    George W. Bush, 2000

    “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.”

    George W. Bush
    9/13/01

    “So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.”

    George W. Bush
    3/13/2002

    “So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him. … And, again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”

    George W. Bush
    3/13/2002

    “Uhh Gosh, I.. don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. It’s kind of one of those, uhh, exaggerations.”

    George W. Bush
    10/13/2004

    “…there are no longer torture chambers or rape rooms or mass graves in Iraq.”

    George W. Bush

  • dannyboy

    Yes, after compromising his soul for oil, torture, and incompetence, there was none left for popularity.

  • http://northerngleaner.blogspot.com/ Gene

    A Flying Pig Report For Bob:

    When Pigs Fly…

    “The time has come,” the Walrus said,
    “To talk of many things:
    Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
    Of cabbages–and kings–
    And why the sea is boiling hot–
    And whether pigs have wings.”
    –Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, 1872
    may be the earliest reference to pigs flying in literature…

    “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”
    Western Union internal memo, 1876

    “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”
    Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895

    “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
    Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

    “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.”
    Marechal Ferdinand Foch, WWI French General, Stopped the Germans at the Second Battle of Marne 1918, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre

    “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?”
    General Manager of RCA, David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s

    “Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”
    1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard’s revolutionary rocket work

    “Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”
    Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929

    “Man shall never reach the moon, for such a quantity of gunpowder would be needed as to gravely injure the crew.”
    Children’s Encyclopaedia, 1926

    “Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances.”
    Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the vacuum tube, father of television and owner of over 300 patents

    “I think there’s a world market for about five computers.”
    Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM

    “The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives.”
    Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project

    “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
    Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

    “So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’”
    Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer

    “You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can’t be done. It’s just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.”
    Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the “unsolvable” problem by inventing Nautilus

    “If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.”
    Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” Notepads

    “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a “C,” the idea must be feasible.”
    A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Smith went on to found Federal Express Corporation

    “A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.”
    Response to Debbi Fields’ idea of starting Mrs. Fields’ Cookies

    “I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.”
    Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With The Wind”

    AND IMAGINE SAYS:
    The best thing I can say about Bush is that now we have a benchmark for what it takes to be the worst president in the history of the nation.

    NOPE:

    George W Bush will end up in textbooks as a man of morals and conviction who governed during some very difficult times with character and determination. A contrast to his predecessor.

    Now, Mr Pig, Strap them suckers on and let’s get airborne here.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    Gustav, his Congress was run by republicans until January of 2007.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    You people yammer about Carter so that we’ll forget that he followed the only President to resign, the criminal REPUBLICAN Nixon.

    Don’t forget that we had deep recessions, the first gas lines and over-the-top ocrruption when Nixon was the REPUBLICAN President.

    History didn’t begin in 1976, Mickey-stem.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/america_is_back/#c397018 DINO

    You can’t sacrifice something you don’t possess.

    The man is pure [b]EVIL.

  • syn

    Over the last eight years President Bush has never said an unkind word towards anyone, even his worst enemy. I may not agree with all his policies however the man has exceptional character very rarely seen in American culture.

    While the dregs kept swarming around in the sewer, President Bush kept out of the slime; his character is not something which can be rewritten.

    And certainly I am grateful that Dino is here to prove my point.

  • nuking

    What does it say about you and the others here who spend so much time tearing down Obama and hoping he fails before he even takes office? You run a blog devoted to it!

    This blog predates Obama. And, as of the time of this writing, there are, in the recent reader entries to the right here, posts about Gingrich, Contemplating Islam, Pope Bwaney of Fwanks, Blackwater, Conn. Voters not liking Joe anymore, Now even Condi hates Blackwater, OPEC threatens cuts in production, and on and on and on and on. Now… if those don’t look like posts devoted to Obama, that’s because they aren’t. So quit wining.

    But I guess I should hang my head in shame because I was disrespectful, huh?

    Hang your head in shame because once the Republicans bring the game to your boy you start getting all defensive.

    I remember all the garbage about rigged elections and that Bush was a crook, a coward because he dodged service, an idiot who was only president cause of daddy and would screw everything up, and that he was a drug addict drunkard all before 9/11 happened. So now that a democrat won take it like a man.

    You can come down here and wax that elementary school snark but if someone calls your lameass out for doing it, take it like a man. That is all I ask.

  • http://detroitcitydragons.weebly.com/ Frank A. Fiorello

    after compromising his soul for oil

    Really? we have no hand in the oil of the Iraq nation they have complete controll of their own oil. You can look that up anywhere.

    That ‘blood for oil’ slogan just never got off the ground for liberals. It possibly may be there is not a shred of truth to it.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

    I’m confused!!!!!

    gustave776 on December 18, 2008 at 08:08 am

  • http://vdvfamily.com/ Sphagnum

    Not sure what it says about me? Why don’t you tell me.

    The fact that you think President Bush is “Pure Evil” shows that you are an idiot suffering from BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). No reasonable person could possibly agree with such an idiotic statement.

    As for other’s comments about Obama, I don’t think anyone here would state that The Messiah is “Pure Evil”. I think he’s wrong, dangerous for the country, but also good-intentioned. Obama doesn’t WANT to destroy this country, but he will unintentionally do so if he pushes forward with his Marxist ideals.

    See the difference?

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    That statement says more about you than Bush, Dino.

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