GW Bush has had 3 opportunities now to stymie Trump by endorsing the Democratic nominee - and refused every time

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

Fernand R. Amandi
For all his talk about democracy building efforts in Iraq and post 9/11 exhortations about freedom, former GOP President George W. Bush has had 3 opportunities now to stymie Donald Trump by endorsing the Democratic nominee — and refused every time.

His castigation is deserved.

[VMA131Marine]

1. Michelle needs to have words with W

That said, does anyone really care who he endorses, if anyone. W left office as one of the most unpopular presidents ever …

[jimfields33]

52. Republicans hate the bush's. I'm not sure it'd help at all.

[Torchlight]

54. lol

[Girard442]

2. For those of us who thought Dubya knowingly sat on his hands...

...during the runup to 9/11, this is totally on-brand.

[LisaM]

4. Yeah, who wants his endorsement?

He set the blueprint for election lies, and we are dealing with his SCOTUS. He picked Roberts and Alito. He defamed Al Gore. What I want from him is an apology.

[delisen]

38. Bush also backed Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.

G W Bush bears responsibility for the loss of human rights of women in America.

[struggle4progress]

3. 2004 White House Correspondents Dinner

Once a vacuous cynic, always a vacuous cynic. And once a sycophantic stenographer, always a sycophantic stenographer

[hatrack]

5. Who cares? Fuck that guy.

The worst president in US history save one, and we're expecting him to Do The Right Thing now, 16 years after he walked away from the giant pile of shit he left for us to clean up?

Who.

Cares.

[displacedvermoter]

6. An incompetent weasel of the highest (lowest?) level!

He has James Buchanan as a buffer between himself and Trump on the worst president ever list, that is about the best thing historically I can say about this lazy and cruel man.

[lastlib]

21. Now you've gone and insulted the entire Mustelidae family!

Weasels are noble beasts compared to any of the * clan. They and their relatives demand an apology!

[displacedvermoter]

24. Very true, and should I run into any ferrets, minks,

badgers, ermines, stoats or wolverines today, I will make amends! Or just plain weasels!

[tanyev]

7. Busy. Paintin'.

Laura, bring me my paints! I just had a humdinger of an idea!

[Deminpenn]

8. Don't want the endorsement or support of a war criminal

Let's not forget Bush had the election handed to him by SCOTUS when they stopped the vote counting in FL.

[FalloutShelter]

11. THIS!

War criminal.

[berniesandersmittens]

61. I agree

His silence speaks more IMHO.
The man's got a stink on him that we should want nothing to do with.

[spanone]

9. I have no doubt that bu$h is just fine with trmp.

It's party over everything with these cons.

[WSHazel]

10. A Bush endorsement would be HUGE for Harris

It would be a signal to RINOs that it is OK to abandon Trump, and could move a few million votes from Trump to Harris, which puts the Presidency pretty much in the bank for Harris. Romney and Cheney endorsements would be good too, but Bush would be best. Low information Republican voters probably don't know much of what Trump says or does because they don't care and the media treat him like a normal Republican. They are supporting him because that is what their social circle is doing and the Republican Party seems united so they are just going along with the crowd.

A former Republican President saying "no" to Trump would be a huge signal to these voters that Trump is not normal, despite a decade of MSM normalizing his behavior, and that it is OK for Republicans to vote for Harris or stay home. I think a Bush endorsement in September would be fatal to Trump's campaign.

Once it becomes clear that Trump is going to lose, a lot of Republicans who have been kissing his ass will start distancing themselves from Trump and even speak up against him. Trump is an obese, 78 year old man that likely has been a frequent user of drugs throughout his life. This is his last election, and Trump has never been able to turn out his voters when he is not on the ballot. That means he becomes pretty much worthless politically if he loses this election. A Bush, or Romney or Cheney, endorsement could start dominoes tipping that could permanently end the Trump era in America.

[marble falls]

12. He's pretty much stayed out of politics. Michele Obama seems to like him ...

... He's not a deep, in touch sort of guy. His life doesn't change much whether TFG is in the WH or not.

He was a pretty good executive with the Texas Rangers.



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?w=1020&h=574&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress&q=50&dpr=2

[displacedvermoter]

17. He got the taxpayers of Arlington to pay for

his stadium using chicanery and a cheesy land deal. A grifter and a lazy incompetent.

[marble falls]

25. It makes me angry, too, but name one sports franchise that hasn't peeled taxpayers? Jerry Jones comes to mind ...

Don't blame the teams - they only ask, our elected officials and those who vote for these bond issues and tax rebates are to blame.

[displacedvermoter]

53. From Public Integrity

https://publicintegrity.org/politics/how-george-w-bush-scored-big-with-the-texas-rangers/

Bush used his father's name -- in his preparations for running for Governor of Texas -- to increase his visibility by buying the Rangers.

Peter Ueberroth (a Bush Pere donor), the commissioner of MLB, pressed for more local investors, so his father's former donors, including Fort Worth billionaires with ties to the oil company that bought Shrub's faltering oil firm, ponied up the money, $86 million. Shrub had to come up with $500,000 that he obtained from a Midland, Texas bank where he had been a board member.

Bush would then be rewarded, for using his and his father's name in the transactions, with a full ten percent share of the team. Finding the stadium was not up to major leagues standards, the new ownership hit up the taxpayers for the money to build a new ballpark, threatening to move the team out of Arlington. A sales tax hike would raise the $135 million needed. To sell the proposal, the owners said they would come up with $50 million of their own money, which was raised by a $1 surcharge on ticket sales. They would eventually raise $200 million, and all of the revenues then generated went back to the owners.

They then orchestrated the condemnation of surrounding parcels of land for parking and construction of future properties. Subsequent lawsuits led to some $11 million in settlements, which the owners tried to pass off onto the taxpayers of Arlington, before settling a decade later.

Bush would eventually be part of a group that sold the team for three times what they had originally paid, and then governor would pocket some $14 million on his $500,000 or so investment.

Crook, grifter, nepo baby of the highest echelon!

[ProfessorGAC]

58. Green Bay Packers?

There's no "owner", just the city residents. Not thinking of many others.
Reinsdorf (White Sox & Bulls) has had clean hands for a while, but not totally clean.
The Ricketts family spent tons of their own money on the Cubs and area around Wrigley, but they squeezed the city, too.
Maybe Steve Ballmer or Cohen, who are both beyond rich?
Now, I'm reaching for names and there are 122 major sports franchises.
You ask a really good question.

[VMA131Marine]

62. To be fair ...

There are very few new stadiums built these days that don’t get some combination of public financing and property tax concessions. It’s ridiculous, but that’s the way things have evolved because cities don’t want to lose their sports teams and the leagues are only to willing to let teams relocate. Hence, the San Francisco 49ers play 50 miles away from SF in Santa Clara, the San Diego Chargers now play in LA, Oakland has lost its football and baseball teams to Las Vegas, and the owners of the Cleveland Browns want to build a new stadium far away from downtown.

[displacedvermoter]

72. To be honest,

Bush's acquisition of the Rangers, the financing and construction of the stadium, the acquisition of adjacent properties to up the value of the team, and the subsequent sale of the team, was a colossal scam. It is very different than the arrangements you are talking about, though those are aggregious ripoffs as well.

Billionaires gouging taxpayers who will, mostly, be unable to afford tickets to see the teams their tax dollars are supporting, is just one more galling testament to how unfair modern America has become.

[Dan]

44. Horny little bugger....

[marble falls]

71. I honestly feel he's on the wrong side of the bell curve and she feels a sisterly or neighborly sympathy ...

... for him. I imagine she's developed a pretty good BS detector over the years.

[Self Esteem]

13. Maybe Bush realizes his endorsement won't help.

Who's it supposed to win over?

If anything, Bush's endorsement could harm Harris. Remember how many so-called liberals sat out the 2016 election or voted third party because they thought Hillary was a warmonger? Wasn't that Susan Sarandon's justification for voting Stein? I also remember RFK's (the original) speech writer endorsing Trump because he would see out JFK/RFK's vision of ending forever wars.

No better way to create that narrative again than to have the biggest warmonger of them all endorse Harris. Yeah, no thanks.

[travelingthrulife]

14. He knows why Trump was selected by the oligarchy, same reason he was

A brainless rubber stamp for their ambitions./

[musclecar6]

15. One

Thing to consider is between now and November 5, we still have some time where it might be helpful to have people like Cheney and Bush, Romney, etc., with an endorsement at various points along the way here to keep it fresh in the minds of the voters.

Just like Bernie held off for awhile after Kamala was set up for the nomination, before weighing in after the DNC convention. This way people start adding to the pile of endorsers. If Bernie came out right away, it would've got lost in the shuffle with everybody else jumping on the bandwagon, a few days after Joe steppped down.

[Jirel]

16. Reality check.

Dubya has stayed out of politics (and the spotlight) for good reason. He stays home and paints ugly pictures that a 5 year old could paint, for good reason. He has no post-presidency to speak of for a reason.

Dubya was the party boy, and it wrecked his brain. We watched signs of this while he was in office. He is likely no more mentally fit than Dump. So of course he’s staying quiet. His handlers are not going to put him in that position, even if he wanted to be. I doubt the guy gives a damn about much. The last line of the article says it all - “Bush remarked about his life in retirement, “I think part of having a fulfilling life is to be challenged. I’m challenged on the golf course, I’m challenged to stay fit, and I’m challenged by my paintings…I am happy.””

https://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/life-after-the-presidency

[allegorical oracle]

49. Yeah, for all we know, he doesn't recall being POTUS at all. nt

[Gore1FL]

18. Why expect patriotism now? nt

[Nanjeanne]

19. Who gives a shit what this lying war criminal does?

[Fiendish Thingy]

20. While Trump wins Most Incompetent and Corrupt President hands down, GWB is still a contender for Worst. Nt

[wiggs]

22. IMHO the Harris campaign leaves no stone unturned and is brilliant at strategic timing. They are working all

these guys and for the ones willing to put country over party they will have a timeline and method for coming out. I bet the Cheneys have been enlisted to help w GW.

If not GW, then there will be plenty of others.

[bif]

23. The war criminal? Fuck him.

[Klarkashton]

26. He's a no good piece of shit.

He's busy "clearing brush"

[Blue Owl]

27. It's easy to spot who's working for the billionaires club

[Ocelot II]

28. I don't think anybody cares.

The Democrats don't like him and the MAGA GOP don't like him either. His endorsement of either candidate won't make a bit of difference.

[Kaleva]

50. He is friends with the Clinton's and Obama's.

[Ocelot II]

51. Nevertheless, it seems doubtful that his endorsement would have much effect

on voters on either side. If the Obamas and the Clintons think he's a fun guy to have a beer with, fine, but he's not a political force at all any more.

[Kaleva]

55. I agree

[underpants]

29. A Bush endorsing a Democrat is like a Kennedy endorsing a Republican

[Think. Again.]

31. I see what you did there.

[Think. Again.]

30. bush is a rightwinger, "never forget" that.

[relayerbob]

32. TBH, his endorsement would likely hurt more than help, anyway

[PJMcK]

33. Another idiot

The Republicans sure know how to pick ‘em.

[Kid Berwyn]

34. Smirko McCokespoon is Putin's Boss

How Billionaires Picked Putin as "Russia’s Pinochet"

By Greg Palast
BuzzFlash, March 16, 2022

Vladimir Putin did not arrive from outer space on an abalone shell.

Putin went from the virtually unknown Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg to Russia’s President and potentate by winning a weird competition organized by Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky who sought a "Russian Pinochet" to succeed Boris Yeltsin as President.

The competition, dubbed "Operation Successor," went so far as to send Russia’s "Larry King," Mikhail Leontyev, to interview General Pinochet for Russian TV while Pinochet was under indictment in Chile on murder charges. Russians were treated to the old dictator’s advice on choosing a leader who could imitate Pinochet’s "strong hand," a police state, while promoting a hyper-capitalist economy.

Snip...

Berezovsky and other oligarchs, in Davos, Switzerland, attending that mating event of the rich and powerful, were horrified that the monied elite were giving their affection to Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the newly re-branded Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Polls showed Zyuganov was certain to defeat Yeltsin in upcoming elections.

Berezovsky and other oligarchs, panicked that Zyuganov would seize their ill-gotten gains, formed what they called the “Davos Pact” to re-elect Yeltsin — at all costs. And that cost a lot: they bought up all the media, all of it, and iced out Zyuganov. Bill Clinton jumped in, sending in an army of US elections and PR consultants.

Continues…

https://www.gregpalast.com/how-billionaires-picked-putin-as-russias-pinochet/

[BlueKota]

35. He's a coward

[Renew Deal]

36. Would anyone care if he endorsed Kamala or Hillary or anyone else?

I don't think it would actually move any votes and might hurt the Democrat.

[TheKentuckian]

64. Yep, reinforce the "deep state" nonsense in exchange for NOTHING.

Dumbass Dubya has no juice.

[Amaryllis]

37. Source? Link?

[onecaliberal]

39. He's a war criminal.

[Skittles]

65. THANK YOU

ZERO RESPECT FOR THAT WARMONGERING PIECE OF SHIT

[Tommy Carcetti]

40. To be honest, we don't need or want Dubya's endorsement.

Honestly, all we need from him is a non-endorsement of Trump, which apparently seems to be the case as it was in 2020.

Anything beyond that would be too complicated for us as Democrats.

Let him go back to painting or whatever the hell he's been doing with his life since he's left office.

His mere silence works just fine.

[JI7]

41. Bush is seen as a disastrous president by most. His endorsement wouldn't help much at all

I think Mike Pence might help more.

[SamKnause]

42. That worthless fucker should be serving life in prison.

[CrispyQ]

43. He said what they were all thinking out loud.

If this were a dictatorship it would be a heck of a lot easier... as long as I'm the dictator. Hehehe.
~George W. Bush

I kind of see him as a precursor to Trump. Then Palin came along with her racist rhetoric & wasn't shut down by the media or the Republican Party so it opened the door wide for Trump with his combo platter of racism & misogyny.

Guess what, you cult assholes, we're not going back. You take your hate back to your living rooms & private BBQs & you keep that shit out of OUR public sphere.

[mainer]

45. Maybe the Dems asked him to please stay silent?

I have no doubt he despises Trump. But his endorsement of Kamala comes with drawbacks. It opens up an avenue of attack against her. I can just see the rightwing response: "Incompetent warmonger of course endorses the Dems."

I would prefer he stay quiet. I don't think GWB is an evil man, but he is a weak and incompetent man.

[nolabear]

46. Ami the only one things GW is dumb as a brick?

An endorsement from him is meaningless.

[Raven123]

47. Nope. I'm with you. Bush wasn't gonna stymie anyone

[Clouds Passing]

48. The bush family is the reason we have Dump. They're another terrorist crime family.

[WarGamer]

56. tweet author doesn't seem to understand the neocons definition of "Democracy"

And Shrub is quite poewrless in the GOP of 2024.

[aocommunalpunch]

57. Useless waste of oxygen.

Just flatline already so I can go back to not thinking about him. What a fucking disgrace.

[GoreWon2000]

59. bushthief killed American democracy in 2000!

bushthief created the election stealing road map in Florida in 2000 that the orange turd is now using. It would be the height of hypocrisy for bushthief to endorse Harris-Walz. bush thief didn't care one bit about democracy in 2000.

[wishstar]

60. Even though daddy Bush had enough sense to vote for Hillary

although momma Barbara despised Trump and stated that G HW Bush voted for Hillary, she said she wrote in Jeb on her ballot. Not surprised she couldn't bring herself to vote for Hillary since she was so snarky toward Hillary and seemed to deeply resent Bill Clinton for defeating the elder Bush.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/book-details-barbara-bushs-dislike-trump-estrangement-gop/story?id=61960776

[Buckeyeblue]

63. I won't defend W. He was a horrible president

But he hasn't endorsed Trump. And he won't. He didn't speak during the convention. His silence says everything.

[BigDemVoter]

66. Fuck him. He is a war criminal.

[madinmaryland]

67. CHICKEN GEORGE can go fvck himself.

[milestogo]

68. I don't have very high expectations of him.

If he endorsed Harris I would be in shock.

[Sparkly]

69. Is he even sentient at this point?

I'm sorry, but he seemed to be losing his mental ability (limited as it was to begin with) back in 2004. He's done nothing since 2008 that would indicate intellectual vigor. It doesn't seem politicians seek his counsel, his endorsement, or his appearance for much of anything except the rare "all living past presidents in attendance" events.

Of course, tfg makes him look brilliant.

[Mad_Machine76]

70. Do we even *want* his endorsement?

Really? I don't really even care. We can officially say he's not our worst President but he's still not somebody whose endorsement we really want, right?

[DFW]

73. "Doing the right thing"

That was never W’s strong point.

(Unless Cheney gave him permission first)

[Martin Eden]

74. Really shouldn't expect much from a WAR CRIMINAL

Last edited Tue Aug 27, 2024, 09:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Arguably, his crimes are worse than Trump's.

Bush and his cohorts exploited the national tragedy of 9/11 to launch the PNAC war of choice in Iraq based in a coordinated campaign of deliberate lies about ties to al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction.

Nearly 5,000 American soldiers were killed; many times that number were grievously wounded; the final cost will be in the $trillions; the fiasco gave rise to the next generation of battle hardened terrorists; the region is still in turmoil; and upwards of a million people have died.

[Passages]

75. A terrible man, and who would he influence versus Adam Kinzinger?

The Obamas and the Clintons can have him, for whatever politeness they believe is necessary. Most Americans have no respect for him nor should they.

War Criminals Among Us: Bush, Cheney, and the Eyes of the World
In which we learn how to say 'war crimes' in Malaysian.
By Charles P. Pierce Published: Jun 01, 2015

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a35397/bush-cheney-war-crimes/

[awesomerwb1]

76. He's a coward

Always has been.
I always found the "relationship" between the Obamas and the Bushs pretty weird.

[Botany]

77. This mother fucker?

He had coffee and cigars with Prince Bandar whose wife paid for the room and board for
some of the 9/11 hijackers less than 1 week after the attack.

[hadEnuf]

78. Did anybody really believe that little dick GW Bush had changed?