Pawlenty: History will vindicate Bush
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s statement at the Conservative Political Action Conference that “God is in charge” made its way into the debate over funding General Assistance Medical Care yesterday when Rev. Grant Stevenson of St. Matthews Lutheran Church called the governor’s words “offensive.” But a day later, Pawlenty was continuing the rhetoric on CBN in an interview where he asserted George W. Bush would be vindicated by history, Barack Obama will be a one-term president, and that he’s not afraid of the tea party movement.
At a press conference — which preceded the failed attempt to override Pawlenty’s veto of legislation that would continue funding GAMC, which provides healthcare for Minnesota’s poorest — Stevenson had sharp words for Pawlenty (audio):
I’m concerned because they are feeling pressure… from a governor who has a speech to write that he wants to run around the country as he’s being elected president. And I’m not so sure he cares so much anymore about Minnesota and about the people who are here. And I have, actually, a personal request of the governor. Governor, please stop talking to us about God. The governor is going around saying, ‘God is in control.’ We elected you. We elected you to be taking decisions for this state, that will help everyone in this state — things that will lift up the poorest in this state. Don’t pass this off on God. That’s no God we’ve ever heard of. And please stop lecturing us about God. It’s offensive.
Then, as if on cue, Pawlenty took his speech to CBN’s David Brody show, where he repeated the “God’s in charge” rhetoric, then said he’s focusing on 2010 elections before deciding on a presidential run.
Here’s his response when asked if he agrees with Mitt Romney that “history will be kinder” to Bush:
I absolutely agree with those comments. I think President Bush was a leader with strong convictions, and he proposed big changes in entitlement programs and domestic programs. Unfortunately, the Congress — including, for a period of time, the Republican Congress — didn’t adopt those approaches. He’s also going to be defined, of course, by Iraq and the war on terror. I think he’s going to go down as a strong leader in history for that. We could end up with an Iraq that has a democratic government, that is reasonably secure in a very troubled region. If that turns out to be the future, I think he’s going to be remembered very fondly for that. And he also kept us safe. He was very aggressive, as was Vice President Cheney and the rest of the team, on taking it to the terrorists. And that served us well. In eight years since 9-1-1 there were no further attacks. And so I think he should get credit for that.
15 Comments
Comment posted March 2, 2010 @ 1:41 pm
Sadly, I think Pawlenty has taken the lead of Palin and figures pandering to the extreme right will bring book deals and speaking engagements to pad his bank account. He, like Palin, cannot be considered a viable Presidential candidate, but realize there is still an certain audience for their extreme message. Meanwhile, he frightens rational people who get concerned when anyone says they have conversations with “God.” He doesn’t need to even run a viable bid for President to become rich. The question is: who are the moonbats that believe in this guy and would buy his “products?”
Comment posted March 2, 2010 @ 2:26 pm
Wow…Bush will be vindicated? Yep, he will be alright for taking a surplus and turning it in to a very large deficit. Starting two wars? Not a problem. Forget about what would have happened had his push to privatize social security gone through (have you seen the market lately?) ect. He has failed this country completely.
Whereas now we have a growing GDP and unemployment is being addressed in a serious manner. Employment in MN went up in January, so therefore something is going much better than last year. I don’t like the bailout as much as anyone but had it not happened we truly would be in a depression.
There is an never will be a Republican that is good for this country. It’s always the same: a democrat stabilizes the economy and a Republican ruins it. Let’s cut spending on everything but defense, because we don’t need to be able to eat or eat safe, inspected food, but no we need to be able to blow up the whole world.
And stop talking about God, he has no place in and around politics EVER. We do not need to be led by people who believe the world is ending very soon. Perhaps the world will end soon but it will not be the doing of a fictional God.
Comment posted March 2, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
Yes Timmy. Jump on that Bush bandwagon. That’ll get you elected prez.
Comment posted March 2, 2010 @ 4:04 pm
Even theologians don’t believe the “God’s plan” bullshit. Stop blaming and/or crediting “God” for everything. It’s just an easy excuse for not taking responsibility for your actions, Timmy. I guess “God” was to blame for the bridge dropping on your watch, Timmy.
Sounds like the man in the sky bullshit from “The Invention of Lying”.
Comment posted March 2, 2010 @ 10:00 pm
This is what former Texas GOP Chairman Tom Pauken has to say about G. W. Bush in his book, BRINGING AMERICA HOME:
“George W. Bush might have made a terrific Major League Baseball commissioner, but he was a lousy president of the United States. [...]
The Republican Party needs to become, once again, a party guided by basic conservative principles. We need to think about more than just the next election — or what the polls say we should do. Instead, we need to make decisions based on what’s good for our country in the long term.
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Pauken says that Bush, even when he was younger, never seemed particularly interested in the “issues”; he was always more into baseball and seemed “pushed” into politics.”
This excerpt is from a Think Progess post on 3-2-2010
Maybe Pawlenty should read Mr. Pauken’s book. It would seem that Mr. Pauken knows more about G. W. Bush than Pawlenty.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 7:38 am
What exactly are these guys smoking?
I thought they were against drugs. Obviously not.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 8:58 am
Pawlenty is a moron. A mean-spirited moron.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 11:03 am
Bush will never live his legacy down.
It will (and should) continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.
A one man wrecking crew who in 8 years devestated the freedoms of all americans, stripped our national pride by insisting on torture and rendition, and allowed the large corporations to pick our national bones, leaving us a mere skeletal shell of a nation with a weakened economy and a police state.
Gee, THANKS, Bush!
What a weenie, that T-paw!!! T-paw = shrub.
I suggest pruning.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 1:29 pm
Is there any s**t that Tim Pawlenty won’t eat and ask for more in his futile quest for the nomination? Now it is just getting embarrassing as he doesn’t even have to suck up the Bushes at this point… he’s just doing it to practice his brown-nosing. To think that a state known for giving great politicians to the national stage is being represented by this empty suit is sickening.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 2:19 pm
To unrepresented.
I agree with most of your screed, but wake up and realize this: The polemic of left right politics is so over. Democrats ARE as bad as the repubs, in about every way.
War end yet? No.
Banks fixed yet? No.
Jobs fixed yet? No.
Taxes up? Yes.
Cost of living up? Yes.
Until people get mad enough at the corporate takeover of our nation, we will get representatives just like we have today. They will promise you the moon, lying all the while, and then take you to the cleaners.
Election after election, we get screwed.
When will it change? When we finally let go of the two party system.
How can that happen? It can’t – if we think like YOU.
WAKE UP!
Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 4:25 pm
“Vindicated” apparently means “displace Buchanan as worst president in U.S. history.” I’ll go along with that.
Comment posted March 6, 2010 @ 6:23 am
Can their be any doubt now that t paw was a mere phallus holster for Bush
Comment posted March 14, 2010 @ 12:23 am
I have to admit it, Bush is indeed being vindicated by the millions who now live in a free and Democratic Iraq. Why trade snarky barbs back and forth about Repubs are always awful, Dems are always awful — that just perpetuates lack of understanding. Lets go with the facts — Bush is looking right on Iraq, and Obama is looking right on Afghanistan, and American is better off thanks to each of their respective decisions in those regions.
Comment posted March 19, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
President Bush’s policies are already vindicated by an Obama administration that has by-and-large adopted all the key elements of the war on terror.
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