All politicians sell out to one degree or another; it's a necessary component of that game we refer to as politics. But no one will top Bush in our lifetime. He was a complete and utter failure by any measure, regardless of ideology or loyalty.
The truth is that we should always want our presidents to succeed, regardless of our political party or affiliation. To hope for anything else is to hope for our country to fail.
No one has forgotten, nor will anyone forget 9/11. We are reminded of it constantly even if we don't purposefully think about it. Most will never forget the look on Bush's face when one of his aides walked over to where he was sitting in that elementary school classroom to tell him what was happening. His face was that of a man whose heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. It's safe to say that at that moment he was handed the biggest challenge a U.S. president had to face in decades. In the days immediately following 9/11 he seemed to do a pretty good job of rallying the nation, but even then his strongest statement had something to do with knocking down the people who knocked down the towers. After that nothing good happened.
When those tanks first pulled into Bagdad and pulled down that statue of Saddam, coworkers gathered to watch it on TV and almost everyone was cheering. It's difficult to find fault with anyone who, between 9/11 and the Iraq invasion, was gung ho to go after Iraq. We were all looking for a scapegoat and we found one.
But as the years have rolled by and there's been one epic failure after another by this administration, and we've since learned things we (the American public) weren't privy to at the time...we've collectively come to the sickening realization that our country was brought to the brink of despair and ruin by an administration that: 1) had ulterior motives in seeking the presidency (lining bank accounts/wallets, cronyism) and; 2) had no idea how to govern-how to appropriately handle the economy, foreign policy, education policy, a crisis of immense proportion (9/11, Katrina), a deeply polarized electorate, the budget, national infrastructure needs or domestic policy. And the cherry on top of that dysfunctional sundae is the criminal behavior of so many in his administration, especially the DOJ.
Bush was essentially elected because he promised to do whatever he could to protect the right to bear arms, outlaw abortion, prevent the progression of gay rights, and facilitate the merging of church and state through school vouchers, abstinence only sex ed, public policy, and political power. That's it. And the irony is that he does not now nor did he ever give one rat's ass about these issues himself. It was difficult, if not impossible, to understand why Cheney could be so callous about gay rights and marriage when he has a gay daughter who had a child with her partner. It was difficult, if not impossible, to understand why Bush truly seemed to be fairly illiterate yet still get elected, not once but twice. George Walker Bush is not an intelligent, contemplative, visionary man. Could his IQ be any higher than about 100, maybe 110? This guy coasted through private prep schools (Andover) and Yale and Harvard on poor-to-average grades because his father and grandfather paved the way for him and tossed money on that paved road as incentive to allow an otherwise average guy into privileged institutions. His MBA is a crock. His years as Texas' governor were the same kind of sham. His years as the part owner of the Texas Rangers...did he emerge from that "leadership" experience a better leader?
Bush and Cheney made the so-called deal with the devil, exchanging their souls for faulty self-interests. By assuring a large core group of voters (neoconservative evangelicals) they would further that core group's agenda (outlaw abortion, protect gun ownership, hinder/eliminate gay rights, and "put God back in our schools and institutions"), they were elected and therefore able to pursue policies that favored personal interests. Not America or capitalism or democracy, but personal interests. Think Halliburton and no-bid multi-billion dollar contracts in Iraq. Did Bush and Cheney know they would devastate so many aspects of life as we know it in the U.S.? Did they not care so long as they, their friends, families, and business partners would be ok?
Bush is most likely NOT the ultimate bad guy in this story, but rather Rove and Cheney. Bush, Rove and Cheney are quintessential examples of a puppet regime, a Manchurian candidate. But ultimately, Bush IS responsible. He should be held responsible. All of them should be held responsible for what they've done to this nation. The Bush administration is like the petulant child who threw an expensive vase on the floor and it shattered into pieces. Right now our priority as a nation is to sweep up the shards of glass to ensure safety and well-being before we punish the petulant child. And there are no "timeouts" for the Bush administration. They're all due a good ass-whoopin'.