Barnes: Bush ‘More Like’ America’s ‘Greatest President,’ Abraham Lincoln
Barnes: Bush ‘More Like’ America’s ‘Greatest President,’ Abraham Lincoln
Last weekend on Fox News’s “Beltway Boys” program, co-hosts Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes brought up the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, on February 12. “I’m glad you pointed this out,” Kondracke said to Barnes. “Well I’m a great Lincoln fan,” Barnes added.
Barnes, of course, is also a great George W. Bush fan and thus seized the opportunity to boast about how much Bush is just like Lincoln:
BARNES: Not only was he America’s greatest president, I think he was America’s greatest political leader. He was so incredibly shrewd. Well, Obama has made — he was from Illinois and Lincoln was from Illinois and that’s fine. But in some ways, you know what was more like Lincoln in his presidency? George W. Bush.
Watch it:
But Barnes may be disappointed by a recent analysis from a group of — what some might probably argue — more objective observers. On Sunday, C-SPAN released a survey in which 65 presidential historians ranked the former presidents “on ten attributes of leadership.” While they ranked Lincoln first, Bush came in at number 36.
Moreover, many historians “are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.” Indeed, according to an informal poll of historians last year, 98 percent rated Bush’s presidency a failure while 60 percent said Bush is the worst of all U.S. presidents.
Nevertheless, the loyal Bushies like Barnes (and Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, Newt Gingrich, John Gibson, David Brooks, Glenn Beck, Rudy Giuliani and even Bush himself) will continue to fog the mirrors trying to make you believe Bush is one of the best presidents ever — just like Lincoln. But as legal scholar Garrett Epps once noted, “George W. Bush is Lincoln the way Dan Quayle is Jack Kennedy.”
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Well, if Barnes meant that for all intents and purpsoses, Bush’s political career is as dead as Lincoln’s, he’s right.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:49 pmDid Barnes also want Bush’s Presidency to end like Lincoln’s?
February 17th, 2009 at 1:50 pmYou have to forgive guys like Barnes, and Bush… when every last thing you touch turns to sh*te on you like it has for the last eight years, non-stop, all you have left is fantasy nonsense.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:50 pmBARNES: Not only was he America’s greatest president, I think he was America’s greatest political leader. He was so incredibly shrewd. Well, Obama has made — he was from Illinois and Lincoln was from Illinois and that’s fine. But in some ways, you know what was more like Lincoln in his presidency? George W. Bush.
Because one presided over a Civil War in this country while the other created one in Iraq ………
Yeah , real similarity there , Fred …….
February 17th, 2009 at 1:51 pmRemember, Faux News is paying Fred Barnes to say these kinds of things.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:53 pmIt’s like they don’t think; they simply play match-up games.
“So the Democrats want to make Obama out to be like Lincoln, huh? Well how about this? Obama’s not. George W. Bush was. So there.”
February 17th, 2009 at 1:53 pmDubya is to Greatest President
February 17th, 2009 at 1:55 pmas
Ishtar is to the Oscars
Barnes: But in some ways, you know what was more like Lincoln in his presidency? George W. Bush.
Well, sure. Both were white.
The similarities, however, end there.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:56 pmBARNES: But in some ways, you know what was more like Lincoln in his presidency? George W. Bush.
Obama is black.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:56 pmBush is more like Hitler.
Want proof?
I cite only 3 examples, but the list is nearly endless
It would be easier in a dictatorship, just as long as I’m, the dictator.- George W. Bush
I’m the decider- George W. Bush
The Constitution is just a God damned piece of paper – George W. Bush
Feel free to expand on this.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:56 pmLet us hope that the biggest similarity between Lincoln and W is that Lincoln was the first Republican President and W was the last.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:59 pmrayman says; dubya is to the greatest President
as
Plan 9 From Outer Space to the Academy Awards
Ther, I fixed it for you :-)
February 17th, 2009 at 1:59 pmBARNES: But in some ways, you know what was more like Lincoln in his presidency? George W. Bush.
Yes, everyone has read about Lincoln’s taunt to the Confederacy to “Bring it on”, while standing beneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:00 pmOT, CBS is reporting that the Obama administration is backing Karl Rove’s right not to testify before Congress!!!
February 17th, 2009 at 2:01 pmPeople saying stupid stuff like “Bush was more like Lincoln really must not care about their careers or credibility.
Abraham Lincoln was well loved by the majority of the nation and all the world mourned when he died.
Bush is well hated by the majority of the nation, and all the world cheered when he finally left office.
There’s a school of thought in the Conservative movement that I attribute to the influence of Karl Rove, that teaches if you just say something, no matter how preposterous or absurd, someone will believe it. Clearly these two knuckleheads are Alumni of that school of thought.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:01 pmWhen exactly did Lincoln ever don a Commander Codpiece outfit or dress up like a reject from a Village People cover band ?
February 17th, 2009 at 2:02 pmIs this like one of those “Bush had a secretary named Lincoln, Lincoln had a secretary named Bush” sort of deals?
February 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm“incredibly shrewd” is Bushitco speak for “demented criminal”.
This Barnes guy has lost his marbles. No doubt about it.
Why is Fox having to resort to old washed up ‘has beens’ parading as “relevants”? Are they that hard up for guests?
Putting this senile demented moron on and having him wax positive for Bush is like putting Goebels on and having him compliment Hitler!
February 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pmBush has always been a charade – a total charlatan and the GOPhers know it. He’s a disgrace to the office, a criminal among us. I wonder how these Bush groupies are going to feel when they see him in an orange jumpsuit being paraded into prison?
February 17th, 2009 at 2:09 pmI have a reminder everyday I wipe my butt. With my special order of Bush Toilet paper, Mr. Prez gets a wiff of my scent every morning.
How refreshing.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:10 pmBarnes: Wrong then, and still wrong now. And he gets a paycheck? For being wrong? Failing upward is a very ‘Bushian’ success strategy. Be wrong often enough and you get to keep your job informing others of the facts you have at your disposal. Facts which, of course, ARE WRONG!
February 17th, 2009 at 2:10 pmWell, remember, these are the same people who believe Reagan was the greatest president of all time. Even these presidential “scholars” place him in the Top 10.
When Reagan died, my brother (good man, politically deluded) said “The man just died. Can’t you think of anything nice to say about him?”
It took a moment, but I replied “Thanks to Bush, I no longer regard Reagan as the worst president of my lifetime. Didn’t think that could happen.”
PEACE
February 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pmincredibly shrewd is like Fox’s ‘fair and balanced’. This old dude let the cat out of the bag: what he meant to say was that he was a criminal who was able to get away with it because he was so shrewd.
As they say: out of the mouths of babes (and geysers in Depends)….
February 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pmWill someone please get the toilet paper and buttwipes: Cleanup needed on Fox News! Barnes also needs a case or two of Depends, along with napkins because he’s shat all over his own face.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pmIt goes to show how confused and divided this country is when you hear someone say Bush was as good as Lincoln. On what basis can someone make such a claim?
The almighty tax cuts for the rich seem to compensate for all screwups and failures. Just put a couple bucks in the wallets of the havemores and they’ll go out there and say you’re as good as Abraham Lincoln. No matter how bad you screw up!
February 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pmhow can you compare bush to lincoln, how disrespectfull that is.Bush is rasist president, lincoln wasn’t it, i think thats explains alot, Sample : New orleans didnt get help until whole country hammered the goverment.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pmBarnes has a point: both suspended habeus corpus.
The difference is…when Lincoln did it, our country was physically under attack from an enemy bordering us. Not from individuals living thousands of miles away.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pmWell in fairness Bush did have many of us willing to fight another civil war.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pmAw Fred, you’re just sayin’ that ‘cuz ya went huntin’ wit Karl and he tolt ya ta say that. Or he’d shoot ya in the face like Dick teached him.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pmWell between the New Orleans disaster, 9/11, his failed medical policies, failed economic policies and his failed war in Iraq, Bush stands to kill almost as many American citizens as the Civil War did.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pmThis low presidential rating will only get lower once all the “secret documents” that are sealed for 50 years ( by presidential order ) get released.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:27 pmThe more is revealed about the bush presidency, the worst it looks for his “legacy”.
Fred Barnes is an asshat with no, absolutely no, credibilty what so ever! Total moron.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:29 pmIf you play the Bush Administration backwards, it’s a lot like Lincoln.
8 Years without a Leader
February 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pmHitler/Bush Parallels:
February 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pmAn evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland. (Hitler, proposing the creation of the Gestapo)
For God’s will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord’s creation, the divine will.(Op Cit, Mein Kampf)
What luck for rulers that men do not think. (Op Cit.)
Bush did more for Bin Laden than he did for the USA. Ran our military and economy into the ground, undermined our rights and liberties as well as ruining our reputation around the world. Bush is a skidmark and wingnuts like Barnes love to lick the skidmarks from the toilet bowl of history.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:33 pmOnly he ones that aren’t dead you mean.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:33 pmI’m sorry, but you sir are no “big fan of Lincoln”. By having the audacity to compare Bush’s tenure with Honest Abe’s, you marginalize all that the latter had accomplished. And although there was no video footage to fact check, I’m pretty damn sure Abraham was articulate and intelligent!
February 17th, 2009 at 2:33 pmBesides, Lincoln was a very intelligent and moral person….unlike Bush.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pmI know, Lincoln composed his own speeches and Bush choreographed his little tap dance in front of the White House. That must be it.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:35 pmWha?!?!?
February 17th, 2009 at 2:35 pmLTdum Says:
They were both republican presidents with similiar thoughts. Lincoln freed the slaves and Bush freed the Iraqi people.
Freudian slip on spelling, dum dum?
And I had no idea that the Iraqi people where such an oppressed bunch. Generation after generation taken from their homeland to serve as slaves for rich Iraqi citizens? Man, my world history needs a refresher course.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:36 pmSo LoserDan, I guess you believe in destroying a country to save it, right?
February 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pmLTdan Says:
They were both republican presidents with similiar thoughts. Lincoln freed the slaves and Bush freed the Iraqi people.
This..is..hilarious!! I’m..laugh..ing…so…hard…I can’t…breathe! You must be a writer for Colbert.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pmSo, Republicans who want us to stop complaining about Bush because he’s no longer in power feel the need to lionize him unchallenged.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pmTypical GOP.
Really PLC those clowns at Fox are way more over the top than Colbert.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:38 pmOld farts like Barnes are:
1) painfully out of touch for the last couple decades.
2) near the end of their mortal days, so who cares. let’em jabber on like abraham simpson about their beards of bees, and lbj, and party-line phones.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:40 pmLincoln would be run out of the GOP if he were around today.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:40 pmYes Fred — cuz lord knows, when I think of great documents from American history like the Gettysburg Address, The Emancipation Proclamation, Meditation on the Divine Will — the first person who comes to mind is that intellectual giant, humble statesman and humanitarian George W. Bush. Somebody really ought to give Fred Barnes an intervention — the drug abuse is obvious and it’s having an enormously negative impact on his cognitive abilities.
Just saying . . .
February 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pmIn most measures, the Iraqi people are worse off now than before our ill advised invasion of their soverign nation. Electricity, gas, sewage, education, refugees, political stability, Iranian agression, healthcare, infant mortality, etc…In know significant way did Bush’s ‘freeing’ of the Iraqi’s, make for a better world. Bush could screw up a wet dream.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pmLincoln tried to represent the interests of all the people, not just the wealthy elite.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:42 pmIf only they could have traded Secret Service details, our nation would have been made better in the mid-19th century… and the early 21st century.
PEACE
February 17th, 2009 at 2:43 pmAnother delusional Republican trying to rewrite history.
That’s exactly right. Hey guys, check out my new blog at http://plunditry.com . Thanks!
February 17th, 2009 at 2:44 pmLTdan Says:
Well, Lt.dan technically is right. George W. Bush freed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis — freed them right into the afterlife.
Egads — the stupid — it burns!!!!!!!!!!!
Just saying . . .
February 17th, 2009 at 2:45 pmRoger Ailes makes this wingnut say these stupid things.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:47 pmBeing president during a civil war in ones own nation, and an illegal invasion and occupation of a country that wasn’t a threat just does not compare in a rational mind.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:56 pmkasinca Says:
Roger Ailes makes this wingnut say these stupid things.
Fred Barnes was saying stupid things before FoxNoose was even created. It’s really all he does — the only difference is now he speaks them out loud instead of writing them down.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:00 pmlol funny…
Meet the Press as we’d like to see it, with Space Ghost audio. …
http://crooksandliars.com/bluegal/open-thread-88
February 17th, 2009 at 3:01 pmThe Republicant’s are starting to remind me of a giant cookoo clock. Once an hour one of them comes out and goes cooko, cooko (making some weird proclamation).
February 17th, 2009 at 3:03 pmI wonder if Fred and other apologists consider the masses wrong while they are the smallest minority who think they are right. I would say that could be a form of insanaity.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:04 pmI’m not able to see the video here at work — did Barnes give any actual specifics? Or is he just employing the Rovian tactic of “if you say something often enough, people will believe it”?
You can paste a set of wings on a skunk and call it an eagle, but that doesn’t make it so.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:05 pmLTdan Says:
They were both republican presidents with similiar thoughts. Lincoln freed the slaves and Bush freed the Iraqi people.
Of course you realize, a$$hat, that the Republican party back when Lincoln was President bears absolutely no resemblance to the Republican party of today. But, that would take some critical thinking skills which this one obviously does not possess.
LTdan – I’m betting your local JC has a class in critical thinking. It might help you to take that class. Then you can post without sounding like a total moron.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:07 pmLTdan says:
Lincoln freed the slaves
Bush murdered the Iraqis
There, I fixed it for you.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:10 pmA thank you is not necessary.
LTdan Says
February 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
__________________________________________________________
“They were both republican presidents…”
– In name only. The Republican Party today bears absolutely no resemblance to the Republican Party of Lincoln’s time. They were progressives back then — they’re regressives now.
“…with similiar thoughts.”
– The only similar thoughts these two presidents had was probably the feeling of having to pee when getting out of bed in the morning. Lincoln was a realist; Bush has the most skewed sense of reality I’ve ever seen in a president in my lifetime (and yes — Nixon was within my lifetime!). Lincoln’s goal was to preserve the Union; Bush’s goal was to get revenge for an attack on his daddy and to provide cushy no-bid contracts for his buddies. Lincoln was concerned about the country; Bush is concerned about his legacy and all the money he can make from speaking fees in his retirement. The list goes on and on.
“Lincoln freed the slaves…”
– No argument there.
“…and Bush freed the Iraqi people.”
February 17th, 2009 at 3:16 pm– Only if you consider going from the frying pan to the fire “freedom”.
Bush was more like a Lincoln log…and I don’t mean the wooden type either…
…you know, the outhouse type of log.
LTDan is proof that the movie Idiosynchrocy is indeed a documentary.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:21 pmSilly question time. If Lincoln freed the slaves, why did we need the civil rights movement 100 years later?
February 17th, 2009 at 3:40 pmFred Barnes ia a third-rater who survives by prostituting his pen to the Right.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:42 pmTP says: “George W. Bush is Lincoln the way Dan Quayle is Jack Kennedy.”
Let me see if I’ve got this, neocons:
WAR: Lincoln grieved for both sides and worked to END war. Botch started two of them and gloated.
SLAVERY: Lincoln worked to abolish it; Botch struggled to impose it economically at home and abroad.
ERUDITION: Lincoln valued education so highly that he taught himself by firelight when necessary and read widely. Botch values it so little that he has learned little actual history, science, or literature, and he has laid waste to the US educational system.
PATRIOTISM: Lincoln strove to unite and heal the nation; Botch has attacked any expression of unity that did not involve worshiping neoconism.
SELF-EXPRESSION: Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address; wrote it alone; delivered it without prompts. Botch relied upon speech-writers and STILL could not give a coherent oration.
FIDELITY: Through great pain, Lincoln upheld his Presidential oath of fidelity to the Constitution. Through thick [-headedness] and thin [grasp of ethics], Botch has stomped it.
“Taking one for America”: Lincoln LITERALLY took a bullet for upholding his ethics. Botch took a shoe.
Okay, I think I understand. Botch IS like Lincoln–if you mean “Lincoln Logs.” [Wooden, no brains, easily manipulable, entertaining but useless, intriguing to children. . . ]
February 17th, 2009 at 3:49 pmBBBwwwhhhhaaaaaaa…..LOL…Barnes..BBBwwwhhhaaaaaaaa…. Barnes is an idiot…..Bwwwwhhhaaaaaa……rolling on floor……
MAN that truck load of Cheneyaide came a little late, hey ??…..BBwwhhaaaaaaaaa…..
February 17th, 2009 at 3:50 pmThe Republic of Stupidity Says:
Well, if Barnes meant that for all intents and purpsoses, Bush’s political career is as dead as Lincoln’s, he’s right.
Mebbe so, mebbe no: Lincoln’s political career STILL inspires emulation. Botch’s “career” inspires violent opposition, if one has a viable synapse.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:50 pmVery nicely elucidated, telestai.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pmUnless Bush has been quoted as saying “Four wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Constitution, Middle Class) and many beers ago…” then no there is nothing Bush has done that compares him to Abraham Lincoln.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:54 pmLTdan Says:
They were both republican presidents with similiar thoughts. Lincoln freed the slaves and Bush freed the Iraqi people.
I’ve obviously missed something. When, exactly, did “the Iraqi people” become free? Free from WHAT?
February 17th, 2009 at 3:57 pmIn terms of violating the constitution, I’d have to agree with Barnes. Dubya and Lincoln are two of the worst violators.
Dubya is nowhere near Lincoln in intellect, but then he’s also nowhere near Ms. South Carolina either.
But Lincoln was the prototypical “unitary executive.”
February 17th, 2009 at 3:59 pmHussein Leporello Says:
Hitler/Bush Parallels:
An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland. (Hitler, proposing the creation of the Gestapo)
Chilling. That speech [or document] was not familiar to me. If it’s accurate, it fits WAAAY too well.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:59 pmjb Says:
Lincoln would be run out of the GOP if he were around today.
And he would immediately become a Democrat–or Progressive.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
LTdan – I’m betting your local JC has a class in critical thinking. It might help you to take that class. Then you can post without sounding like a total moron.
My, BBB, you ARE optimistic, aren’t you?
February 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pmHoodathunk Says:
Silly question time. If Lincoln freed the slaves, why did we need the civil rights movement 100 years later?
We needed the civil rights movement because, even then, the ancestors of today’s neocons were going their merry racist, classist, oligarchical way.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:07 pmWhenever I hear this tired old talking point, I always want to ask, “LTdan, exactly when did you realize your unabiding love for the Iraqi people? Have you always felt this deep commitment to the Iraqis? Or, is your overriding concern for their welfare a more recent development? Please explain how you arrived at your unequivocal devotion to the Iraqi people.”
February 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
Very nicely elucidated, telestai.
Thankkew. . .
February 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pmBARNES: Not only was he America’s greatest president, I think he was America’s greatest political leader. He was so incredibly shrewd. Well, Obama has made — he was from Illinois and Lincoln was from Illinois and that’s fine. But in some ways, you know what was more like Lincoln in his presidency? George W. Bush.
Just because George’s mom sported a beard at one time similar to Lincoln’s does not make Georgie boy more like him or mirror his presidency , Fred ………
February 17th, 2009 at 4:17 pmIt’s nice to know rich and poor, white collar criminal and street thug alike have a taste for crack cocaine.
Can someone hack Karl Rove’s cell phone to get the photographic evidence of Fred Barnes taking a hit off the glass pipe?
February 17th, 2009 at 4:22 pmWebbe see, Bush shares many things with Lincoln. They were both responsible for the deaths of Americans. They are both white. They both put their pants on one leg at a time?
February 17th, 2009 at 4:26 pmAs to the freeing the Iraqi people, just when did we get the invite?
February 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pmAnd if you want to be technical about it, the US has stood for freedom and democracy and such for over 200 years. In that time we have acted to ‘free’ a small number of countries.
My question is, how many of them have actually asked for the assist?
February 17th, 2009 at 4:33 pmLTdan Says:
They were both republican presidents with similiar thoughts. Lincoln freed the slaves and Bush freed the Iraqi people.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Iraqi people arent freed moron they are occupied, that is like the opposite of freedom. Bush isnt good enough to speak Lincolns name. You are too stupid to be believed.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:01 pmBush like Lincoln is a thought so devoid of reality so mind bogglingly inane that it simply defies comprehension
February 17th, 2009 at 5:03 pm#79, telestai2:
February 17th, 2009 at 5:23 pmYup, that’s an excerpt from a speech Hitler gave proposing the creation of the Gestapo. Yet another case of history repeating itself. The parallels are quite disturbing.
Unfortunately for Fred Barnes, millions of Americans believe he belongs in a mental hospital.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:11 pm“The Bush Legacy: Capital Murder”
I think this possible title for a book detailing all the crimes of the Bush/Cheney years works on several levels, both involving torture and what they did to the economy: capital murder.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:55 pm