Why President Bush Is Popular Now

Mohammad Y Al Onaizi
6 min readJan 29, 2018

Will Ferrell, as funny as he is, is wrong about comparisons between President Bush and Trump.

Photo Credit: Changedotgov

Will Ferrell reminded everyone of how bad Bush was by recalling all the damage that he did. But the damage that Trump is doing is not even close in comparison to Bush. Lets first get two things out of the way; Bush started two wars that are still ongoing, but honestly, if the US really wanted to leave Iraq and Afghanistan then they would have left a long time ago. They are strategic locations and the US will always have a presence there. The damage that Bush did to the economy was reversible, and it was reversed (Thanks Obama). Now, lets talk about Trump.

Damage At Home

Trump’s attacks on the free press is right out of the dictator playbook. He wants to control what is said about him, making sure its all positive, while shutting up and even punishing those that write anything negative about him. But Bush stood there and took the shoe that was thrown at him! He never tried attacking the freedom of the press, or the freedom to criticize him.

Trump is banning Muslims from entering the country. This is an attack on the US constitution, and everything that the US stands for, or at least used to. Racism has always been present in the US, but what he has done now is make it okay to be racist. Unlike the economy that Bush ruined, the racism that Trump has opened the door to would be hard to reverse. I’ll admit, the neo-con movement did start during the Bush years, but what he didn’t do is lead it. Right-wing groups started popping up around the world after 9/11, but I cant recall Bush retweeting right wing racist garbage, or giving them a platform. But Trump is their leader now, they are marching the streets with their tiki-torches wearing his golf attire. You can now put a face on neo-cons, neo-nazis, and right wing nuts, and that face is orange. He retweets a FAKE video that shows Muslims in a bad light, just to push his racist policy. He waits for any news about an attack by a Muslim terrorist in the US and even in London, so that he can quickly go on Twitter and push his agenda again. But you hear deafening silence whenever there is a mass shooting in the US with a white perpetrator. But he is worried about the safety of Americans, yeah right!

A plot was recently foiled of a neo-nazi who planned a terrorist attack against CNN employees. I wonder who pushed him to think like that? Bush or the guy who retweeted a video of him attacking CNN? Trump is creating terrorists at home and you are going on about Bush creating ISIS? Bush created the perfect atmosphere for ISIS to be created, but he didn't actually create it, and he didn't encourage it. Trump on the other hand, is creating the perfect atmosphere for neo-nazis to take to the streets and run over a woman, and then he pats them on the back and calls them “fine people”. Trump is creating terrorists in America, Will! But yeah, Bush was really bad.

Shithole Countries? Asshole President!

I remember at the height of Bush's unpopularity when he was President, a poll was made asking people which celebrity would they love to have over for a barbecue, and Bush was in the top 5. As bad as his policies were, there is something about him that when you look at him you say “he seems like a nice guy.” Honestly, if I ever saw him in the street I would invite him for a cup of coffee cause he seems like a nice guy to sit and talk with. Trump on the other hand is an asshole! There is no other word that fits him more than that, except for racist of course, and hypocrite, and conman. Bush may have been a bad President, but he can be categorized as a decent human being, and this is the main reason he has gained popularity during the Trump presidency. Bush showed human emotions, respect, and empathy. Things that are too difficult for an asshole to show. An asshole only thinks of himself “MY policies lowered black unemployment”, “I made America great again”, and it just goes on and on. Look at the photo I added at the top, can you honestly imagine Trump as a former President mingling with his predecessors like Bush has done?

When the four Green Berets were killed in Niger, Trump, the asshole that he is, started a fight with the family of one of the fallen men. And its no surprise to point out that that fallen soldier was African American. Compare that with a story of Bush when he was President. When visiting the family of a fallen soldier, the sister of the fallen soldier made sure that the President heard her loud and clear. The story says that she was yelling at him and Bush stood there and heard every word she had to say, and when she was done, he went over and hugged her. That is why people are now starting to like President Bush; he made mistakes, cost the lives of many American soldiers with his wars, but he will stand there and listen to what you have to say, and show remorse for his mistakes. If that was Trump in that spot, he would have gone on Twitter and insulted her.

One Year

There is so much bad shit that can be listed about Trump, but don’t forget Will, it has only been a year! Just one year! Well, about 100 days if you minus the days he has been playing golf. Bush took 8 years to show how bad he was as a President, but Trump did it in one year. My favorite political commentator is by far Keith Olbermann, and I remember during the Bush years how he would slaughter Bush on his show, Countdown. I recall what he said right before the 2016 elections; “I would take a 3rd term of George W. Bush over one day of President Donald J. Trump!” I agreed with that statement but unfortunately we got one term of Trump. Can you imagine if Trump has 8 years also (dear God no)! Not only Bush’s, but Richard F*cking Nixon’s approval ratings would reach 100!

To end this comparison between Bush and Trump, I will let President Bush speak for himself. I should also note that I think Bush was a bad President, but when compared with Trump, there is no comparison! This is what Bush said just a few days after 9/11. Trump would never come out with a statement like this even if you paid him! Read it and tell me who is a worse human and President:

The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.

When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race — out of every race.

America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.

Follow me on Twitter for more political commentary @Onaizim

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Mohammad Y Al Onaizi

Published author of ‘Retribution’ available on Amazon. Aspiring screenwriter. I write blogs about my life, sports, and politics because that’s what I studied!