George W. Bush's "Best Moment" as President

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that has been picked up by British wire service Reuters, President Bush explained that his best moment in office -- his best moment in office -- "was when I caught a 7.5 pound (3.402 kilos) perch in my lake." Can't say I entirely disagree.

While there is quite a bit of talk of the worst things George W. Bush has done as resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- authorizing domestic wiretapping without court oversight; launching a war against Iraq prematurely and without sufficient planning; trying to privatize Social Security; destroying the federal budget; you name it -- scant attention has been devoted on this side of the aisle to George W. Bush's better moments.

Last month Josh Marshall asked TPM readers if they could think of any Bush policies that seemed unpopular in the short term but proved prescient in the long term, a query along similar lines. One response was the Do Not Call registry, though I'm not certain that met the criteria as it was popular from the get go.

So, what do you think? What would you label as Bush's "best moment" in office?



Display:


George W. Bush's "Best Moment" (3.00 / 2)

It hasn't happened yet.  It'll be at 11:59 AM, January 20, 2009.


by drlimerick on Sun May 07, 2006 at 02:06:58 PM EST

Oil Companies will lead us to gas independence (3.00 / 0)




And he said it with a straight face, too.
by turnerbroadcasting on Sun May 07, 2006 at 02:28:10 PM EST

Best Moment (3.00 / 1)

I'm on board with the perch.  Must be the first time in his administration when I've agreed with - or believed - a word that son of a bitch has said.  Perch.


by carlmanaster on Sun May 07, 2006 at 02:30:10 PM EST

Re: GWB's "Best Moment" as President (none / 0)

7.5 lb perch?  Pffft.  Lying out of his nether regions.  As any old time fisherman will tell you, those stories are total bunk.  Bush is no different, and likely worse.


by pseudo999 on Sun May 07, 2006 at 02:46:07 PM EST

Re: GWB's "Best Moment" as President (none / 0)

Exactly. There's no way he caught a perch that big. Another Bush lie, the pettiest of all.


by godotnut on Sun May 07, 2006 at 04:40:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: GWB's "Best Moment" as President (3.00 / 1)

He's not lying!  It was bad intelligence!  The CIA said it was 7.5 pounds!


by Reece on Sun May 07, 2006 at 06:13:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: George W. Bush's "Best Moment" (none / 0)

Just when the Republicans are cratering, I'm not sure why it's such a good idea for progressives and Democrats to try to find and promote the things they've done that have actually worked.


by Reece on Sun May 07, 2006 at 03:18:27 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush's "Best Moment" (none / 0)

Well, it doesn't seem to be happening in this thread anyway ;-)


by kvenlander on Sun May 07, 2006 at 08:35:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Genetics (3.00 / 1)

The president's strong stand against the creation of human-animal hybrids in the last SOTU was quite inspirational.  


by Winston Smith on Sun May 07, 2006 at 03:35:58 PM EST

Re: Genetics (none / 0)

See, you'll regret your snark in fifty years when every owns a Manape.


by js noble on Sun May 07, 2006 at 03:43:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Final Frontier (3.00 / 1)

His proposed mission to Mars was also pretty visionary in a "where the hell did that come from" kind of way.


by who threw da cat on Sun May 07, 2006 at 03:46:06 PM EST

Re: The Final Frontier (none / 0)

It came from "lets defund the pesky climate etc scientists and space telescope people at NASA" by mandating a program that forced huge reallocation of funds inside NASA.


by kvenlander on Sun May 07, 2006 at 08:34:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: George W. Bush's "Best Mo (none / 0)

The Do Not Call list is probably his best accomplishment. It's actually even a teensy bit surprising, given that some big companies (the telemarketers) opposed it.


by DavidNYC on Sun May 07, 2006 at 03:53:34 PM EST

Bush's "Best Moment" as President (3.00 / 2)

My vote is for the pretzel thing, just before it was dislodged.


by nycounsel on Sun May 07, 2006 at 04:02:31 PM EST

George's Fish Tale (3.00 / 4)

Only yellow and white perch are found in the US.  The current worlds records for both of these fish are below 4.5 lbs, so Bush didn't catch a 7.5lb fish in his pond.  Not unless it was stocked with the nonindigenous Nile perch, which would be highly illegal.  Being illegal wouldn't stop Bush, but it is more likely pathological lying.

But, I must say that we all would have been much better off if Bush had spent all of the last six years on the shore of his pond catching fish.


by AlphaHydroxy on Sun May 07, 2006 at 04:07:19 PM EST

Re: George's Fish Tale (none / 0)

  The perch statement reminds me of the sexist joke:Girls are bad at math because they believe that "that" is six inches long?


by ocdemocrat on Sun May 07, 2006 at 05:37:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

McCain-Feingold (none / 0)

He signed it.  After talking shit about it up to the moment he signed it, of course; he was against campaign finance reform before he was for it.

But I'm surprised he didn't say his favorite moment was when he cut the estate, dividend, and income taxes for the rich, gave billions to his friends in the medical and energy industries, blew up Iraq, or authorized torture.  You know, the stuff he and the Republicans actually wanted.


by Drew on Sun May 07, 2006 at 05:46:53 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush's "Best Moment" (none / 0)

Someone should make t-shirts:

George Didn't Need to Be President to Catch that Perch.


by Reece on Sun May 07, 2006 at 06:15:38 PM EST

Colonialism (none / 0)

Only two things I have agreed with Bush on so far.  The Do Not Call List, and the President's task report on the status of Puerto Rico .  The report outlines a method to move PR toward a non-territorial status, should PR decide to vote to resolve their current status issues.  


How is John McCain different than John Edwards?
by The lurking ecologist on Sun May 07, 2006 at 08:12:50 PM EST

Bush Signed Law for Filipino WWII Veteran (none / 0)

As a rabid anti-Bush Filipino American, I was pleasantly surprised that Bush in 2003 finally signed the bill granting Filipino World War II veterans the benefits that they were promised.  This bill gave Filipino veterans who fought along side Americans compelete health care benefits that all veterans receive.  Although the few remaining veterans are well into their 70's & 80's, they deserve this and more as they continue to fight for pension payments.


by agi500 on Sun May 07, 2006 at 09:11:33 PM EST

Stationary diesel air regs. (none / 0)

And we didn't bomb France.


by Allmaya on Sun May 07, 2006 at 11:29:12 PM EST

He's a stupid liar. (none / 0)

Psychopathic delusional fool. This dolt is adolescent.


by dereau on Mon May 08, 2006 at 02:13:58 AM EST

The Only Good Thing (none / 0)

I'll give him props for creating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.
I know it didn't cost him a thing to do since there are only about eight fishing boats that ply those waters, but it was the right thing to do and for the one and only time in his pResidency he actually did it.
by MtnBkrEric on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 06:32:47 PM EST


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