Worst … dynasty … ever

May 10, 2006

We can only hope this isn’t some kind of trial balloon.

[tag]President[/tag] George W. [tag]Bush[/tag] said on Wednesday he thought his younger brother [tag]Jeb[/tag] would make “a great president” but the two-term [tag]governor[/tag] of [tag]Florida[/tag] had given no hint about his intentions.

“I have no idea what he’s going to do. I’ve asked him that question myself. I truly don’t think he knows,” Bush said in an interview with Florida reporters posted on the St. Petersburg Times Website.

The president said he had pushed his “independent minded” brother fairly hard about his plans after leaving the governor’s office next January. He predicted Jeb could have a “very bright” political future.

“I would like to see Jeb [tag]run[/tag] at some point in time, but I have no idea if that’s his intention or not,” Bush said. Asked if Jeb should run for president, Bush said, “I think Jeb would be a great president. But it’s up to Jeb to make a decision to run.”

What’s annoying about this is that Jeb has said, repeatedly, that he has no plans to run in [tag]2008[/tag]. Comments like these from the president sound like the kind of remarks intended to generate buzz and renew speculation about the Florida governor’s plans.

We’ve been warned.

Why oh why didn’t they start with Jeb?
He’d probably be bad, but in maybe a Nixon or Reagan level of badness, one that the country might recover from after a few decades. What craziness made them start with W?

  • I’d say it’s a safe bet that anyone Mr. 30% endorses will not garner the support of the American public. Look for candidates to keep their distance.

  • I think anyone with the name Bush will have little support from the kingmakers. The name is a household word, but with very dark associations. The republicans are in trouble and they won’t tie with Jeb, at least in 2008.
    I am more concerned Hillary will run and devide the country and put another republican in the white house. Rupert Murdoch is an evil bastard. When he raises money for Hillary, watch out. Clinton is another household name with mixed associations.
    If the dems are smart, they will run somebody new and somewhat decent for a change.

  • Why oh why didn’t they start with Jeb?

    Comment by Allen K.

    Hell know’s what people find so appealing about the BushCo cabal, but hopefully America’s horizontal mambo with Shruby will get the Bush thing out of their system for awhile. If Jeb had been a competent and less disasterous President, we might still be looking at an upcoming Shrub candidacy not having a clue how horrible it would be.

    No guarantees unbelievably, but hopefully Shuby has poisoned the well.

  • Of course G.W. Bush is going to say his Brother Jeb would make a great President…Thats a given but like most of what G.W. says it is not true…Jeb Bush has a fundamental understanding of the Metrics of state local goverment however the same can be said of any state Govenor and lets face it not every state Govenor is Presidential material….G.W.’s remarks about his Brother is proof that G.W. is concerned about his family name..Too bad G.W. was not concerned about his family name when he decided to adopt the Neocon agenda and plunge America into the darkest ages of her foreign affairs and image world wide…G.W. can say all he wants about whom ever but most American’s are now entertaining the notion that the Bush family should pass into history….Y.T. Liberals_do_it_better…

  • not having a clue how horrible it would be

    Sorry, there were always plenty of clues and they were ignored. The degree of horribility, (is that a word), came as somewhat of a surprise.

  • Jeb is dead as a Presidential candidate for at least 2 presidential cycles, thanks to this administration. I cannot imagine a persuasive counterargument to this.

    in 2016 this will be far enough in the past for people to look at him again. GWB only says this because he doesn’t comprehend the damage he’s done to the Bush name and the Republican party.

  • Democrat’s campaign message in ’08 (if Bush runs): The rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the rotten tree.

  • If Jeb runs the American people would say, “Fool me once…shame on…shame on you. Fool me twice…won’t get fooled again.”

  • NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Honestly … didn’t some folks fight a war a few hundred years ago so we didn’t have to deal with monarchies?

    I propose a constitutional ammendment: No one named Bush can run for President until my beloved (yet pathetic) Kansas City Royals win the World Series.

    Whatchya all think?

  • John Adams and John Quincy Adams maybe?

    I do have to wonder about Jeb. Would he have been unspoiled if he had been president in 2001?

    I agree that he is totally out of it this time around. We need the unlikely occurance that people actually start to miss having Bush.

    But for now, the aesthetic is Brazilian waxed 😉

  • Strategic Vision phone poll of 1200 registered voters in Florida, August 17-21, 2005:

    5. Would you like to see Governor Jeb Bush run for President in 2008?
    Yes 33%

    No 52%

    Undecided 15%

    MOE ±3

  • If today’s CBS News/NYT poll is any indication, the public has pretty much had it with all the familiar faces.

    They’re fed up with Bush…and I would think that feeling would also include Jeb. But they don’t want to see Kerry or Gore again, either. To this I would add Hillary Clinton, another person everyone already has a set opinion about.

    So enough with the familiar names and families and faces! People want to look ahead, and clean up the incredible mess around them with someone new at the helm.

  • I don’t like Dynasties in a purported democracy. Not the Clintons (god, I hope she stays in the Senate where she can do some good). Certainly not the Bushes … all of whom, from Prescott to the Regal Moron, are criminally allied to our nation’s enemies (first the Nazis, now the Saudis and the multinational corporations).

  • Well, duh. I mean, really, who else is going to pardon dubya for his treasonous acts against the State?

  • IIRC, Mr. Quincy Adams caused quite a bit of controversy when he ran for and won the presidency. I don’t recall similar handwringing in 2000.

    I dislike Senator Clinton. It’d be nice to have Bill back in the WH as the “First Husband”, but she’s way too far to the right of her husband on too many issues that are important to me.

    What we’re seeing is something that the Founders were acutely aware of: a truly “flat” or “free market” system naturally devolves into autocracy, monarchy, and tyranny.

    Remember how the monarchies of Europe evolved. They weren’t ordained by some god or another, as they themselves claimed. They evolved from one man amassing sufficient power to declare himself king or emperor, or one cabal or family doing the same and installing one of their own in that position.

    That has happened in every “flat” industry with large economies of scale and tremendous concentrations of power and capital. Hollywood. The railroads. The tech industry (Watson, Gates, etc.).

    This is why they tried to split up power among the states and three separate and equal branches of government. What’s completely fucked that up is that there is no currently such separation of powers among the media, or among corporations. Corporations are allowed to merge into a handfull of massive behemouths that dominate an entire industry. Media, likewise, is massive and centralised– really, how many media companies are there actually today? There is no way that a national newspaper– let alone nationwide TV and radio networks– was even imaginable in 1787. And this is why we end up with nepotistic “brand” dynasties in any area that relies on name recognition: movies, TV, politics,media, etc.

    This is why the latest attack on “net neutrality” scares me so much. The only area with any diversity right now is the internet. If Time Warner, AT&T, and Earthlink are allowed to centralise all power and split us off from each other, we’re in very deep trouble.

  • Carpetbagger — If I remember correctly Florida is your home state. From the impressions I’ve gotten Florida under Jeb Bush is a very very corrupt state. Do you have any personal insights that you would be willing to share?

  • Jeb would be easy to beat. Unlike McCain, he’d have trouble distancing himself from his bro.

  • Carpetbagger — If I remember correctly Florida is your home state. From the impressions I’ve gotten Florida under Jeb Bush is a very very corrupt state. Do you have any personal insights that you would be willing to share?

    You do remember correctly; I am a Florida native. And, to be sure, the corruption in the state is breathtaking. Maybe I should putting together some notes for a post…

  • Personally, I am in favor of a constitutional amendment that says if you are related to the 10th generation with anyone who was ever President of the US, you are barred from running for that office.

    The thought of 24 years of presidents named Bush or Clinton is just horrid, even if they had been more than second rate corporate bozo sellouts (Clinton) or fascist morons (W). Republics do not do well with political dynasties.

    Vote No for Clinton in 2008.

    Vote No for Bush forever.

  • And he could have the best NSA ever as his running mate. Condi Rice. The.Best.NSA.Ever.

  • Tom: 10 generations? That’s a little harsh. You wouldn’t have let RFK run? Or FDR?

  • Look, folks…the numbers of people that finally woke up to georges’ incompetence don’t like to think they are THAT foolish.

    They are going to rationalize support for Jeb in some moronic “well…George was ALMOST a good president, and I think Jeb is a little smarter and has already “goverened” so, I ought to just vote for a BETTER BUSH” and that will justify them in their own foolish minds.

    Jeb was being groomed for this since god knows when, but I noticed it after the Sri Lankan disaster two xmases ago. For some reason Bush the preznut delegated Jeb to go “help out down there” because, “Florida has such experience with these kinds of things” and I have no idea how much of that was true but I got the definite feeling he was set up there to gain public awareness for him as someone with much experience later on in the next presidential race.

    I’ve been trying to point out, while we need to impeach Bush, and focus on his abuses of power, and his incompetance, we ALSO need equally to focus on their WHOLE “philosophy” and counter THAT….we need to be fighting the perceptions that are so untrue, that Repubs are “hard on crime” and “keep us safe” and all the rest of the bull. We need to be countering the NEXT GOP candidate already as Bush is a lame duck.

    They WANT us to focus solely on him, so they can blindside us again.
    We need to be one step ahead, not behind.

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