First Lady, Rice Defend Bush's Legacy

"History Will Judge, And We'll See Later," Says Laura Bush; "This Generation Will Thank This President," Rice Says

(AP)  The two most influential women in President George W. Bush's White House - first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - are strongly defending the president's legacy against critics who are calling his administration one of the worst in history.

"I know it's not, and so I don't really feel like I need to respond to people that view it that way," Mrs. Bush said in an interview that aired Sunday. "I think history will judge, and we'll see later."

Rice took a similar view in a separate interview, saying that claims that the Bush administration has been one of the worst ever are "ridiculous."

"I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done. This generation will," Rice said.

"Because I think the fact that we have really made foreign assistance not just an issue of giving humanitarian aid or giving money to poor people, but really insisting on good governance and fighting corruption," she said. "I think the fact that this president has laid the groundwork for a Palestinian state, being the first president, as a matter of policy, to say that there should be one, and now, I think, laying the foundation that's going to lead to that Palestinian state - I can go on and on."

In her interview, Mrs. Bush called the shoe-throwing incident in Baghdad an "assault." She rebuffed Bush administration critics who contend the U.S. turned its military might and resources to the war in Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan.

Mrs. Bush noted that under her husband's watch, the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein and liberated millions of people in Afghanistan and Iraq from oppressive governments. She also highlighted the president's work to provide treatment for diseases like AIDS and malaria to millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. She said her husband responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a way that has kept the nation safe.

"I think that's very, very important," she said.

Mrs. Bush said that while the president laughed it off when an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at him during a news conference earlier this month in Iraq, she was not amused. The president deftly dodged the shoes and wasn't hit. He continued the news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after security officials dragged the journalist from the room.

"The president laughed it off," she said. "He wasn't hurt. He's very quick. As you know, he's a natural athlete and ducked it. But on the other hand, it is an assault. And I think it should be treated that way. And I think people should think of it that way."

On the other hand, she said the incident reflects change in Iraq.

"As bad as the incident is, in my view, it is a sign that Iraqis feel a lot freer to express themselves," she said.

Mrs. Bush challenged critics who contend that Iraq was a distraction from the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, where heightened violence is causing renewed instability.

"Well, I don't know that I would agree with that at all," Mrs. Bush said. "I don't think that's true at all. We've stayed very, very invested in Afghanistan. Not as invested militarily, maybe, and maybe that's what the critics say, that it should have been more military. But I think we stayed very invested."

Rice said it won't be long before Bush's contributions to the world will be acknowledged.

"When you look at what this president took on in terms of AIDS relief and foreign assistance to the world, when you look at the number of countries ... and the number of people that this president has actually liberated - you know, I really am someone who believes that you don't want to pay too much attention to today's headlines," she said.

But recognition of big achievements sometimes take a long time, Rice said.

Rice noted that while Germany was reunified in 1990, the work that made it possible was done in the 1940s, "when things didn't look quite so rosy." So historians who are now making judgments about the Bush administration and its Middle East policies aren't very good historians, Rice said.

"One cannot yet judge the effects of decisions that this president has taken on what the Middle East will become," Rice said. "I mean, for goodness' sakes, good historians are still writing books about George Washington."

Mrs. Bush spoke on "Fox News Sunday," while Rice was on CBS "Sunday Morning."

[boatdocster]

Nice try by both at revisionist history

The truth - Bush and his administration have a long history failures, poor planning and execution, death and destruction, inaction and colossal spending.

Doubt many folks we be lining up to thank him for that...

[citizenusa-2009]

What have these two been drinking? History will judge? Are you kidding me?
Ask the 4,500 troops that have been SACRIFICED for this joker''s ego.

Ask the 40,000 that have been maimed.

Ask the 100,000 + Iraqi citizens that have been killed and disfigured.

Ask the American people that have lost their savings, jobs and homes during the Bush "reign".

Ladies, when you try and put lipstick on a Pig, it''s still a Pig no matter what you say.

Shame on BOTH of you! You make me ashamed to be a woman.

[allzwell]

Revisionist history be dammed, there are plenty of witnesses to this atrocity... and this is the information age, not the stone age Bush needs to hide in to protect his ''legacy''. This is just Faux News propaganda... when will we have a REAL news media again?

[babooph]

All this time I thought there was only one queen of D Nile.

[Deadguylurking]

I don''t think Bush gets enough credit. Not only have there been no MAJOR foreign attacks on American soil since 9/11, but we have NOT had a volcanic eruption, an outbreak of zombies (if you don''t count certain republican voters), or an asteroid strike. You go Bush!!!

[evian_ycnan]

As alibi witnesses go, the wife and the mistress aren`t the best possible choices.

[cdfoxtrot6]

First Lady, Rice, Defend Bush''s Legacy. So, the moron-in-chief is hiding behind his b1tches now? When is him mamma gonna be rolled out? And I mean that literally. She must be 300 pounds at least.

[evian_ycnan]

History will be kind to G.w. Bush... history books are loathe to use phrases like "dumbfvck".

[scallywag8]

I will say that Bush gave David Letterman a lot of "Great moments in Presidential speeches".

[cdfoxtrot6]

These people are SOOOOOO in denial. We don''t need historians or to wait 50 years, to know that moron Bush has been the WORST PRESIDENT EVER. EVER.

[scallywag8]

Bush was sloppy because he got to much D;ck.

[standlee5]

The world would be better off with the Taliban still chopping off heads in soccer stadiums and Saddam Hussein having the bomb. Not only that but we could all be walking around with a digital chip ID in our head for security''s sake.

[standlee5]

Let''s just try to imagine what the world would be like today if obama would have been elected president in 2000. Serious long term depression, soup lines, govt controlled everything. It''d be way beyond socialism it''d be a new brand of communism, new age collectivism. Imagine no ownership and absolute equality. The new age of enlightenment would have dawned in America.

[standlee5]

This Generation Will Thank This President," Rice Says

She''s so dammn smart. The real unsung hero of the adminsitration. Once the 2nd most powerful woman in the world. I mean seriously, she should have been first.

[hermitdave]

Obvious we have two women here, one a mom one not, who admire liars and killers. The fact than Bush caused the unnecessary death and maiming of millions of innocent humans could only be explained away on him personally by the known fact that he can''t use the oval office without the permission of Uncle Richard, the REAL evil president.

[briannorwood]

It sure is fun to watch these poor sycophants being rolled out each week to try to re-write the Bush legacy.

Problem is, nobody is buying their *** anymore!

[terrorislame]

EIGHT YRS AGO,.
MOST USA Residents Were MUCH BETTER OFF !!

It`s hard to fathom how Much Damage one Moron could do,..He surrounded himself with ''Yes Men ''
He had " My Man Mitch " ( Daniels ) undo many of the successful programs that Bill Clinton had in place...He them implemented " Lies ,Ineptitude and More Lies " to his Agenda,...the US constitution was used instead of Charmin in the White House and the rest IS History !
We can Only Hope that Many lessons Have been learned,.......NEVER ,NEVER,Under ANY Circumstances be coaxed into the GOP Platform of LIES to SCARE the public Again ! Earth can NOT withstand " MORE ShrubCo."

[jt_lancer]

standlee5 - ''Let''s just try to imagine what the world would be like today if obama would have been elected president in 2000. It''d be way beyond socialism it''d be a new brand of communism, new age collectivism.''

*** do you think has happened under Bush? Record deficit spending, govt takeover of banks, insurance companies, handouts to failing auto companies, trillions spent on endless wars overseas, restrictions of civil liberties on every front at home, etc.

Obama will be no different, but Bush is just as bad.

[terrorislame]

StandWMoron Must be the Least Educated girl in trailer Court!,.........Posted by standlee5 at 10:00 PM : Dec 28, 2008
How could One Be Such an AMOEBA ???

[zzy-izzy]

Before this is over and we know the whole story bush will make Hoover look like a Sunday school teacher.

[sandbstrom]

What a joke. Comparing Germany in the 1940''s to Iraq. No wonder she was a dust collector for the biggest loser President ever.

Thank you, Mr. President, for leaving office. I''d thank you even more to leave the country. There, Condi, you are right after all.

[Sharkdog2000]

Considering the shocking level of secrecy they employed during their time there, history will likely only reinforce what most of us already suspect about this administration. It''s no surprise hearing Rice and his wife (duh) & I would certainly defend my friends and family, too...but bottom line? Worst President Ever!!!

[Sharkdog2000]

P.S. "God hating filthy lifestyle that the gay and abortion advocating liberals"?? Seriously? It''s that kind of hate and complete ignorance that is destroying everything that is good and honorable about our country. Go get a hug & brush up on some facts, would you please?

[samael2014]

Rice noted that while Germany was reunified in 1990, the work that made it possible was done in the 1940s, "when things didn''t look quite so rosy." So historians who are now making judgments about the Bush administration and its Middle East policies aren''t very good historians, Rice said.

What in THE HELL is she talking about? Germany WAS DIVIDED BY the Allied forces after World War II. What in the **** about this contributed to re-unification in the 1990''s? Which by the way was the hard work of Germans since that time, not the 1940''s.

This colony of lying ignorant self-serving psychopaths in our White House HAS TO GO... NOW.

[sandbstrom]

Bush was a puppet for "neoconserativism" His doctrine is blind faith and ignorance period. The war is in Afghanistan NOT Iraq. The Taliban is not far away from taking over the whole country. When they take over we will have Bush to thank. Don''t let to door hit you on the way out. The Bush legacy is failure so go ahead and nominate another one for comic fodder.

[standlee5]

EIGHT YRS AGO,.
MOST USA Residents Were MUCH BETTER OFF !!Posted by Terrorislame at 10:49 PM : Dec 28, 2008

Exactly. Then a weird thing happened...two passenger jets flew directly into the Twin Towers, then one flew into the Pentagon and another headed for the White House. That changed everything. Hard to believe just 8 years ago we were all wondering whether the Y2K was going to wreak havoc on New Years.

[zzy-izzy]

As soon as Bush dies rice will spill her guts

[mainedoggie]

""History Will Judge, And We''ll See Later," Says Laura Bush; "This Generation Will Thank This President," Rice Says"
==========

Yea, you keep telling yourself that Laura.
And for you rice, you pig with lipstick, GTH.

[kopana]

Mrs Bush,

It is must be hard to face the dim reality that your husband will go down in history as the worst president that we have ever had...name one major accomplishment he has made to the people. all the disasters and damage, debt, he has done to this country. Live well in the richest Texas suburban enclave in your retirement but our country is grateful for you and to have the bush family leave us alone forever... and hopefully we can forget, but history will not.....

[mainedoggie]

Jan 20, 2008 can''t come quick enough.

Good riddance.

[samael2014]

This is what the world gets when we allowed Nancy Pelosi to completely trash what was left of the U.S. Constitution after Bu$hit all over it and"take impeachment off the table".

The only thing left for historians is to uncover the legacy of lies and secrecy that we still don''t know about ABOVE AND BEYOND the plague of death and destruction these psychos have left America and world.

And that definitely includes a VASTLY better understanding of the 9-11 landmark and anthrax terrorist attacks.

[justsane-2009]

ah yes. the wife and the wanna be, (remember when rice referred to him as ''my husband''?) are defending him to the bitter end. and we should care about their collective viewpoints because????

[johenk]

I am a Canadian and all I can say is "WAY TO GO PRESIDENT BUSH".
Everyone seems to forget 9/11 but I never will. He stood his ground in a time that shook the whole world. A time when thousands of innocent people were murdered by those cowardly murderers, who have to hide their faces when appearing in public, or get little kids to do their yelling & burning of the U.S. flat. People like Rosie O''Donnell, Barbara Streisand, Whoopy Goldberg, etc etc etc are saying that they are so hard done by.
I think these people should be the ones that should go down in history as the world''s worst so called "Entertainment Stars" Big question mark on that title, that''s for sure.

I wonder what all these people would be saying about Pres. Bush if he hadn''t done what he did. Probably be calling him the world''s biggest coward in the history of mankind.

The world''s economy is falling BECAUSE OF THE GREED OF THE OIL COMPANIES AND OTHER BIG CONGLOMERATES, people are blaming the President. When are you going to wake up.
President Bush should be known as one of the greatest Presidents that stood up and fought for his country and people. You should all be proud of him.

[fjinnw]

"History will judge" It''s already been judged.

[standlee5]

can think of at least 200,000 to 300,000 dead Iraqis who don''''t feel too grateful for the genocide and atrocities committed by the Bush regime. Posted by psy_war at 11:26 PM : Dec 28, 2008


sheer ignorance. The pres. elect thinks that too

[engineer1503]

No need to wait. This is undoubtedly the worst presidency ever.

In a year or two we may find out how bad these guys actually are. I''m sure there are consequences yet to come.

To think my grandfathers worked their butts off in the 1930''s, 40''s and 50''s to build a good life, then I get to watch wealthy politicians and bankers squander it all.

[mainedoggie]

==============
President Bush should be known as one of the greatest Presidents that stood up and fought for his country and people. You should all be proud of him.

Posted by johenk
==================

Bush is a coward, has been and will always be a coward. He''s a complete and miserable failure.

Rumsfeld, Rice, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Krystal and the rest of the thugs will go down in history as war criminals for PNAC.

8 years and nothing to show for it beyond death and destruction.

[bonddouble07]

Yeah, thanks for nothing, Bush. Now go home and get your shinebox.

[faletinme]

can think of at least 200,000 to 300,000 dead Iraqis who don''''''''t feel too grateful for the genocide and atrocities committed by the Bush regime. Posted by psy_war at 11:26 PM : Dec 28, 2008
_______________________________________________________

Oh, it''s much more than that when yo consider the syrians, indonesians, sudanese, somalis, suadis, pakistanis, afghans, iranians he greased too! The score is more like 650,000 to 4,000. Now that is a butt kicking!

With all that was wrong with GWB he DID manage to nail a lot of Sadaam lovers! Certainly, he was more effective than when Jimmy Carter crashed the two helicopters into each other, hoping the explosion would scare the Ayatollah, LMAO.

Bush was bad, but this next guy will be worse with his Afghan and Pakistani wars.

[smurfcrusher]

Somehow I doubt that future generations of Americans, saddled with Bush''s immense debts, will remember him fondly.

Over 25% of Americans rightly view Bush as the worst president in American history.

In an era of increased environmental sensitivity and concern, Bush has gutted environmental protections, selling out to lobbyists who lack the training and will to preserve our most precious resources.

Bush has set horrible precedents regarding our Constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, and many other human rights causes. He has lied to the American people and tortured innocent people denied trial and presumed guilty, only to be released later. He has violated the Geneva Conventions, committing war crimes and jeopardizing the safety of American military prisoners.

[smurfcrusher]

Bush''s contempt for the rule of law is also illustrated by his unprecedented number of signing statements, in essence saying laws do not apply to him.

Bush calls the U.S. Constitution a "******* piece of paper!" and lacks the intelligence necessary to understand the consequences of his actions.

Bush''s lies and War of Choice have not only increased the strength and influence of Al-Qaida and the Taliban, but it yields the high ground in the war of perceptions. For the first time in decades, the US was seen as an evil influence in world affairs. This served as a powerful recruiting tool for these groups and caused more harm than good.

No, Bush''s foul presence will not be missed in the world, and he will shrink into obscurity.

I hope he is haunted every night by the many thousands who now lie dead because of him.

If there is an afterlife, the thousands of unjustly killed may seek Bush out and tear his soul asunder.

[slinginrich]

Rice said it won''t be long before Bush''s contributions to the world will be acknowledged....

Yes, and the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague will take a full accounting of those "Contributions".....

[abrame]

Historians are already viewing President Bush as a winner and comparing him to Truman and Reagan.

Christened by some Historians as a extremely unlucky Presidents, President Bush is getting high marks from many quarters for weathering and managing an unusual large number of unusually severe situations.

[xmissile]

Bush is setting up a presidential library at Southern Methodist. This is a joke, right?

[smurfcrusher]

"...Christened by some Historians as a extremely unlucky Presidents, President Bush is getting high marks from many quarters for weathering and managing an unusual large number of unusually severe situations."

Posted by Abrame

Ignoring your broken English for now, Bush''s incompetence CREATED those severe situations in the first place.

Clinton warned Bush that the #1 issue to focus on is terrorism. I guess Bush wasn''t going to let some damned Liberal tell HIM what to do!

He dropped the ball, and 9/11 devastated the country, while he stared blankly in an elementary school classroom for five minutes while the disaster unfolded.

Al-Qaida has made clear they intend to bleed America dry, cause us to burn up our money in our reaction to 9/11. So long as we spend fortunes every day, they have no need to strike again!

No, Bush handed Al-Qaida the greatest victory possible - one they could not win themselves - the destruction of our freedoms under Bush''s inept direction.

[pirmin3]

Bush''s legacy???? Worst president in the history of the USA. These two loonies haven''t got a clue.

[smurfcrusher]

Fortunately, historians aren''t as blindly loyal, and frankly, clueless as these two are.

I mean, what did you expect them to say?
"My husband''s a dope, committed War Crimes and betrayed the American people?"

or,

"Yeah he''s stupid, makes poor decisions, has no sense of ethics, but if I do what he says my career will go well?"

I don''t expect you''ll hear those words except perhaps decades from now in deathbed confessions.

[sgtstedenko]

Bush is a figurehead, he''s not smart enough to pour pisss out of a boot. The real criminals are Cheney and the Neocons. Let the investigations begin!

[nothappyatall]

Yeah, condosleazy Rice WOULD defend that monster, thank doG her azz is OUT!

Good job RICEY!
Good job BROWNIE!

Now don''t let the door slam on your AZZ on the way out next month!