In some ways the measure of a leader's greatness is how radically they are able to change the conventional wisdom on politics and the state of the nation by virtue of their tenure in office. Just below are some examples of the conventional wisdom before and after 7 years of George W. Bush that highlight the great role his leadership will be assigned in future histories and discussions about the fate of our country.
After seven years we can see that some big shifts in the conventional wisdom have taken place. (You may have to scroll way down depending on your browser for reasons that are too complicated for me to figure out. Any HTML gurus out there?)
CW Topic
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The Old CW
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The New CW
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America's Place in the World (I)
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Confident at the start of the New American Century
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Looking back nostalgically on the Only American Century
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America's Place in the World (II)
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The Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus
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The Roman Empire during the reign of (take your pick):
- Caligula
- Nero
- Commodus
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America's Place in the World (III)
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The lone military and economic hyperpower
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The world's largest debtor nation and biggest spender on prisons and military quagmires
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America's Health
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The healthiest people in the world with the most advanced system of medical care
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The most profitable insurance companies in the world, so why worry about trivia like infant mortality?
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America's Growth Industries and Future Jobs
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Looking at a high tech future with great demand for Internet designers, scientists and "knowledge workers"
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Looking at a future of trading American jobs and government debt for high tech products from other countries, but we still have a strong demand for:
- personal care attendants
- bartenders
- waitresses
- part-time sales clerks
soldiers mercenarieshome construction workershedge fund managers
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Free Trade
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Uplifting the standards of living of workers in other countries while providing Americans with less expensive goods
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Uplifting the standards of living of plutocrats in other countries while providing American stockholders with wowza profits
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Economic Mobility and Retirement Security
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"Forget big government snake oil and attain real wealth and security in the Ownership Society!"
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"This is your bank and credit card company, reminding you in case you forgot: we own your ass!"
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Progress in Iraq
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"I think in six months you'll be seeing strong evidence of the real progress we're making in Iraq"
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"I think in six months you'll be seeing strong evidence of the real progress we're making in Iraq, provided that nuclear fusion reactors and a cure for cancer happen first"
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Responding to Crisis
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"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
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"Yes, it's going to be an Unending-in-Our-Lifetime Global World War IV on Terrorism and Scary Bad Guys™—so go to the mall right now and shop! Shop! Shop! My f***ing stock portfolio depends on it!"
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The Republicans and Bad Things That Happen to America
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"Never blame malicious intent for what can be explained by gross incompetence"
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"Never assume that malicious intent and gross incompetence are mutually exclusive"
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The Republicans and National Defense
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"Better able to protect you from all the Commies scary people out there, because we're committed to a strong high tech military"
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"Better able to react to low tech nuts penetrating our high tech defenses and killing thousands of Americans, because we have experience with that!"
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The Republicans and Projecting American Strength
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Standing up for a strong America and willing to strike back instantly at anyone who threatens our way of life
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Willing to strike back at random countries that never threatened us just to show the world what insane badasses we are
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The Republicans and Sex
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"Sex can be a beautiful and meaningful thing in the context of a committed and monogamous relationship between a man and a woman united in Christian marriage for the purpose of bringing more children into the world"
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"You can meet hot guys in public bathrooms, just make sure they're not undercover cops!"
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The Republicans and Electability
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The Southern Strategy, States' Rights, Willie Horton, etc.
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"Gay is the new black—but we still hate the old black too!"
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Stereotypes and Electability
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"We will win because soccer moms and NASCAR dads trust us more"
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"We will win if we can purge credit card bankruptcy moms and mortgage defaulter dads from the voting rolls—otherwise we are soooo screwed!!"
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Candidate Personality Traits and Electability
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"People will vote for the guy they feel like they could sit down and have a beer with"
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"Al, you need a beer and I'm buying!"
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Gun Control and Electability
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"I would never vote for Democrats, and besides they're all like Teddy Kennedy and Hillary Clinton!"
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"I'm starting to think I want to vote for Democrats—why can't they all be like Jon Tester and Jim Webb?"
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Religion and Electability
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"Americans will always vote for a candidate with strong religious beliefs over a secular humanist candidate"
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"Mike f***ing Huckabee—arrgggh!!!"
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The Democrats and Electability
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A Democrat can't win by running as a Democrat
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A Democrat can't win by running as a Republican
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The Democrats and Sex Scandals
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"Ever notice how sex scandals only involve Democratic politicians?"
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"And in yet another area where the Democrats are falling way behind the Republican juggernaut..."
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The Democrats in Congress
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"We need 51 votes"
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"We need 60 votes"
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The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans (I)
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First President to be caught getting a blowjob while in office
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First President to be filmed playing guitar while a great American city is destroyed
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The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans (II)
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"It depends what you mean by 'is'"
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"It depends what you mean by 'torture'"
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Bush Family Down the Generations
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"They were starting to get wise to our tricks in Connecticut—thank God for Texas!"
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"Hello, Paraguay!!"
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