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Bush's legacy on equality

  • 11-12-2008 8:39pm
    #1
    brianthebard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,165 ✭✭✭✭


    Old G.W. often talks about how history will judge whether he was right or wrong about things he did, and there's little/no doubt he will be judged very harshly on the wars he perpetrated. But what else will his name be linked to? What about issues of equality in politics? A quick look at the wiki page for his cabinet shows some striking facts-much of his cabinet is made up of members of minority groups; blacks, jews, asians, women (if you count this group as a minority). A number of them are also the first to be in that position, say Colin Powell or Elaine Chao. What's more is the diversity in his cabinet goes beyond tokenism as these things are sometimes seen. Will Bush's legacy be that his cabinet choices opened the way for a black president? Maybe I haven't been paying attention to this situation, but Sarkozy and Zapetero got a lot of publicity for their cabinet selections, but I haven't heard the same praise for Bush. Thoughts? Anything else not war or economy related (since they have been dealt with elsewhere) that can be discussed about his legacy?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_Cabinet


Comments

  • #2
    Manic Moran
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,646 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manic Moran


    He's fairly popular in Africa. He's sent a crapload of aid down that direction, dramatically increasing the figures set by his predecessors.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000941.html

    Sending a couple of thousand Marines to Liberia was also generally regarded as a good move and helped set the stage for UNIMIL, in which Ireland currently participates.

    The No Child Left Behind Act is a sort of love-hate thing. There is a Boardsie who's a teacher in Washington State who posted good things about it a while ago, we can probably track down the thread if we need to.

    He's done some other good things too, they just tend to be overshadowed by the whole War on Terror deal.

    NTM


  • #3
    brianthebard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,165 ✭✭✭✭brianthebard


    I don't know enough about the no child left behind policy but there seems to be a lot of dissent about it as a means of indoctrination and dumbing down-but its probably too early to predict the effects yet. Personally I think aid is bull**** and even if he's given more to Africa, I'm sure that the US has benefited more from it, and not just from the feel good factor. I would like to hear what the other things are though.


  • #4
    Black Swan
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,534 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    Manic Moran wrote: »
    The No Child Left Behind Act is a sort of love-hate thing.
    No Child Left Behind gets mixed reviews in wiki:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind

    I am struggling to think of something positive about the last 8 years of GW Bush.

    US News & World Report, a magazine that leans a bit to the conservative side of the USA centre, talks this week about the "troubled" Bush presidency legacy...http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2008/12/08/looking-back-on-president-george-w-bushs-troubled-presidency.html

    An even more conservative leaning newspaper, the Wall Street Journal suggests that Bush's legacy will be found in in tort reform:
    http://online.wsj.com/video/bush-legacy-could-be-found-in-tort-reform/15854491-F804-4CCD-8D04-B912CCE9D90D.html


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