If you hate Bush and you like Obama, you are an idiot. Now, this isn’t your fault. Bush, after all, brought us Iraq, one of the worst foreign policy decisions of recent American history. Bush, after all, signed into law the Patriot Act, which massively expanded the surveillance state which violates the Fourth Amendment. Bush, after all, gave us nearly six trillion dollars in debt. Bush was hands-down one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States, and rightfully so.
But if you think President Obama was any improvement over President Bush, then you need to step back and examine the actions our 44th President has taken.
President Obama has dramatically increased the powers of the surveillance state. He actually expanded the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program including American internet searches. In 2012, the Justice Department authorized the NSA to search Internet cables on American soil without a warrant. According to Time Magazine, the documents provided by Edward Snowden showed that, "The secret memos from 2012 say the NSA could watch Internet traffic flowing to suspicious addresses or containing malware, as well as monitor addresses and cyber signatures.” The same man who decried the ‘illegal wiretapping of U.S citizens’ expanded the surveillance state. The same man who said that a lack of oversight in a proposal to reauthorize the Patriot Act “seriously jeopardizes the right of all Americans and the ideals Americans stand for.” The same programs, such as the NSA domestic surveillance program that have not helped any domestic terrorism case and was deemed unconstitutional by the courts.
The President has also expanded our role abroad. He’s bombed more countries than Bush ever did. The man won a Nobel Peace Prize and yet has bombed almost twice as many countries as our previous president. The same President who made children fear the sky because of drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan. The President who warned against going into military adventures abroad without thought almost two years ago, rushed into Libya without a plan about the future; just like how Bush did without Iraq.
He embarked on an unconstitutional war in Libya which was not declared by Congress, instead glossing over the War Powers Act as if it was nothing but a wet paper bag. Obama gave the rebels air cover and blessings to Qatar to give weapons to these rebels, some of which ended up in jihadist hands. Now, what has happened to Libya? The hometown of Colonel Gaddafi, Sirte, is controlled by Daesh. There is a second Libyan Civil War, which had been raging for almost two years, recently halted by a ceasefire just last month. Libya is in shambles, just like how Iraq is.
The same president who says that we need background checks on guns, didn’t have background checks on the guns and equipment he sent to Syrian rebels. He and Secretary Clinton gave these ‘moderate’ rebels weapons in the hopes of overthrowing Assad. Those same rebels who turned to Al-Nusra and ISIS. Many of the weapons Qatar gave to Libyan rebels ended up in the hands of the Syrian rebels.
President Obama’s Justice Department allowed Mexican gunrunners to illegally purchase guns in the United States for Operation Fast & Furious. He lied about it and said the program started under Bush (hint: It didn’t.) The program resulted in the death of innocent Mexicans and a border patrol agent.
Both of these presidencies are disasters. You can’t be a liberal and hate Bush but love Obama. You can’t be a conservative who loves Bush and hates Obama.
I despise both Obama and Bush. They are both failures as presidents, and I can’t wait for this nightmare presidency to end.
