CV: George Bush

[Mong]

Okay, so this might be old...


THE GEORGE BUSH CV. PLEASE NOTE WHEN DECIDING WHO TO VOTE FOR IN 2004


RESUME:

George W. Bush
The White House, USA

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE.

LAW ENFORCEMENT:

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY:

I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

COLLEGE:

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.

I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:

I changed Texas pollution laws to favour power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.

I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S.history, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to my administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history. I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest number of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August 2001, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families - in wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq, then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-president, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Mong

I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

Not that I like Mr Bush, but (assuming you mean the Guantanamo Bay prisoners), according to the Geneva Convention, they aren't prisoners of war.

You can complain about their detention on human rights grounds, but he definitely isn't breaking the Geneva Convention.

[Nodrog]

Spaghetti arguing: hurling a vast amount of short, undetailed, unreasearched, largely meaningless contextless accusations at someone in the hope that the collection as a whole will stain his character when any of the individual ones on their own couldnt; ie hoping that zero multiplied by a large number will give an answer other than zero.

[pablissimo]

Spaghetti Western: A low-budget Western film made by a European, especially an Italian, film company.

[Perle]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Not that I like Mr Bush, but (assuming you mean the Guantanamo Bay prisoners), according to the Geneva Convention, they aren't prisoners of war.

You can complain about their detention on human rights grounds, but he definitely isn't breaking the Geneva Convention.

what an embarassing statement!!!!
they are not prisoners of war according to the interpretation of the geneva convention by the secretary of propaganda Donald Rumsfeld (and we know what his expertise on that field is worth after his ludricous complaining about nassiriya) .
Anyone with a clear mind will tell you that those people are prisoners of war.
Specially after a couple of them ( some who used to be plain farmers in afghanistan) have been released after 1 year in Cuba.

[pyirt]

You should see my CV.....

[Perle]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

Spaghetti arguing: hurling a vast amount of short, undetailed, unreasearched, largely meaningless contextless accusations at someone in the hope that the collection as a whole will stain his character when any of the individual ones on their own couldnt; ie hoping that zero multiplied by a large number will give an answer other than zero.

it is a fact, that george bush was arrested for driving under alcohol influence ad that he was convivted for it.
Alot of stuff that are listed above are facts.
your little "oh im so smart" defintion does not apply here

[acropolis]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

Spaghetti arguing: hurling a vast amount of short, undetailed, unreasearched, largely meaningless contextless accusations at someone in the hope that the collection as a whole will stain his character when any of the individual ones on their own couldnt; ie hoping that zero multiplied by a large number will give an answer other than zero.

COLLEGE:

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

where would length, more detail, more research, or more context make a difference here?

or on most of these?

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

Spaghetti arguing: hurling a vast amount of short, undetailed, unreasearched, largely meaningless contextless accusations at someone in the hope that the collection as a whole will stain his character when any of the individual ones on their own couldnt; ie hoping that zero multiplied by a large number will give an answer other than zero.

Taking a penny from the "take one or leave one" plate in the supermarket. Perfectly acceptable.
Taking a penny from the "take one or leave one" plate in every supermarket in the country for the next five thousand years.


The existence of a large number of facts harmless on their own but with a clear point when examined in their totality is not spaghetti arguing (did you just make that up by the way?)

[pablissimo]

Originally Posted by acropolis

where would length, more detail, more research, or more context make a difference here?

or on most of these?

I'm particularly impressed with the lashings of irony herein:

Originally Posted by Perle

your little "oh im so smart" defintion does not apply here

It sure don't, Bob.

[Ste]

He's an idiot front-man.
We've all known that from the start.

[Golin]

Once Again I Am So Impressed With The Americans!

Muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Fools

[wu_trax]

i started to dislike the usa so much that i just hope he wins another term.

[acropolis]

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue

Also I'm not sure about the economic claims, surely Hoover would have a claim to bankruptcy and eocnomic crash records?

Hoover is the only one comparable to Bush, and clearly outdoes him in 'real' numbers.

But the DOW is much higher now, so it can drop 5000 points, whereas under Hoover it could only drop a couple hundred. We can also have much bigger deficits today and many more bankruptcies (there are more people and more companies now).

I think Hoover still holds the jobs destroyed record which is more a testament to how utterly crap things were then than how things are okay now.

[Nodrog]

Originally Posted by Perle

it is a fact, that george bush was arrested for driving under alcohol influence ad that he was convivted for it.
Alot of stuff that are listed above are facts.
your little "oh im so smart" defintion does not apply here

They probably arent relevant facts however. I skimmed the list and a lot of them seemed either a) meaningless, b) devoid of context, or c) intellectually dishonest.

The first 10 grossly exagerrate the effect a newly elected president (or a president in general) has on the economy - your first year as president "during they year economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period" is utterly meaningless; any economist would laugh in your face if you told him that a newly elected president could affect the economy to such a degree as to make a casual connection likely - economic changes generally take many many years to show tangible effects. A lot of the later claims involving what he "presided over" suffer from the similar problems - being in the government when something happens does not make you casually 'responsible' for it other than in the eyes of moronic socialists who believe the government should micromanage every aspect of the economy.

Several others are worthless appeals to popularity ("I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security"), claims without any evidence presented ("I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution") or just plain lies (" I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community").

Some of them are even positive things that Bush has done, such as withdrawing from the world court of law, and rejecting the UN humans right code or whatever. I'm amazed they didnt mention Kyoto somewhere as well.

[JonnyBGood]

I especially liked "I presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history".


Newsflash: There exists this thing called inflation!

The stock market one was pretty good too. Hay, let's blame 9/11 on George Bush because that makes sense! Jesus could have been in office and the same thing would have happened.

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue

Especially when it was clearly Reagan's fault.

Because Reagan was such a genius who came up with and was responsible for implementing all those plans?

[Nodrog]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

I especially liked "I presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history".


Newsflash: There exists this thing called inflation!

The stock market one was pretty good too. Hay, let's blame 9/11 on George Bush because that makes sense! Jesus could have been in office and the same thing would have happened.

No, 11/9 was entirely George Bush's fault:

Originally Posted by Mong

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August 2001, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history

[Mong]

Jeez. Was meant to be a lighthearted dig at the Leader of the Freeworld. If I'd intended political debate, I'd have done a better job.

Nod is a homofag

Nod is a homofag

Nod is a homofag

Nod is a homofag

Nod is a homofag

Spaghetti arguing at its best!

[Nodrog]

I dont understand why pointing out fallacious claims is 'starting a political debate"

If I started a thread that was full of dubious claims about why blacks are inferior to whites, would I be justified in getting annoyed at people who couldnt 'take the joke' and called me on my factual blunders?

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

No, 11/9 was entirely George Bush's fault:

Actually I think we have to blame Clinton for that directive that no action should be taken against terrorists without substantial proof back after he got condemned by the press for launching missiles against that camp. So technically we should blame the media actually. Or, or, or the terrorists for being terrorists!

[Nodrog]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

Actually I think we have to blame Clinton for that directive that no action should be taken against terrorists without substantial proof back after he got condemned by the press for launching missiles against that camp. So technically we should blame the media actually. Or, or, or the terrorists for being terrorists!

Let's blame Marx.

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue

Were they terrorists before they committed a terrorist act?

Are you human before you're human.


Your question is nonsensical good sir and I call you on it.






PS I read this great essay on Marx for my sociology class which was all like praising him and shit for a hundred and fifty pages and then spent the last chapter calling him a stupid faggot in the longest way possible. I enjoyed it immensely. A+

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Perle

what an embarassing statement!!!!

Oh don't be an idiot.

Originally Posted by Perle

they are not prisoners of war according to the interpretation of the geneva convention by the secretary of propaganda Donald Rumsfeld (and we know what his expertise on that field is worth after his ludricous complaining about nassiriya) .

Have you actually read the Geneva Convention? It clearly and unambiguously defines who is a prisoner of war, and the Guantanamo Bay prisoners don't fall within that definition.

Originally Posted by Perle

Anyone with a clear mind will tell you that those people are prisoners of war.

If you mean "clear" as in "containing nothing", then yes, I'd have to agree with you.

Originally Posted by Perle

Specially after a couple of them ( some who used to be plain farmers in afghanistan) have been released after 1 year in Cuba.

I don't see how that is even remotely relevant.

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue

Well simply referring to people as terrorists as if they come from the genus terrorist is ultimately nonsensical.

So from now on I have to call every terrorist "a person who has committed acts of terrorism and continues to do so". What the ****?

I don't know why people spend so much time worrying about Marx. Many of the observations he made were dead on the money, others less so. He made a big impact on the social sciences and is a uniquley relevent individual in the analysis of history and society.

Apart from his biggest observations. I especially enjoyed the three pages he spent calling him a loser for realising his theory was shit and leave it unfinished and ****ing off to study native american cultures or whatever.

[Marilyn Manson]

I blame Rutherford B. Hayes.

[acropolis]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

any economist would laugh in your face if you told him that a newly elected president could affect the economy to such a degree as to make a casual connection likely - economic changes generally take many many years to show tangible effects. A lot of the later claims involving what he "presided over" suffer from the similar problems - being in the government when something happens does not make you casually 'responsible' for it .

Originally Posted by Nodrog

No, 11/9 was entirely George Bush's fault:

perhaps a president doesn't affect the economy in his first year. but one thing he clearly does do is prioritize national security goals, and terrorism fell from #1 right off the list the day he stepped into office.

You could make the argument that the president is completely powerless and is therefore not at fault for anything, but the complement to that is that there is also no reason to support a particular person for president.

[wu_trax]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Have you actually read the Geneva Convention? It clearly and unambiguously defines who is a prisoner of war, and the Guantanamo Bay prisoners don't fall within that definition.

Article 4

A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:

1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.

(...)

thats enough for any taliban-member, isnt it?

[Perle]

Originally Posted by wu_trax

Article 4

A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:

1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.

(...)

thats enough for any taliban-member, isnt it?

I dont even bother with such arguments.
I know that don rummy´s words are like a dogma to him.

[Dante Hicks]

What does his Grade at Yale have to do with anything? Or the fact he was a cheerleader? I mean, wtf? Would this kind of implied homophobic crap be acceptable on an attack on anyone else?

The DUI is irrelevent.

The drugs stuff is only relevent re : hypocrisy.

Why his him running for Congress in the past a bad thing?

I could go on.

There's plenty of stuff to comment on GWB so why the hell do we have to reference a load of crap?

[JonnyBGood]

I thought it was Al-queada suspects who were being held in guanatamo? Their status not being clearly defined as prisoners of war. Of course Article 5 sort of pisses all over any arguments really and pretty much settles it in the "bush sux" camp's favour.

[wu_trax]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

I thought it was Al-queada suspects who were being held in guanatamo? Their status not being clearly defined as prisoners of war. Of course Article 5 sort of pisses all over any arguments really and pretty much settles it in the "bush sux" camp's favour.

as far as i know there are taliban aswell, they were allied after all.
al-quaeda is somewhat diffrent though, BUT whatever they are they should be treated either as criminals or as PoWs. you dont just make up some new class and deny them any rights whatsoever.

[acropolis]

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

What does his Grade at Yale have to do with anything? Or the fact he was a cheerleader? I mean, wtf? Would this kind of implied homophobic crap be acceptable on an attack on anyone else?

The DUI is irrelevent.

The drugs stuff is only relevent re : hypocrisy.

Why his him running for Congress in the past a bad thing?

I could go on.

There's plenty of stuff to comment on GWB so why the hell do we have to reference a load of crap?

when i mentioned the cheerleader thing, i was just pointing out that better research or more context or a lengthier statement wouldn't make a difference.

The grade is a real thing, in combination with other factors. The statement "he takes more vacation than any other president in history" could generally be countered by the argument that he spends all those vacations hard at work. But that would naturally beg the question "does he have a history of being a hard worker?" And the grades would say 'no'. So the statements, even the somewhat irrelevant ones, provide context for each other.

The running for congress piece was a part of a series that paints him as a failure in every venture he has ever undertaken in his life.

The drug stuff is, as you say, relevant with respect to hypocrisy.

Same with the cheerleading. It's okay that he's a flaming faggot, but it becomes hypocritical when he endorses a constitutional anti-fag amendment (as he did today).

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

I thought it was Al-queada suspects who were being held in guanatamo? Their status not being clearly defined as prisoners of war. Of course Article 5 sort of pisses all over any arguments really and pretty much settles it in the "bush sux" camp's favour.

Using Article 5 as a reason to call them POWs presents two problems:
1) most of them haven't really committed "a belligerent act", as terrorism isn't really war in the normal sense (the War on Terror notwithstanding).
2) there isn't "any doubt" as to whether Article 4 applies to them - they aren't members of armed forces, they don't fulfill the conditions necessary to be a militia, they aren't crews or civilians accompanying armed forces, I doubt they carry arms openly, and they haven't respected the rules and customs of war.

[wu_trax]

those in afganistan most likely did carry their weapons open, since they most likely used them to shoot on us-troops.

[Leshy]

There's a PDF file somewhere, disproving pretty much every single item mentioned in that resume.

Incorrect and old, is my conclusion.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by wu_trax

those in afganistan most likely did carry their weapons open, since they most likely used them to shoot on us-troops.

I think "carrying arms openly" means more "clearly identifying themselves as combatants" than "not shooting from underneath their jackets".

[Tactitus]

Originally Posted by acropolis

The running for congress piece was a part of a series that paints him as a failure in every venture he has ever undertaken in his life.

Except his ownership of the Texas Rangers wasn't a failure. He invested $600K and took out about $15M nine years later for an annualized rate of return exceeding 40%. I'm not sure by what leap of logic you can simply omit such a financially successful venture.

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Using Article 5 as a reason to call them POWs presents two problems:
1) most of them haven't really committed "a belligerent act", as terrorism isn't really war in the normal sense (the War on Terror notwithstanding).
2) there isn't "any doubt" as to whether Article 4 applies to them - they aren't members of armed forces, they don't fulfill the conditions necessary to be a militia, they aren't crews or civilians accompanying armed forces, I doubt they carry arms openly, and they haven't respected the rules and customs of war.

I think they'd argue differently. They were members of armed forces in a country facing an overwhelming powerful enemy. They're likely to avoid filing directly into the nearest Apache's line of fire while wearing badges of rank declaring their opposition to american invasion. And terrorism is war in the normal sense. Any decent definition of terrorism sounds precisely like total war (that's bombing cities, sinking merchant ships, attacking political meetings etc).

[wu_trax]

Originally Posted by Proteus

I think "carrying arms openly" means more "clearly identifying themselves as combatants" than "not shooting from underneath their jackets".

what about that bunker complex, for example, where the us tried to catch bin laden (sorry, forgot the name)? that pretty much sounded like a battle the way one would imagine it in a war to me.

[Perle]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

I think they'd argue differently. They were members of armed forces in a country facing an overwhelming powerful enemy. They're likely to avoid filing directly into the nearest Apache's line of fire while wearing badges of rank declaring their opposition to american invasion. And terrorism is war in the normal sense. Any decent definition of terrorism sounds precisely like total war (that's bombing cities, sinking merchant ships, attacking political meetings etc).

I think the definition of terrorism is pretty simple.
Anyone who is oppesed to the US and/or it´s interests is a terrorist.

[Dante Hicks]

Originally Posted by acropolis

The running for congress piece was a part of a series that paints him as a failure in every venture he has ever undertaken in his life.

Ignoring the thing Tact mentioned, I'm not sure you could call being elected the most powerful man in the world as any sort of failure.

Losing an election is not anything to be ashamed of. It helps a candidate build valuable experience if nothing else.

The more I read these sorts of things the more I am convinced they are trolls spread by the pro-GWB camp (lol, cheerleading, camp).

[Intrepid00]

Originally Posted by Mong

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

Pennsyvania scrubs out driving records for regular drivers for records older then 3 years and 7 years for Commerical drivers. Hence, there would be no driving record proably since any moving violation is considered very minor.

Also, it is not abnormal for states to loose driving records. ESPICALLY the old ones. They lost my mothers when she moved back in from New York to Pennsyvania back in the mid 80s. It wasn't into 98 on did PA computerize all driving records from 98 on.

[G.K Zhukov]

my favorit is when he stated that "more and more of our imports come from abroad"..

[Dante Hicks]

I thought it was "overseas"? And besides, who cares about a slip of the tongue? (if it was, the overseas thing could be justified)

The man is an alleged war criminal. I think we should be dealing with those allegations before we get onto the "lol, he said something funny".

[wu_trax]

Originally Posted by G.K Zhukov

my favorit is when he stated that "more and more of our imports come from abroad"..

i think he said 'overseas', which makes some sence, because the us imports goods from canada and mexco asweel.

[Ragnarak]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

Spaghetti arguing: hurling a vast amount of short, undetailed, unreasearched, largely meaningless contextless accusations at someone in the hope that the collection as a whole will stain his character when any of the individual ones on their own couldnt; ie hoping that zero multiplied by a large number will give an answer other than zero.

i have a maths questions you can help me with


what's 0.05 x a million?

[G.K Zhukov]

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

I thought it was "overseas"? And besides, who cares about a slip of the tongue? (if it was, the overseas thing could be justified)

The man is an alleged war criminal. I think we should be dealing with those allegations before we get onto the "lol, he said something funny".

It was translated into Norwegian.. so I dont know about that.
I agree (not only Iraq, but also Halliburtons contracts, Enron and so on), but the man is so funny with his lack of grammar and other things.

[acropolis]

Originally Posted by Tactitus

Except his ownership of the Texas Rangers wasn't a failure. He invested $600K and took out about $15M nine years later for an annualized rate of return exceeding 40%. I'm not sure by what leap of logic you can simply omit such a financially successful venture.

i didn't claim it was correct. i only said they were trying to.

i would however point out that the fact that he made money doesn't show any particular skill on his part. you come up with an example of someone who owned a major league baseball/football/basketball/hockey team for at least five years and sold at a loss and maybe there would be something to brag about.

also, his $600,000 investment bought a multimillion dollar share which is quite a headstart.

The Texas Rangers weren't that great in the years he worked at owner, but that can't be entirely attributed to him. They never won 87 games under his ownership, but then they weren't very good before he bought in either (winning 87 only once the previous decade). But then they won at least 87 three times in the five years after he left. I wouldn't say he was a failure, but I wouldn't say he was a success either. But he was clearly well-connected.

And I think that's what the rest of his record shows, not really a failure, but clearly not a success. But well-connected.

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

The more I read these sorts of things the more I am convinced they are trolls spread by the pro-GWB camp (lol, cheerleading, camp).

oh please. I get these laundry lists in my email box all the time from independents who watch fox news and they are always hugely influenced by these kind of things.

They have no effect on moderately intelligent folk (perhaps the occasional twinge of shame to be on the same side as the people that spread them) and can truly change votes in the rest.

[Tactitus]

Originally Posted by acropolis

i would however point out that the fact that he made money doesn't show any particular skill on his part. you come up with an example of someone who owned a major league baseball/football/basketball/hockey team for at least five years and sold at a loss and maybe there would be something to brag about.

Well, surely he gets some credit for picking such a lucrative business to invest in though? The vast appreciation in most major league sports franchises in the 1980s was without precedent. There were certainly a number of people who could have afforded to buy the Rangers but who didn't even bid on it--it's not like Donald Trump or Bill Gates were buying up sports teams at the time.

But he was clearly well-connected.

I guess George Steinbrenner must be pretty well connected too: he bought the Yankees for $10M; now worth an estimated $900M.