Is George 'The Buck Stops Nowhere' Bush Another Harry Truman?
Reported by Judy - May 29, 2006
Fox News' latest effort to buck up George Bush's pathetically low poll numbers came Monday (May 29, 2006) when "Dayside" co-host Juliet Huddy asked the show's guests to compare him to Harry Truman, taking a cue from Bush's reference to Truman and the Cold War in his speech Saturday to graduates of West Point.
Republican strategist Peter Snyder claimed that Bush will be judged better by future historians than his current public opinion poll standings indicate, just as Truman's stature improved after he left office. Democratic strategist Bob Beckel said Truman had risen in the opinion of historians because of his decision to drop the atomic bomb near the end of World War II and his decision to desegregate the armed forces, but he didn't think Bush had done anything of that stature.
It was an OK discussion, but Beckel could have pointed to a difference between Bush and Truman. Truman had a little sign on his desk that read, "The Buck Stops Here," indicating his willingness to take responsibility.
Bush, on the other hand, refuses to take responsibility for anything in his administration, even claiming at one point that he couldn't think of any mistakes he had made. When people in his administration leak the name of a CIA agent, Bush does nothing to try to find out who did it. The buck never stops anywhere in the Bush administration.
