I'm about to head out for a couple of weeks where I will have either limited or no access to a computer.

Before I left, I wanted to check into and post on other topics, and have let this one lay idle for a bit, but I am committed to seeing what we can get out of it in the long term.

I'm pleased with what has been collected so far, am certain that there is much more out there and am confident that this is a worthwhile effort.

donguillermo: If your time and interest permit, you may want to take over the thread summaries. I started this thread, but obviously don't own it. I'm sure, if you wish to do so, that you would do a far better job than me.

Everyone else: If you have any good examples of a Bush humdinger, I would love to see you add it to this thread. Once a list is compiled, I would like to present it in another thread for discussion.

I'll be trolling around the forums as I can before I go, if I don't "see" you before I go, here's wishing you a happy first half of August!

Majic

This is an excellent thread IMO, & one that even Bush admirers should not find fault with, as it's based on proven data. All politicians are notoriously hard to pin down on matters such as this - it's their stock in trade.

It's too bad, because I had hope for donguillermo, and I think this thread really shows some of what he could contribute -- perhaps a better good/bad ratio than other threads. He had great zeal, significant analytical talent, dogged persistence and a penchant for research and citation.

But, sadly, these traits were betrayed by an unshakable and disproportionate devotion to confrontation coupled with an apparent inability to accept differences of opinion, and, predictably it would seem, he went and got himself banned.

Before his demise, he did, however, help me relearn some basic truths about human nature:

1) People believe what they want to believe.

2) If a fact agrees with their beliefs, it will be accepted.

3) If a fact disagrees with their beliefs, it will be rejected.

4) Truth has nothing to do with it.

Even someone as obviously bright and talented as donguillermo can become a prisoner of his own prejudices. A cautionary tale for us all, who, to one degree or another, will inevitably do likewise, whether we try to resist doing so or not.

I realize now that politics is a subject I should try to avoid on ATS. Not because I have no interest in politics, I do indeed. Rather, because politics was not what attracted me to ATS. I already visit enough political websites as it is, and find more meaning in a thread on psychic phenomenon than a whole website on politics. I grow weary of the same old song.

I'm not here to change anyone's mind about politics, except perhaps to encourage a more independent-minded approach rather than submit to partisan brainwashing, but that is ultimately a tedious and thankless task, and distantly secondary to my interests here.

So I will seek to take leave of this and other political threads, and try to focus instead on those things that make ATS unique: the unknown and paranormal. While I will no doubt slip now and then and get suckered into political mudslinging contests, that's not where I want to find myself, and I am resolved not to buy into the Mud Pit for this reason.

I encourage anyone who wishes to take up the thread by promoting and summarizing it, which I consider worthwhile for numerous reasons. However, for even more numerous reasons, I have decided it should not be me who does this.

I believe that an examination of the facts will show that Bush is neither the angel or devil he is made out to be, but simply a human being.

He neither lies as much as he is typically accused of by his detractors, nor is he as blamelessly honest as his supporters claim him to be. Perhaps someone may be able to illustrate this point with hard evidence.

Regards,

Majic