Update appended at bottom of post (Oct. 5)
A day after slamming the president with a biased report on SCHIP, AP White House reporter Jennifer Loven worked her "Bush is a failure" meme into an "analysis" piece that chalked up every real or perceived failure of the Bush administration to the President and his team, and none to the persistent opposition of liberal critics in Congress:
WASHINGTON -- Over and over, President Bush confidently promised to "solve problems, not pass them on to future presidents and future generations." As the clock runs out on his eight-year presidency, a tall stack of troubles remain and Bush's words ring hollow.
Iraq, budget deficits, the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare, high health and energy costs, a national immigration mess - the next president will inherit these problems in January 2009. With Bush's popularity at an all time low and relations with the Democratic-led Congress acrimonious, he has little or no chance of pulling off a surprise victory in his time left.
Wow. Sounds dire. Of course Loven failed to examine the problems Bush inherited from the Clinton presidency: an economy dipping into a downturn and a false sense of pre-9/11 security. What's more, no attention was paid to the concerted effort liberals in the Senate and House have played in killing Bush legislative efforts.
Nope. Instead Loven plays up the hatin', finding a criticism from a former Bush staffer before rattling off a laundry list of woes including the oft-repeated bromide that Bush failed to be a "a uniter, not a divider.":
"We're in a worse place than we were in 1999" before Bush became president, lamented Matthew Dowd, a former pollster and chief campaign strategist for Bush who has become disillusioned with his old boss.
Indeed, while Senate Democrats and liberals have played a strong and concerted role in derailing Bush agenda items during his presidency, neither the names Harry Reid nor Tom Daschle -- two Democratic Senate majority leaders during Bush's tenure -- are even mentioned.
Instead, Loven returned at the close of her article to cite Dowd's disappointment in Bush for failing to make nice with Congress:
Dowd said Bush has only to look at himself for why he didn't fulfill his promise. His unwillingness to admit mistakes and inattention to building relationships with lawmakers of both parties helped put success out of reach, Dowd said.
"Most of the responsibility - I don't want to use the word blame - is at his doorstep. It has to be," Dowd said. "In the end, he is the leader, elected twice, with Congress at times in his own party."
Update/Related item (Oct. 5 | 16:06):
Gateway Pundit has a laundry list of achievements that Loven overlooked.:
Hollow words, indeed!
... and biased as usual.
Here's a list of the few notable accomplishments Loven missed. Don't EVER expect to see this list in any mainstream publication:
* Economic surge that is more robust than during the Clinton administration
* Reduction in violent crimes from previous administration
* Cut down on record corruption from Clinton Administration
* Lower unemployment rates than during the Clinton years
* Higher growth of investments than during the Clinton years
* Tax cuts!
* Record stock market gains
* Slowed the outrageous CEO salary gains from the Clinton years
* Fewer miner deaths
* Record gains for minorities
* Led the country courageously after 9-11 attacks
* Stopped the consistent string of terror attacks against America allowed during previous administration
* Hundreds of terror attacks thwarted against US
* Tougher laws for corporate fraud
* Kept terrorists running
* Survived national security leaks
* Real After-Tax Income Has Risen By 13.8 Percent Since January 2001. Real after-tax income has risen by $2,398 (8.2 percent) per person since January 2001.
* Liberated 25 million in Iraq from the world's most horrible tyrant
* Democratized Iraq
* Liberated 29,000,000 in Afghanistan from world's most oppressive regime -Taliban
* Closed the rape rooms in Iraq
* Closed down the most corrupt financial program in history- the Oil for Food Program
* Democratized Afghanistan
* Nuclear agreement with North Korea
* Helped establish democracy in Lebanon
* Killed or captured a majority of the Al-Qaeda leadership
* Killed 19,000 terrorists or insurgents in Iraq
* Lost fewer soldiers in Iraq than the Clintons did during peacetime
* Fewer soldier suicides than during Clinton years
* Because Bush went ahead with "The Surge"- future Americans will not need to go back to Iraq!
