What? False analogy if I've ever heard one. Progressivism is fairly flexible in its definition, but to call what Bush and Cheney are doing 'Right Progressivism' is absurd. 'Progressivism' has some semblance of an organized rationale and meaning, so you can't just throw around the term like that.

You can't say "Here are the faults of fascism, so don't be an environmentalist" (not calling Bush/Cheney fascists here; just using it as an example). That makes no sense, but that is what you are basically saying. Apples and Oranges.

watch where you throw those "you's". I never voted for him. Basically, 1 in 2 voters voted for Bush over the last 8 years. Hardly a national consensus.

But yes, there's plenty of blame to go around outside of elections. The dems being a big culprit as well as the media.

There's simply too much responsibility and too little scrutiny on pols. Many partisan voters claim to be scrutinious but they aren't. Far too many of us force ourselves to champion the mediocrity of collective decision making and trade offs that has too many consequences on the strength of slim majorities. And regardless of dissatisfaction, most continue to just vote the party line....prisoners of our own romantic illusions.

Here's a man who's been a businessman, been a CEO of a decent-sized corporation, been governor of a large state for 6 years, and President for 7 years. 

I mean, he's certainly talked like he was an expert on the economy when the economy was better.  Here's a man who has talked about the economy for most of his term as if he had it all figured out-- as if it all was a simple matter of getting the government out of the way of business and letting people keep more of their own money.  Here's a man who made this confident statement about the economy just four and a half months ago:

One of the reasons I've come by is to remind you how important you are to
our economy. In other words, I'm the kind of person who believes that it's
important for those of us in government to encourage people to take risk
and to take investment. I like to remind people one of the key
cornerstones of my philosophy is, I don't believe the role of government is
to try to create wealth. It's to create the environment in which people
are willing to risk capital, to expand their businesses. And I appreciate
the fact that every day you're doing that. I appreciate the fact that you
have to worry about what your customers think; that you tailor your goods
and services to meet somebody else's demand. I appreciate the fact that by
providing a place for people to work, you help American families. And I
appreciate the fact that you've been a part of a remarkable economy.

Just this morning, we learned that the economic growth in the third quarter
was 3.9 percent. You hear people talking about whether our economy is
strong or not; well, here's an indication that it's strong. A lot of that
has to do with the ability for people to dream big dreams and to follow
through on those dreams. I love the fact that people say, I own a
business. Ownership is a central part of making sure this country is a
helpful -- hopeful country.

I also am pleased to report to you that last September was America's 49th
consecutive month of job creation. It's the longest period of
uninterrupted job growth on record. A lot of that has to do with the fact
that we cut your taxes. There's a huge debate in Washington about cutting
taxes. I believe if you've got more money in your treasuries to spend,
it's more likely somebody is going to find work. I believe when American
families have more money in their pockets to save, invest, or spend, it
helps keep the economy strong. I believe you can spend your money better
than the federal government can spend your money.

That's the philosophy behind the tax cuts we have passed, and I appreciate
you supporting pro-growth economic policies. You understand that small
businesses work best when there's more money at -- in circulation amongst
small businesses. Today, this afternoon, I'm going to sign into law an
extension of the Internet tax moratorium. We're making some progress in
convincing people in Washington that low taxes ought to be memorialized in
permanent policy.

Pro-growth economic policies work. That's one of the things I want to
share with you. In order to get out of a recession and recover from an
attack on the United States, we cut taxes on everybody who pays taxes,
because I'm not the kind of person that says, we're going to cut taxes on
you because of your political affiliation and not because of you -- on you
because of yours. I believe if you cut taxes, the only way to
-- fair way to do so is to cut taxes on everybody who pays income taxes.
And that's precisely what we did. And cutting taxes caused our economy to
not only recover, but grow, just like I told you -- 3.9 percent in the
third quarter, for example.

And when the economy grows, it yields more tax revenues. And by holding
down spending, it means -- and by the way, setting priorities such as
funding our troops when they're in harm's way -- it means you can keep
taxes low, grow the economy, set fiscal priorities, and reduce the deficit.
And that's what's happening, as I speak. And it's important for Congress
not to unwind this process by trying to raise your taxes. And I'm going to
use my veto pen to prevent them from doing so. (Applause.)

Bush, 10/31/2007 

Just notice the fact that when Bush had a quarter of strong GDP growth
to talk about, it wasn't "the experts believe"... it was "I believe", "my
philosophy is", and so on.  Just count the number of times Bush offers his own "expert" opinion about the economy in this statement.  And nowhere in this statement does George Bush indicate that any expert opinion is necessary beyond his own Texas horse sense!