I really don’t have to prove that I’ve disagreed with Mr. Bush fairly often, but a quickie search gets me to this, this, and this with no sweat broken.

It wouldn’t really be notable that someone is defending him — history will eventually get there, even if it takes until all of the currently living BDS-addled historians have to die off first — but it’s well stated, and worthy of preservation:

To be sure, Mr. Bush is not completely alone. His low approval ratings put him in the good company of former Democratic President Harry S. Truman, whose own approval rating sank to 22% shortly before he left office. Despite Mr. Truman’s low numbers, a 2005 Wall Street Journal poll found that he was ranked the seventh most popular president in history.

Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging Truman’s presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years — and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty — a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

The Pelosi Obama-Reid (POR) Economy, which began taking hold in full force sometime in June, and was first recognized by yours truly in early July, turned in the following results in October, according to the Institute for Supply Management:
- November 5, 2008 — October Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® — NMI at 44.4% (a reading above 50% means expansion; below 50% means contraction).
- November 3, 2008 — October Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® — PMI at 38.9%.

Though I don’t have time to dig back at the moment, both readings are certainly multi-year lows that might even pre-date 2000. It’s amazing what a Democratic-controlled Congress and one tax-promising, energy-starving candidate can do in such a short time.

Sorry, the naysayers can scream all they want: This is not George Bushs’s fault. The POR Economy’s architects created this mess. Now they get to fix it. Stranger things have happened: Guys — How about an income-tax cut — for EVERYBODY who actually pays federal income taxes?

Jean Schmidt survived a challenge from Victoria Wells Wulsin Whatever (VW3) and David “Cracked” Krikorian, but not impressively. My two cents: Her vote for the bailout hurt her and helped the other two, both of whom ran poor campaigns. She either needs to return to her otherwise strong voting record next year, or deserves a stiff conservative challenge in 2010. The linked story is “cleverly” written: “In a one-on-one interview with 9News, Schmidt said that she is ready to go back to Washington, and ‘roll up her sleeves’ to work together with the new Obama administration.” I’ll bet she didn’t actually say the last eight words.

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Emily’s Lister and chummy with jihadists (9:25 item at link) Mary Jo “of course” Kilroy has lost to Steve Stivers in OH-15, per CNN and the Columbus Dispatch, despite two other candidates who siphoned votes away from Stivers. Update, Nov. 7: Nope (HT to Chad Baus) — CNN and the Dispatch were wrong (how does that happen). Stivers is up by 321 pending a recount. With Brunner in charge, I’m a pessimist.

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Even though OH-01 was picked up by someone who claims to be prolife but isn’t when it matters, and OH-16 was picked up by someone who claims to be in favor of 2nd Amendment rights but isn’t when it matters, the OH congressional delegation is still 10-8 GOP.

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Nancy (oh) Boyda lost to Lynn Jenkins in KS-02. No more temper tantrums when generals tell the truth.

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State Rep Josh Mandel in Ohio District 17 handily defeated the his Democratic opponent who, along with his wife, clownishly criticized Mandel for “going AWOL” by returning to Iraq and threw in a bit of Jewish stereotyping as an added bonus. Mandel’s explanation for his decision to return: “I didn’t join the Marine Corps to say no when my country called.” Thank you, sir.

Jill at Writes Like She Talks, who lives in the District, did not support Mandel, and may have voted for the clownishly acting opponent. The results of a WLST site search on her opponent’s name show that she clearly followed the race closely. Yet, “somehow,” she had nothing to say about this:

Though the YouTube went upon October 26, Mandel’s opponent and his wife said what they said in July.

Jill criticizes Mandel for exaggerating a fear of an expensive campaign to build his fundraising. On the very safe assumption that Mandel heard about what happened shortly after the fact, who could blame Mandel for being worried? Marines don’t just sit back and wait for incoming, Jill. I sure hope you didn’t know about the implicit “all good Jews are Democrats” sentiment and the “serving George Bush is more important than serving his constituents” comment (soldiers serve their country, no matter who their commander in chief happens to be) contained in the vid. Because if you did, your failure to mention it in a race you chose to follow closely is indefensible. If you actually voted for the guy who said it, the meter moves to shameful.
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Prop. 8 in California (SOS description, “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry”; my description, “restores conditions to where voters had them in 2001″), is going to pass, despite the LA Times’s laughable holdout. It’s up by 350,000 votes with 90.8% of the votes counted. “No” votes would have to be 68% of the remainder for 8 to fail. Many of the uncounted votes, perhaps the majority, are from counties where Prop. 8 is passing. San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties are all counted. Update: 8 Passed.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this means that no state’s voters, no matter how blue, have ever legalized gay marriage. The result makes Arnold Schwarzenegger’s betrayal in advance of the vote that much more disgraceful.

Counting down the time until the California courts throw out or issue an illegal and should-be-ignored injunction against the vote …..