George W. Bush was probably the most hated President of the last generation.  Anti-Bushism was so intense that some conservatives gave it a name – Bush Derangement Syndrome – which the FDA promptly tried to regulate before realizing conservatives made it up.

Time Magazine called Bush the “Love Him, Hate Him” President – and that was before his second term.  These days, the phrase “The Last Eight Years” have apparently become synonymous with some sort of tyrannical reign of terror in which Bush enslaved Americans to build monuments to himself.

The problem?  As time moves on, “The Last Eight Years” includes more and more of Obama’s policies.  And the more and more we see of Obama’s policies, the more his policies look like George W. Bush’s.

Let’s examine.

Foreign Policy:

-Iraq.  It was a telling moment during the campaign when none of the major Democratic candidates – Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama – could promise to have troops out of Iraq by the end of their first term.  Suddenly, for all of the talk of “bringing our troops home,” we realized that Democrats had no real intention of doing anything like that.

Obama retained Bush’s Secretary of Defense and has essentially retained the Iraq policy of a slow withdrawal – Bush was going to do it, Obama’s doing it.  In fact, when it comes to our two international wars, Obama has ramped up the war in Afghanistan.

A “surge,” if you will.

-Military tribunals.  Obama called them an “enormous failure” during the campaign and suspended them once he became President.  As Charles Krauthammer notes, “They’re back…the military commissions flip-flop is accompanied by the usual Obama three-step: (a) excoriate the Bush policy, (b) ostentatiously unveil cosmetic changes, (c) adopt the Bush policy.”

Obama has tried to flee from Bush policies when it comes to Guantanamo, but not even his own party believes in that departure, blocking funding for the decision with support of some 90% of U.S. Senators.

According to Victor Davis Hanson of the National Review, Democrats in office have kept up a list of Bush policies.  “The Patriot Act, wiretaps, e-mail intercepts, military tribunals, Predator drone attacks, Iraq (i.e., slowing the withdrawal), Afghanistan (i.e., the surge) — and now Guantanamo.”

Domestic Policy:

-Stimulus.  The insane idea of government spending as “stimulus” was pioneered in 2008 under George W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi, and simmered to a debt-ridden stew under Obama/Pelosi in 2009.  The stimulus didn’t stimulate anything in 2008, and it’s not stimulating anything in 2009.  One could call this type of federal intervention in the economy a “Bush/Obama” policy.

Bush’s famous quote?  “I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.”  Obama hasn’t simply abandoned free market principles; he’s totally ignored them.  But both Bush and Obama saw the role of government in the same light: their difference was simply a matter of degree.

-Deficit spending.  For all of the admonishing of George W. Bush as a deficit spender expanding the national debt, Barack Obama has once again taken the Bush policy and injected it with steroids.  If you claim that “the last eight years” were a problem, how does expanding a policy like this help?  The idea is that the spending will help us get out of a recession – but of course, the recession would have ended with or without government spending.

Obama likes to draw a contrast with himself and the Bush administration, but people who actually watch what’s going on realize that not every policy is different.  If you really hated Bush for these policies, maybe you should ask yourself why you don’t also hate Obama.