Why don't people despise Bush as much as he deserves?

I went out to breakfast with some co-workers this morning. We were at the office due to a planned HVAC outage and had some free time while we waited for contractors to get the work done. While there I overheard another table talking politics and hawking various excuses for Bush's performance. You know the ones "he inherited all his problems and did the best he could.", "Saddam really was a bad man and we should have invaded for x, y, or z anyway", yada, yada. Our own conversation drifted that way since we all know someone who is attending the inauguration in 3 days. What surprised me was how my co-workers weren't convinced that Bush was a bad president.

I have to admit, I just don't understand that viewpoint. If you are a dedicated right-winger I expect it. I am used to people of that bent choosing to believe fabrications and lies while choosing to ignore documented facts and even the words of their chosen heroes after they are no longer convenient. But for regular people to think that Bush isn't that bad confuses me. I am not very social, I don't have a lot of close friends and normally avoid politics at work or in polite conversation. I normally talk about cycling, rock climbing and travel. So I suppose I just didn't notice this before as I avoid topics such as this. The root cause seems to me to be based on how little others pay attention to politics.

I just don't get how President Bush's history is hard to remember.

1. He deliberately ignored the threat of Osama bin Ladin, specifically setting aside intelligence warning of 9/11.
2. He lied to get us into a war with Iraq, threatening visions of planes dropping nuclear bombs on US territory.
3. He systematically dismantled regulatory agencies in charge of the environment and finance. Leading us into the current financial crisis and deepening the threat of global warming.
4. Katrina.
5. He specifically cut Armed Forces pay and benefits while forcing them to serve multiple terms of service in foreign wars via "Stop-loss".
6. Torture.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, I am only touching on highlights and I am sure I didn't touch upon numerous issues, screw-ups and crimes.

My question is why and how do regular people forget this stuff?