what I'm about to talk about already. I just want to write my thoughts. Over the
years I have been frustrated how President Bush has been continually blasted. When
I use to hear epithets or accusations like "war criminal" thrown at him it use to
upset me but I hear it so much that I no longer have any reaction. Heh. I just noticed
on my Web site while I started writing this Google Ad was running on my site:
I don't know if there will ever be a president who is so hated in my lifetime. I may
be proven wrong ( I hope not with all my heart). I think it's unfortunate because
for the past seven years we've seen every name thrown at President Bush. Look
what happened at a Hillary Clinton campaign event recently:
An elderly lady in the audience at Hillary Clinton's town hall outside ofI find nothing to cheer or smile about when people say such things.
St. Louis prefaced a question about a rumored U.S.-Mexico-Canada
economic union this morning by saying "Bush the bastard..."
Hillary smiled, head bobbing slightly, and didn't say a word in dissent.
The crowd roared in approval.
I think as Americans we can all agree that President Bush has mismanaged the
war in Iraq. He waited too long to put more troops in Iraq when it was evident
that it was needed. One of my greatest frustrations with him is inability to
communicate with the American people. He has made errors, no doubt about
it.
However, I think there are several positive things he has done that never seem
to be talked about. After Sept. 11, 2001, I thought for sure there was going to be
the only attack on us. I was in college when the terrorist attacks happened and I
remember thinking that this was going to be the beginning of WWIII. There has no
been further attacks. Even the news organizations were comparing it to Pearl Harbor.
Also, generations of Iraqis and Afghan people will no longer live under oppression
because of our military efforts in those countries.
I know President Bush gets faulted for dividing the country and now everyone is
talking about "unity" (in fact, a whole presidential campaign has been built on that
theme). The 2000 election was a close election, so I'm doubtful on how united we
were as a people before he was in office. If he divided us, it probably wasn't all that
hard. I think different segments of the country have always had ideological differences
and war has a way of revealing that to us. Americans differ on ideology, morality,
and values and we can never unite wholly under those terms. As I've said before,
I don't want to see unity but civility.
So, I've never bought into the Bush hatred. I know I'm probably in the minority
since his approval ratings are so low. I must confess I believe he has shown great
character and strength when dealing the greatest threats to America in our lifetime.
You probably won't hear many people say that while he spends his last day in the
Oval Office but I just wanted to take the time to say it.