How will the Bush administration be remembered?

With all due respect, I'm pretty sure Dubya & Co will continue being the laughing stock of international affairs over here in Europe for a long time (- Hey, I'm aware you Americans have invested him with the highest of US offices, but I wrote "With all due respect" initially, so I won't drone on about how much many of us Europeans actually admire America, our common interests etc, out of sheer courtesy:D).

Europe and the US will remain best friends and just like my (personal) best friend since 30 years and I squabble from time to time (I'm 39), we're all in this civilization together - and together, we have a responsibility towards our origin as well the future of Western civilization.

Most Conservatives around the globe probably agree, by today, that Reagan and Churchill made the right decisions in the field of global affairs of their time.

No sane person would wish to blow up an innocent little child playing in the street, whether that innocent little child happens to have been born into the totalitarian barbarity of Nazism, mid 19th century Japanese militarism, or the present Islamist disaster of government that currently plagues the remnants of a culture that once was known as Persia.

The men who truly understand what Niccolò Machiavelli was on about usually make good leaders (- and by the way, it ought to be acknowledged more often that Macchiavelli was a true Florentine republican who supported the idea of democracy ALTHOUGH he accepted the tradition of "i principi" - the monarchic despot rulers of Renaissance Italy/Europe of his time).

However, many of us Europeans doubt Bush JR is a new Reagan, Lincoln or Churchill.

- The Bush administration has, more or less, apologized for the invasion of Iraq and seems to have given up on establishing law and order in the country. Perhaps this frustrated situation could all be blamed on Europe, but what good will it do?

- The Bush administration continues to be lenient towards the phenomena of illegal immigrants, especially those coming from south of the border. This is indeed something that continues to upset and irritate a lot of good, hard working Americans.

- The Bush administration has failed to maintain good relations with Europe. As a European, I'm well aware there are plenty of ignorant French, German and Italian crybabies among our "intellectuals". However, I'd say that while most of Western Civilization and our closest allies by today recognizes Reagan as a great leader of the free world, GWB never will be viewed in that way in my part of the world.

- The Bush administration has prove unable of coping with what might be the most severe threat to the US economy since the Great Depression, namely that of the Euro. The European economy is marked by slow growth since decades, but that doesn't matter much in this context as the fast decline of the USD we've seen in recent years constitutes a situation American economy doesn't seem prepared for. If American companies, at large, knew how to do business on European soil, the present conditions might have been of great advantage to overall American business life, but sadly enough we see very little of such initiatives taking place.

Europe can't tell the US what to do as well as vice versa and most good Europeans, in resemblance with good Americans, understand that's NOT what neither of us are here for. But let's continue the dialog for whatever it's worth - and in my opinion, preserving Western Civilization is worth a lot.

The invasion of Iraq might have been necessary sooner or later and the WOT absolutely is, but I also think most Westerners agree it's a better idea to fight these wars in a truly UNITED manner than to continue throwing mud at each other. Let's leave that to our teenagers on both sides of the pond.

Soldiers from many civilized nations (including mine), have died in the WOT and this fact alone calls for more of unity and determination among nations who are truly devoted to the irrepressible idea of human freedom.

Whatever one might say, George W Bush tried hard to become a new Reagan and some might say he was successful.

However; governments come and go, the US and other truly strong nations will, eternally, prevail.

Hey little buddy, I didn't think you would show your face back in this thread, but because you am a american first, I'm more than happy to smack you around some more, so let's get started ya bozo, look what I found online, why it's the SAME guy you just cited, but he's singing a much different tune, so get out your kazoo and hum along, got it?

President Reagan: Our Nation Turns Its Lonely Eyes To You!
Dave Gibson - June 5, 2008

This week marks the fourth anniversary of the death of President Ronald W. Reagan. Not only did we lose a great man, and a remarkable leader, but Ronald Reagan was the last true American statesman, we are unlikely to see his kind again.

Ronald Reagan entered the Oval Office, in a most uncertain and dark time. Americans were saddled with a double-digit rate of inflation, 20% interest rates, growing unemployment, and a sense of despair. Not only were things bad at home, but our people were being held hostage abroad, as our American Embassy in Iran had fallen to Islamic terrorists. Respect for the United States and her people was fading quickly. It was the worst of times this nation had seen since The Great Depression.

President Reagan though, was not deterred by the colossal task that lay before him. He was swept into office by a landslide and knew that the country had delivered to him, an overwhelming mandate. Even before the conclusion of his inauguration on Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released the American hostages, after holding them for 444 days, during the Carter administration. Despite the false claims made by his detractors that the hostages were returned from Iran, because of some 'secret deal', or the equally ridiculous reason given by Ayatollah Khomeni (He claimed that it was just one last insult to President Carter, to release them on the day that Reagan took the oath of office.)...We all knew the real reason why our men were coming home--the Iranians were scared to death! They had two options, return the hostages or face certain destruction. Ronald Reagan would not accept another day of the Iranian hostage crisis.

Reagan really came into office with two things in mind: Restoring faith in this country and putting an end to Soviet domination. Well, he did both! Reagan turned around the economy by cutting taxes, his tax-cut was the largest in U.S. history. Reagan's "program for economic recovery" was not only responsible for the years of growth throughout the 1980's, but actually during the 1990's as well. He announced plans for a 600 ship Navy and deemed the Soviet Union an "evil empire." He also announced plans for the nation's Strategic Defense Initiative and began deployment of Pershing II nuclear missiles to Europe. All of these things occurred during his first term!

In 1987, President Reagan went to the Brandenberg Gate in West Berlin and uttered those now famous words: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Of course, Gorbachev later complied! Reagan brought the "evil empire" to collapse and ended Soviet domination throughout Eastern Europe. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone now living in an Eastern European democracy, who does not love Ronald Reagan. He will forever be remembered as the most ardent of "cold-warriors."

While Reagan was a political giant, he was also a very humble man. In March of 1987, he went on national television and announced to the country that he had made mistakes during the Iran-Contra affair. It is more than rare for a sitting president to admit to anything, especially if he does not have to do so. Reagan however, was rare indeed.

President Reagan was a man of many firsts. He installed more minorities and women to cabinet positions than any other U.S. President before him. He also nominated the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court (Sandra Day O'Connor). In 1986, he signed a bill that made Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, a national holiday. He did all of these things without a great deal of fanfare, or boasting. He just did them.

There is now a United States Navy aircraft carrier, which bares his name. There is Reagan National Airport, located in what he called "that shining city on the hill." There will undoubtedly be more memorials named in his honor, as he certainly deserves. However, his most important and his most lasting legacy will be of that which he gave to freedom-loving people everywhere. He not only gave hope, he turned that hope into action which helped create democracy, where before there had been only oppression.

I will always remember President Ronald W. Reagan as the man who had so much respect for the office of the presidency, that he would never dare enter the Oval Office without a proper shirt and tie! As I write this, I can see him walking down that long, red carpet, making his way to the White House Press Room...You just had the feeling that you were about to hear something important!

Reagan's vision, humility, and un-daunting courage in the face of adversity made him a great president. His character made him a leader.

In today´s political world of race-baiting, Senators being arrested in public bathrooms, gubernatorial sex scandals, illegal wars, and our Constitution all but forgotten by those sworn to uphold it…Most of us yearn for the simple and dignified Reagan years.

His kind is rarely seen and is now so sorely missed.

Dave Gibson is a freelance writer living in Norfolk, Va.

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Hey how do you like that article by your boy?

I think it's a great article.

Now lookee here sparkplug, if you're going to copy and paste the work of free lance writers, you might want to research what ELSE they've written that just might contradict all of your low-octane horse manure.

For a two-day old troll, you're looking pretty pathetic right about now.

But by all means, c'mon back for more, I'm just getting warmed up here, and the night is young.

Bush will be better thought of by posterity than he is by our contemporaries, but there's a limit to how high his reputation can go.

He's sort of a "tipping point" guy and you can see that on this thread. In the Reagan years, one could say, "We don't care what those Europeans think of us, we're right." And there would be something in that -- though Reagan, as President, did his best to get European support for our policies.

So we go on thinking that way, and we're right about this or that. But then we come to a point where we take it too far, where maybe we should have listened more. Bush was that point. As Lyndon Johnson was for his own party and ideology.

Or think of it this way. Some populism, some disregard for elite thinking is a good thing. A lot of the time it's right. But it's not always going to be right or a good thing. Sometimes -- maybe only once in a long while, but at least that once -- it's taken too far.

Somebody will doubtless disagree and say that Bush wasn't that tipping point, that he didn't go too far. That's fine, so long as you recognize that it is possible to take things too far. If you don't see that, there's a problem.

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