George W. Bush's Remarkable Legacy - (he's already a "living legend!")

There are only a few of our 43 presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR and Reagan come immediately to mind – whose legacies are emblazoned in the glorious history of our embryonic "experiment" in democracy. After only 200 years, we are now recognized as the most generous, powerful, wealthy country on earth – and the envy (and therefore animosity) of all others.

George W. Bush can now relax vis-à-vis what is sure to be his remarkable legacy. With his second term in office only beginning, he already has changed the configuration of the world! And on domestic issues, he has introduced the most sweeping reforms in the past 50 years.

As the president noted in his January 20 Inaugural Address: "For half a century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical. And then there came a day of fire."

His immediate solution: "There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom," he said.

Indeed, since the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, when over 3,000 innocents perished, President Bush has effectively exposed former American leaders (excepting Reagan) as well as many of our foreign "allies" for the ineffectual appeasers they have been by focusing his laser-like vision on the threats from both inside and outside our country and acting to bring about the most extraordinary, world-changing landscape in human history.

First came the toppling of the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan and most of the al-Qaida terrorist network that had wreaked its havoc on America through the previous decade – with the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the bombing of American embassies in Africa in 1998, and the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.

True to the Bush Doctrine that mandates fighting terrorists worldwide, zero tolerance for governments that harbor and finance terrorists, and telling countries throughout the world that "you're either with us or against us," the victory of the U.S. and its allies against terrorists in Afghanistan resulted in the first free election in that county's history, with an 80 percent turnout – 10 million people!

Then, responding to Iraq's decade-long flouting of 17 United Nations resolutions to rid the country of weapons of mass destruction (which there is now good evidence were ferreted out of Iraq to Syria and to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley), and after spending months on end in go-nowhere, U.N.-fueled "diplomacy," the president invaded Iraq, promptly toppling its sadistic dictator, Saddam Hussein, and scattering the country's brutal Baathist regime.

What followed was the establishment of an interim government and, on January 30, a stunning democratic election in which 8 million people – risking life and limb under threats by terrorist insurgents – turned out to vote in the first free election most of them could ever remember.

Liberals, who had little to say about human rights violations in Afghanistan and nothing to say about Saddam's vicious murder sprees and rape rooms, had plenty to say about Bush. Throughout his entire first term – including the 2004 presidential campaign – they conducted a relentless campaign to discredit, undermine and sabotage his efforts.

But something funny happened on the way to history. While the liberal establishment and its de facto employees in the left-wing media were screeching, writing, distorting and contorting, millions upon millions of people throughout the world were watching that history unfold before their eyes.

The results have been staggering, starting with the resoundingly victorious re-election of President Bush. Then came the following:

In December, a crooked election in Ukraine was overturned and a pro-Western candidate became prime minister.

In January, the Palestinian Authority held its first free elections ever, with the elections commission saying that 70 percent of the 1.28 million registered voters cast their ballots.

Last month, Saudi Arabia held its first local free election and its leaders promised that future elections would include the votes of women.

Also in February, after the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon, a spontaneous and unprecedented uprising demanded that Syria end its occupation, the puppet government resigned, Syria has now agreed to withdrawal, and Lebanese citizens are now demanding their own free elections.

In the same month, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak acceded to having free elections in the upcoming presidential election. After all the naysaying and nitpicking and skepticism and cynicism, it turns out that Bush was right.

As the president noted in his Inaugural Address: "We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

His address expanded on this vision: "We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies."

Finally, the president expressed an idea that millions of people have already begun to grasp – and act on. "Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

Saying that "the freedom genie is out of the bottle in the Middle East," journalist Gary D. Halpert notes that "even some in the liberal media are finally having to accept that the rise in freedom around the world is a good thing and (gasp!) that President Bush deserves some, if not most, of the credit for it."

Halpert cites one of the Iraq war's premier skeptics, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, who recently wrote: "… this has so far been a year of heartening surprises – each one remarkable in itself, and taken together truly astonishing. The Bush administration is entitled to claim a healthy share of the credit for many of these advances."

The bandwagon effect, grudging as it still is in most of the media, is fine and good as far as it goes, but as writer Jack Kelly has said: "Journalists demand accountability from political leaders for 'quagmires' that exist chiefly in the imagination of journalists. But when will journalists be held to account for getting every major development in the war on terror wrong?"

But writer JB Williams' sights are elsewhere. "Before you know it," he writes, "even DNC constituents will begin to get the notion that people can actually govern themselves, and prefer to do just that! The tsunami-sized wave of democracy sweeping across a region of the world that has never known anything but war, death, torture and fear, is getting hard to deny – even for Democrats!" And even, I might add, for that ignominious, scandal-ridden body, the U.N.

Whether the diehard leftists get on board or not, the train of freedom and democracy in the Middle East has left the station. In a remarkable article in Arabnews.com, the Middle East's leading English-language daily, Tariz A. Al-Maeena writes of a recent phenomenon that is sweeping the land: females driving cars!

"Obviously, women drivers initially will be the targets of attention," Al-Maeena writes, "some of it unwarranted, if seen behind the wheel, in a society not accustomed to such a sight. What happens if they perchance are involved in a collision? In pockets of a culture that frowns on such independence, women may feel threatened. The answer is ZERO tolerance toward anyone bothering these women. Males caught in the harassment of women should have their heads shorn and their photos displayed in newspapers, as some countries in the Gulf do."

Can anyone imagine this sentiment being expressed in a free Arab press even two months ago?!

Journalist Michael Ledeen, in an article titled "The Lethal Weapon of Freedom," says, "Many of the brave people in the suddenly democratic Arab streets are inspired by America, and by George W. Bush himself."

Yet Ledeen sees bumps in the road. "One of the most frustrating paradoxes of the moment," he writes, is that Bush's "vision is rather more popular among the peoples of the Middle East than among some of our top policymakers. For anyone to suggest to this president at this dramatic moment, that he should offer a reward to Iran for promising not to build atomic bombs, or that we should seek a diplomatic ‘solution' to Syria's oft-demonstrated role in the terror war against our friends and our soldiers, is a betrayal of his vision … yet that sort of reactionary thinking is surprisingly widespread, from leading members of congressional committees, from the failed ‘experts' at State and CIA, and even some on the staff of the National Security Council."

Nevertheless, it is clear that George W. Bush is an expert himself in confounding critics, dismissing reactionary ideas, and forging ahead with high-mindedness and faith. Even if his heroic efforts should falter in the short run, his legacy – his prophetic dream of spreading democracy and freedom throughout the world – will be hailed in the long run as visionary.

Why? Because throughout recorded history, humans have yearned and fought and died for freedom, risking and too often sacrificing their lives to live free or die. The president – whose actions have freed over 50 million formerly oppressed people – understands the yearning for freedom and has put his presidency and his legacy on the line to embrace and fight for it.

Joan Swirsky, a New York-based journalist and author, was a former obstetrical nurse and taught Lamaze classes for 20 years. She can be reached at joansharon@aol.com

Presidency of George W. Bush -- the first 48 months

President Bush signing a federal ban on Partial Birth Abortion

Banned Partial Birth Abortion

Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy
Stopped foreign aid that would be used to fund abortions.

Supported and upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals

Signed E.O. reversing Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act

Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty

Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court

Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California

Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules that would have shut down every home business in America

First Missile is Installed For NMD on July 23, 2004
Killed the U.S. - CCCP ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses

Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first ten ABM silos in Alaska and California so that America has a defense against North Korean nukes
The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act (less romantically known as H.R. 5382) ultimately allows average Americans to hitch a ride on a civilian space craft at their own risk. The federal ban on such citizen travel was repealed by HR 5382 in 2004. The President signed that bill into law two days before Christmas.
President Bush pledged to Israel on 4/14/2004 that it could keep parts of the West Bank, giving international legitimacy to Jewish settlements there
Denied Palestinian refugees any right of return to what is now Israel, saying they should be resettled in a future Palestinian state instead
Part of coalition (Russia, Israel, EU, Palestine, USA) for Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace"
Pushed through THREE raises for our military

Increased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years
President Bush's Grand Strategy (click here)

President Bush's Environmental Record - 2004 (click here)
Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit

Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers

Ordered Attorney-General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, NOT a leftist-imagined *collective* right

Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e. the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty)
Signed the 2004 Omnibus Budget 1/26/2004 that now MANDATES that gun buyers' background check information be fully and permanently destroyed within 24 hours of the completion of the check, no matter what.
Repealed Gun Controls Against Active, Retired, and Off-Duty Law Enforcement Personnel Carrying Weapons Into Local and State Prohibited Zones (7/28/2004)

Enacted powerful tort reform legislation that moves many class action lawsuits from state to federal courts. Requires federal courts to hear cases where the amount of the dispute is more than $5 million, and when the defendant and any of the plaintiffs live in different states.

Disarmed Libya of its Chemical, Nuclear, and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed
Won an agreement that U.S. Navy sailors may now freely board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry (signed Feb 11, 2004), and Panama 5/10/2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/international/americas/11ship.html).
Successfully executed 2 wars and rebuilt 2 nations: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50+ million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom...epitomized by their own free and democratic elections.
Provided Billions in aid, machines, and manpower to tsunami victims.

Executed a WAR ON TERROR by getting world-wide cooperation to track funds/terrorists (has cut off much of the terrorist's funding and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network)
Bush Administration diplomacy led to the 5/25/2004 peace accord that ended a massive 20-year civil war between Sudan's Islamic north and Christian south after two million deaths Click Here
Delivered vital emergency aid to millions of survivors on multiple continents (e.g. Africa, SE Asia) of a devastating Tsunami caused by a 9.1 earthwuake near Sumatra.

Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed

Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.

Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia

Initiated comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE was critical.
Created NATO's Rapid Response Force
Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the Presidency

Reorganized bureaucracy...after 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency: the Department of Homeland Security.

Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.

Improving govt. efficiency with .8 million jobs put up for bid...weakening unions and cutting undeserved pay raises. Wants merit based promotions/raises only.

Orchestrated Republican control of the White House, the House AND the Senate.

Killed the liberal ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.

GWB signed an executive order enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision (re: union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes)

Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession.

Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.

Signed 2 income tax cuts ---- 1 of which was the largest Dollar-value tax cut in world history

Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains

In process of eliminating IRS marriage penalty.

Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people
Eliminated the Estate Tax (AKA "Death Tax") that was taking small farms and businesses from families

Signed into law the No Child Left Behind legislation delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations)

Reorganized the INS in an attempt to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.

Signed trade promotion authority

Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa

Passed Medicare Reform (authorized $39.5 Billion per year for preventive medicine such as drugs and doctor visits as well as included a ten year Privatization option)

Urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits

Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims

Submitted comprehensive Energy Plan--awaits Congressional action (works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.)

Endorses and promotes The Responsibility Era ("In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to one in which every single American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself. " -----this quote was too good to leave out)

Started the USA Freedom Corps

Initiated review of all federal agencies with a goal to eliminate federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of federal gov while increasing private sector jobs.

Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become The League of Nations ( in other words, completely irrelevant)

Nominated strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.

President Bush opened up an additional part of Alaska for domestic oil drilling. In 2004, the National Petroleum Reserve, an area west of the existing Prudhoe Bay field, was approved for new energy exploration and production.
Increased U.S. Oil Drilling Permits 70% Above Clinton-era
Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary clean-up of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.

As part of the national forests clean-up, the President restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges) and removed the need for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
New Forest Rules Gives States Power Over Federal Forests Inside Their Borders
Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.
President Bush signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal Aliens
S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, was signed by President Bush on December 3, 2003.
It extends for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It expands the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states.

U.S. Forces In Baghdad

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