Thank You Mr. President. I may not have always agreed with you, and sometimes you may have even pissed me off, but I got over it, and I respect what you have done for the past eight years. Now go relax and catch a few ballgames, you've earned it.
Posted on 01/19/2009 6:44:26 PM PST by Railroad
When George W. Bush leaves office Tuesday, he will do so with a 27 percent exit approval rating, lower even than Jimmy Carter’s was. I think he deserves better.
Why? Because, while national security is not the president’s only job, it must be his first priority, and Bush has been an excellent wartime leader. Even when it cost him politically, he has remained a relentless and successful defender of this nation and its people.
Like all of us, Bush saw those two great towers reduced to rubble, the smoke pouring from the Pentagon, the smoldering scar cut through a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001. Unlike too many of us, Bush never forgot how much can change in a single morning if we give our enemies an opening.
Famously stubborn, Bush refused to forget the lessons of 9/11, and we have all benefited, whether we realize it or not. I imagine he was also inspired by those he met who lost loved ones on 9/11 and in the war that followed. Remembering 9/11 was also his duty: He swore to preserve, protect and defend —- and he has done so.
At every turn, Bush has been opposed by the hordes of liberal Lilliputians who dominate our colleges, newsrooms, Hollywood studios and —- more tragically —- even the Democratic caucus in Washington. They have questioned his veracity, his motives, his tactics. They have whined about Guantanamo Bay and interrogation techniques and wiretaps of foreigners. Two years ago, they said Iraq was a lost cause.
Even now, Bush’s domestic adversaries have bloodied but not beaten him. He and our soldiers, intelligence agents and law enforcement officers have kept us safe. At home, we have not been hit again. In Iraq, the surge has worked and the war is nearly won.
One of the most reckless claims of Bush’s opponents is that he misled the country into Iraq by lying about Saddam Hussein’s efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Truth is, Bush didn’t lie. Nor did Bush claim Saddam was behind 9/11. What the president refused to do, in the wake of the most devastating attack on America since Pearl Harbor, was sit around and do nothing when the best intelligence indicated Saddam was working feverishly on WMDs.
On the domestic front, Bush’s record is not as strong. As a conservative, I wasn’t happy with some of his choices. He never put a brake on government spending. He tried too hard to work with people like Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), who wrote his first education bill. And he generally failed to make the case for conservatism or his own policies.
Even so, there were times Bush demonstrated remarkable political courage, often at a risk to his own popularity. In 2005, he made fixing Social Security a top priority. The rest of Washington wasn’t interested. The American people weren’t, either. So nothing happened. Nor did Bush make friends with his immigration plan, but at least he had the courage to take on an enduring national challenge.
Vice President Dick Cheney also deserves better. He was retired from public life and making a comfortable living when Bush asked him to run. Under such circumstances —- and with his heart troubles —- Cheney could easily have turned Bush down. But he didn’t. He served ably, and he is a hero for it, not a villain.
In the end, Bush’s low approval ratings and the apparent credence given to absurd descriptions of him as one of America’s worst presidents reflect more on the people’s shortcomings than Bush’s. In this, the president hasn’t so much let us down as we have let him down.
Which isn’t so surprising. Free people often tire of war. Even the British, fast on the heels of Adolf Hitler’s defeat, unceremoniously voted out Winston Churchill in 1945.
I saw comedian Dennis Miller in Las Vegas last year, and he neatly summed up why I remain thankful for our outgoing president. Bush, Miller explained, will still be going after the bad guys with everything he has, right up until the day he leaves office.
Starting tomorrow, we can only hope that our new president will prove as aggressive in protecting our nation and defeating our enemies as George W. Bush.
Wow. A Patriot in the news media. I’m fairly stuned.
Absolutely flabbergasted that this is in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
I’ll get over it. Good article.
2 supreme court judges,real conservatives.
Went after our enemies and destroyed them.
While i have issues with Bush i think when someone writes a book who does not suffer from BDS,he will look good.
Ford and Reagan had bad numbers,when they left office .
Beautiful. So true. Thank you, President Bush.
Excellent read! Thanks!
** IT WON’T BE LONG BEFORE THE NATION WISHES HE WAS BACK **
It is gonna get ugly.
ping.
Thank You Mr. President. I may not have always agreed with you, and sometimes you may have even pissed me off, but I got over it, and I respect what you have done for the past eight years. Now go relax and catch a few ballgames, you've earned it.
Bush was the best Democrat President in my lifetime. Like JFK, strong on defense, tax cuts...
IMHO, Bush has aged much better during his tenure than most of his recent counterparts. Good photo.
I think Bush had to play the hand he was dealt, it’s not as if the congressional Republicans had his back.
My feelings as well.
Dubya sacrificed his popularity in order to keep us safe, and I never even sent the letter of thanks that I had planned for the past year.
...Dennis Miller ... explained...[Dubya] will still be going after the bad guys with everything he has, right up until the day he leaves office.
Dubya has the wisdom and strength to know what our great nation's big threat is; and, that is (was) his priority.
Starting tomorrow, we can only hope that our new president will prove as aggressive in protecting our nation and defeating our enemies as George W. Bush.
Nupe, I labor under no such delusion.
Marxist Obama, a hyper-leftie who some believe has a malignant narcissist, believes that the "bad guys" will leave us alone because he (Marxist Obama) is somehow entitled to that.
Our enemies have had a good opportunity to examine Marxist Obama, and how he would be reluctant to defend this wonderful country. And, that's vewwy skewwy.
.
Bump....
Amen and thank you President Bush!
“..now go relax and catch a few ballgames, you’ve earned it”
I agree, although the press will still hound him....the MSM will probably criticize him if he does not hammer nails for Habitat for Humanity.
***Free people often tire of war.***
It was Joseph Stalin who said he wanted the Korean War to last a long time because the American people did not have a stomach for long wars.
That is why the Vietnam War lasted as long as it did, so we would tire out quick.
Many people believe no war should last longer than a three hour movie.
As one DU poster said about Afghanistan, “They killed 3000 of us, we killed 3000 of them. It is time to bring the troops home.” Dum bass.
Yep, that's about all we can do.
His approval will go up following Compean and Ramos’s commute......it has in my book!
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