One evening in the spring of 2000, I left work early to rush to Long Beach Airport. It was the night before the California primary, and Bush campaign workers had been invited to participate in a rousing send-off for the then Governor of Texas and his First Lady before they flew home to await the next day's election results. It was the only time I ever saw George W. Bush and Laura Bush in person, but I still see all the details of that joyous event in my mind's eye.
The next day, our Dubya won the California primary and the presidential nomination. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. I was proud to campaign for Bush-Cheney in 2000 and again in 2004. I was proud to vote for them. I am proud of the job they did.
As our Dubya's presidential term draws to a close, I have to say the Dose has been a joy throughout these eight years. It has truly been a sanity island in a troubling sea. I love and honor all of you who hosted it, and who supported it. Speaking for myself, I had to withdraw largely due to issues in my personal life that kept me off line for long periods.
However, I also wanted to reduce my active participation on FR as this forum became increasingly choked with venom and hatred for GWB. I suppose now is not the time to do a retrospective on the ugliness, except to say this:
If we as supposed conservatives, who typically hold ourselves as being better than the Left, cannot even spot it when we slide from vigorous policy differences into joining the Left in mindless, shrill, aggressive vitriol toward this most decent and honorable man, then there is no place for me in the conservative movement.
In any case, I'll end by expressing my undying gratitude to President George W. Bush, and to the Dose hosts who have served him well these past eight years. There are many speeches and events to remember. My favorite forever will be the concluding paragraphs from GWB's first Inaugural Address, January 20, 2001:
After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: "We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?"Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration. The years and changes accumulate. But the themes of this day he would know: our nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity.
We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with his purpose. Yet his purpose is achieved in our duty, and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.
Classy post, Wolfstar.
Beautifully said—as always—Wolfstar :)