Misses this, too, but Sen. Orrin Hatch gave
what Flopping Aces called a brilliant speech
as Pres. Bush was leaving office.
~~~~~~
Mr. President, I rise to offer some thoughts and observations about the Presidency of George W. Bush as his time in office comes to a close. This is truly a time to thank God for our country, for our system of government, and for our liberty—unparalleled in the history of the world.
President Bush served at a time of great challenge and even crisis for our country and I wish to focus on him both as a President and a person.
When America’s Founders gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, it is said someone asked Benjamin Franklin, the Constitutional Convention’s oldest delegate, what form of government was under construction. He famously answered: A republic, if you can keep it.
James Madison defined a republic as a government which derives its powers from the people, a principle enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.
One way we work to keep our Republic is by the people choosing those who will govern them. In his farewell address in 1837, President Andrew Jackson said:
But you must remember, my fellow citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.
Elections and transitions of power are part of that vigilance; part of keeping our Republic in order that we might, in the words of the Constitution’s preamble, secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Every transition goes from something to something and is an occasion to look at what is concluded as well as what is beginning.
With the inauguration of President-elect Obama around the corner and the flurry of confirmation activity in the Senate regarding his nominees and the intense focus on economic and other challenges, much of our attention is rightfully focused on the future. But we look to the future from a present shaped by the past.
Only by understanding where we have been can we have the ability, perspective, and confidence to act today and plan for tomorrow.
Although a Presidency has a beginning and an end, it is simply part of the flow of events. Presidents inherit situations they did not create and create situations that they then leave to their successors.
They may get credit for successes they did not produce and escape blame for failures that do not materialize until after they leave office. That is the nature of political life in America. While we focus on the individual—the President—I think it is more appropriate to speak of an administration—the Presidency.
There are hundreds and hundreds of people who serve at the pleasure of the President to develop and implement his agenda. All this makes very difficult even describing, let alone evaluating, something as multifaceted as the Bush Presidency. Some of President Bush’s critics almost reflexively look at opinion polls, noting his approval rating has sunk.
I do not have to tell anyone serving in public office about the allure as well as the danger of this particular reflex. Polls are snapshots, they are not motion pictures. The pollster is the photographer. He chooses the subject, the lighting, and the angle. He frames the shot and determines how the final picture turns out.
The Bush Presidency was book-ended by national crises—the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the financial crisis before us today. Not surprisingly, as the Washington Post pointed out a few days ago, President Bush enjoyed the highest approval rating in late 2001 and nearly the lowest in late 2008 in the history of the Post’s reporting.
Once again, that is the nature of political life in America and comes with the Presidential territory.
While President Bush’s approval rating has many ups and downs, one thing has remained absolutely constant: His approval rating has been consistently higher than ours in the Congress. The Web site pollingreport.com shows that dozens of national polls in the last couple years have given Congress an approval rating in the tens, down to a measly 12 percent, while President Bush has never had one that low.
We in the Congress have the advantage of getting lost in the crowd when we want to, blaming such dismal public sentiment on the institution, while insisting that as individual Members we are certainly much more popular. The President never has that luxury.
The polls do not ask whether Americans approve of his administration but whether they approve of him. President Bush knows it is tough to lead if you follow the polls. As he said in an interview last month, he did not compromise his soul to be a popular guy.
George W. Bush is not leaving the Presidency with chapped fingers from holding them up to the political wind. His critics spin that as stubbornness, saying he wants to go it alone. I fully expect many of those same Bush critics will praise the next President for the very same thing.
One man’s principle, I suppose, is another man’s inflexibility.
But as President Bush said at Texas A&M University, popularity is fleeting but character and conscience are sturdy.
The only test that matters, he said, is going home at night, looking in the mirror and being satisfied that you have done what is right.
Rest here
<popularity is fleeting but character and conscience are sturdy.
Amen. Unfortunately, Zero’s popularity hasn’t been fleeting enough, but it does seems to be on the wane and we are left with the base, characterless, immoral cipher that is Obama. 2012, my FRiends, 2012.
Good to see y’all.