A Time for Change

George W. Bush. 43rd President of the United States, will leave a legacy, but it is not likely to be the one that he desires.

His entitlement to the Presidency was questioned by a long process of ballot examination in Florida, including multiple legal contests in state and federal court, and finally a decision by the United States Supreme Court.  On his inaugural day, protesters carried signs saying: “His Fradulency, “Bush Stole It,” “Hail to the Thief,” “His Agenda Lost.” “The Grinch Who Stole the Election” and “Dumbya is Illegitimable.”   He promised to include those who did not vote for him.  He didn’t.

Prior to 9/11, polls showed an overall poor image of 43 with the lowest public opinion ratings in years.  He had taken more time off than most Presidents in the past 35 years, he seemed disengaged and had fallen far short of his promise of inclusion and was ineffective at pushing through legislation.

On 9/11, after he had been informed of the attacks on the World Trade Center, he sat there with a blank look on his face.  When he finally did leave, he kept popping up at stops that his plane made in the US instead of flying directly to NY or Washington as most of his predecessors would have done.  Leadership went missing.

He acted like a cowboy and strutted around Washington, telling reporters that he would “smoke out” Osama Bin Laden.  He talked about a “crusade” against terror, which inflamed Muslims.  His administration used 9/11 as an excuse to enact laws stripping US citizens of their Constitutional rights and which the administration would use to brutally torture prisoners.  

When a reporter asked his Press Secretary a question shortly after 9/11, his press secretary warned the reporter about questioning the presidency as if that were treason.  I am too young to know what McCarthyism was like, but it sure seemed similar.  A democracy thrives when questions are raised and a debate over the issues ensues.  Bush was not interested in a democracy though.

More power was given to one man and his behind the scenes VP who ruled the roost from an undisclosed location than ever before.

He ordered the military to invade Afghanistan and then failed to finish that war when he started another. His administration lied about the need for the war in Iraq.  He declared “Mission Accomplished” with a political propaganda fly by at a cost of more than a million dollars to taxpayers.  The war was far from over and that mission has not yet been accomplished.

His VP “outed” a spy, putting her life in danger.  

He has singularly driven the country into financial ruin with the largest deficits on record after he inherited a surplus from Bill Clinton. 

In the midst of the worst financial crisis that our country has seen since the Great Depression, he found time in his “busy” schedule to give National Public Radio an interview about his presidency.  CNN reports that:

…he hopes his legacy is evaluated on success in the War in Iraq, America’s efforts to combat AIDS, and the passage of Medicare legislation in 2003.

“I’d like to be a President (known) as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace; that focused on individuals rather than process; that rallied people to serve their neighbor; that led an effort to help relieve HIV/AIDS and malaria on places like the continent of Africa; that helped elderly people get prescription drugs and Medicare as a part of the basic package; that came to Washington, D.C., with a set of political statements and worked as hard as I possibly could to do what I told the American people I would do,” Bush said.

In the same wide-ranging interview, Bush said it was a “fabulous experience to be president,” but said he would not miss being in the daily spotlight.

“This is a job which, you know, obviously had a lot of stress to it; it has a lot of pressure,” he said.

The man is delusional.  He came in like a cowboy strutting his stuff and acting like because this country has been considered a superpower for a long time, that Americans could exist in the world in a vacuum.  He squandered every bit of good will we had from the world after 9/11 to start a war that has clearly benefited his and his VP’s cronies and that has cost the country dearly in terms of loss of lives and economically.

As one of the least effective Presidents ever on record, his legacy will show that he delegated almost everything to those in his administration because when it really came down to it, he just didn’t have a clue.