The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
This is a very good article.

Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president.

According to recent Gallup polls, the president's average approval rating is below 30% -- down from his 90% approval in the wake of 9/11. Mr. Bush has endured relentless attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.

This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."

Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.

The president's original Supreme Court choice of Harriet Miers alarmed Republicans, while his final nomination of Samuel Alito angered Democrats. His solutions to reform the immigration system alienated traditional conservatives, while his refusal to retreat in Iraq has enraged liberals who have unrealistic expectations about the challenges we face there.

It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.

Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.

Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."

To be sure, Mr. Bush is not completely alone. His low approval ratings put him in the good company of former Democratic President Harry S. Truman, whose own approval rating sank to 22% shortly before he left office. Despite Mr. Truman's low numbers, a 2005 Wall Street Journal poll found that he was ranked the seventh most popular president in history.

Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging Truman's presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years -- and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.
 
I absolutely agree with this article, as has been obvious, I expect. He never complained, never faltered, never stooped. He was staunch and direct, he said what he meant and meant what he said.

What a hand he was dealt! We must wait to see how others fare.
 
Simply put ... I disagree with the article ...........

Simply put ... I disagree with the article.

GW Bush has gone out of his way to earn the low numbers of his approval ratings and the low opinion of the voters.

  • He is NOT a dictator (even though he acts like it at times).

  • He does NOT have unlimited powers under the Constitution (even though he has acted like he does).

  • He did NOT have justification for the invasion of Iraq (even though he tried to convince all Americans that he did).

  • His decision to treat prisoners with water boarding, is NOT legal under any law that I am familiar with ... it is torture according to every civilized country in the world (yet he okayed the water boarding of prisoners).

  • His lack of 'statesmanship', has caused more damage to American interests and reputation, than any other President in history. America has more enemies worldwide than we did on 9/11.

  • His policies and decisions over the last eight years, have eroded more of our constitutional rights and privileges, than at any other time in US history.
I could go on and on and on with issues, where GW has time after time made the wrong decision, which has made his presidency one of the worst presidencies in history (as judged by a majority of Americans who were polled).

The above is my personal opinion ... and, while I know there are those who disagree with me, history will end up being the final arbiter as to which of us is right.

As we get closer to the end of his Presidency, the numbers continue to drop. It is anybody's guess as to how low they will have dropped before GW leaves the Presidency. I personally believe that history will treat GW Bush's presidency even harsher than those people that answered polls during the last year ( 2008 ).
 
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