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My thoughts on President George W. Bush

Jan 23, 2009 My thoughts on...

Now that President George W. Bush has passed the mantle of leadership of our great nation to Barack Obama, it’s time to discuss the impact he has had on our country while in office. In a nutshell, I would say his “legacy” is mixed, yet quite good in the two areas that are most important to us all.

First, the bad…

In my opinion President Bush failed miserably in his duty to properly manage the economy when it became obvious that skyrocketing fuel prices were driving us deep into a recession. The cost of fuel is arguably the most important factor in determining the costs of most other goods and services, and when the price of gasoline and diesel shot up virtually overnight to $4 per gallon he simply shrugged it off and decided to “let the market take care of itself”. The problem with this line of thinking is that fuel supplies and costs are not subject to the free market principles of supply and demand.

Rather than being controlled by normal market forces, the world’s supplies of crude oil and natural gas are controlled in large part by a cartel of colluding oil producing nations that would love nothing better than to see the United States of America go bankrupt. On top of that, here within our own borders the prices we pay at the pump are controlled to a great extent by speculators who add no real value to the oil they buy and sell, yet are out to squeeze every dollar they can out of each transaction regardless of the harm it might cause their country. And then of course there are the environmental nuts who are bound and determined to see to it that we remain dependent on foreign oil instead of developing our own vast supplies of oil, gas and coal.

President Bush could have stepped in and used his influence and power to help change the way we do business in the area of fuel production and distribution, yet he chose not to. The result is the worst economy the citizens of our country have had to endure in decades, and one of the worst in our nation’s history.

And then there is the war in Iraq. I believe he made the right call in sending our brave men and women over there to remove Saddam Hussein from power, but he left them there far too long. That campaign in the War on Terror should have been decisive (and it was) and over very quickly (but we’re still there). We should have gone in there, got the job done, and then left the task of re-building to the Iraqis and their allies. Instead, Bush made the decision to stay there until  Iraq was “safe for democracy”. What he failed to understand is the fact that countries with Moslem populations always seem to choose the most fanatical among them to be their leaders. Apparently he learned nothing from the way the Palestinians chose Hamas to be their leaders instead of their more moderate counterparts.

Yes, the “surge” worked, and things are much better in Iraq than they were before we sent in the extra troops. But mark my words…when we do eventually leave, the country will once again descend into a downward spiral of oppression and brutality. Count on it.

Now, the good…

For all of President Bush’s faults (and he has many), he absolutely excelled in two areas that are of extreme importance to our nation’s long-term security and freedom: the overall War on Terror and the makeup of the Supreme Court.

Even though he made some serious mistakes in regards to his attempt to engage in nation-building in Iraq, his overall efforts in fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have been overwhelmingly successful. Pretty much everyone in America fully expected the terrorists to strike us again soon after 9/11, but thanks to Bush’s non-compromising stand against them they have failed to do so. Al Qaeda now finds itself struggling for leadership, money, and influence, and their capability to cause us harm has been greatly diminished as a direct result of our campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other parts of the world. Yes, the aftermath of the war in Iraq was bungled beyond belief, but the war itself was a huge success in the overall War on Terror.

But even more important than his great job of keeping the terrorists at bay was his outstanding choices to fill the two Supreme Court seats that became vacant during his time in office. His nominations (and the quick confirmations) of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito have gone a long way towards ensuring that the Court will “lean to the right” for the foreseeable future, perhaps even decades. And now that ultra-liberal Barack Hussein Obama is President and both houses of Congress are controlled by the Democrats, a conservative Supreme Court is an absolute necessity if our Constitution is to remain relevant in our lives as American citizens.

So there you have it. I believe President George W. Bush’s legacy will be viewed as decidedly mixed, yet very good in the areas where it really counts. How about you?