When Mike’s A suggested a Bush Thankathon starting today, I thought it was high time. For six years, our sitting President has endured more personal insults and media venom than I’ve known in my history. Positives were deliberately ignored. Flaws gleefully exaggerated and misrepresented.
My first contribution to the Bush Thankathon is to honor a man who governed this country – despite personal assaults and unbelievable political pressure – with what he believed in his heart was the right for it’s safety and future. He inherited a world where the global Islamic jihad movement, quietly strengthening and become more vocal and intense in their attacks, pulled off the unthinkable… September 11th, 2001.
A little more than seven months into his first term, President Bush knew it was not to be a Presidential term like his more immediate predecessors.
With Sept 11th came economic repercussions. Meanwhile, simmering on the back burner was the impending housing and lending bubble burst.
No POTUS is infallible. All make mistakes. But my greatest admiration for Bush 43 is his strong convictions to lay aside the easy political path, and do what was correct.
On Brit Hume’s Fox News Sunday, Bush 43 did a joint interview with his father, Bush 41. And the leading paragraph encapsulated the reasons I go against the tide, and have a deep respect for this publicly demeaned and ostracized President. And that is because his convictions take priority over political expediency.
Bush Says He Refused to Bail
Out Republicans With Iraq WithdrawalPresident Bush exudes serenity as he prepares to leave office, content that the war in Iraq is nearly won and he had the fortitude to buck his party despite incredible pressure to withdraw.
President Bush says he refused to “bail out my political party” by withdrawing troops “during the darkest days of Iraq,” a decision now lauded by his father in an unprecedented joint interview of both presidents by Brit Hume on “FOX News Sunday.”
“During the darkest days of Iraq, people came to me and said, ‘You’re creating incredible political difficulties for us,'” the current president said as his term draws to a close. “And I said, ‘Oh, really? What do you suggest I do?’ And some suggested retreat, pull out of Iraq.
“But I had faith that freedom exists in people’s souls and therefore, if given a chance, democracy and Iraqi-style democracy could survive and work,” the president said. “I didn’t compromise that principle for the sake of trying to, you know, bail out my political party.”
Bush has often emotionally discussed his belief that all men (colloquially speaking) desire freedom, and that The progress of liberty is a powerful trend.” It is this guiding principle that freedom begats peace and economic prosperity for future generations that underlies his administration.
His convictions and courage to face down domestic voices – even from his own party – exerting pressure for to do what is politically expedient instead of what is morally right is one of the prime reasons Laura Bush, our most gracious and elegant First Lady, says she believes that her husband was a good President for our times.
In the same interview, the President’s father, former President George H.W. Bush (or 41, as he is affectionately called), became emotional when assessing his son’s tenure.
“You can make a tough decision and stay with it,” he told his son before turning to Hume in the White House Diplomatic Room. “And he’s been tested unlike any other president with 9/11. So he passed the test.”
With a terrorist attack on US soil, followed by the domino effect of the economic turndown resulting from massive destruction of a US center of finance, how did this man manage to keep it together while facing such unmitigated hate from his own nation?
Despite the mud, venom and personally vindictive assaults slung by both media, the blogosphere, and Congressional members, there has been no instances of tempermental outbreaks, nor vicious responses to the personal attacks. Instead, Bush has also portrayed himself as a quintessential Texas country gentleman in public appearances. His chiding of the press, whether during his WH briefings or the annual Correspondence Dinners were instead filled with humor… not only for the circumstances and the BDS of the media, but also good naturedly aimed at himself and his own shortcomings.
President Bush’s quick, dry wit was always a hit at the WH Press Correspondent Dinners. He had the ability to look at the excoriating headlines and the media’s viciousness… and still turn it into a smile. One of my favorites happens to be 2007.
Apparently, according to long time associate and Dubya employee, Gordon Johndroe, humor was a mainstay in the WH for daily survival – getting the needed levity during the constant assaults by friendly “needling”.
Over the years, Johndroe says that a good amount of needling goes on back and forth between the president and his staff in order to maintain some levity.
On his first day, Johndroe found that his new office was a closet previously used by Nixon to contain his pets, and when Bush came by to welcome the new staff he poked his head in and said, “Looks like we’re going to have to get you a smaller office!”
When asked about how to properly needle the president back, Johndroe gave this advice: “Usually a needle, followed by ‘sir!'”
Johndroe has worked for Dubya over 12 years and held six different positions… about 1/3 of his life.
His “tell all” secret never disclosed? Barney’s one fickle dog….
I shall miss the quiet strength of this President, as much as I shall miss the stated elegance and grace of Laura, our First Lady. In a world where media polls rule pols, and ever on the mind of an elected official is public opinion and high approval ratings, this man took the bruising personal volleys from the public and media for everything from Commander in Chief decisions to critiquing his oratory skills. He accepted it all with the grace and aplomb of a true leader…
… but he never let political pressure divert him from what he believed was right for the US and Iraq today, and our national security in the future.
It will take time for the petty ill will of the media and the public to recognize what Bush accomplished… in spite of their attempts to force this President to govern according to their agenda. What can be directly attributed to this President is a self-governing Iraq and Afghanistan – and their residents the ability to govern themselves; a Libya without a WMD programme; a Pakistan who is an ally instead of an armed enemy, and a Muslim world increasingly fed up with jihad right along with this US President.
My thanks for your courage and service, Mr. President. I may have disagreed with you on many domestic and spending issues. But your heart and fortitude for America’s national security, and unwavering bravery to confront an enemy most here don’t even have the balls to accurately name… and all in the face of adversity… has earned my undying respect.
May you enjoy your political retirement. And may we enjoy the fruits, that came at so much personal expense for you, for a long time to come.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
Well I’m going to thank him for going into Afghanistan and removing the Taliban from power.
Over seven years after 9/11 and — despite enemy efforts — no attacks on American soil since. ‘Nuff said.
A class act as president.
Economy and financial sector messed up but not his fault.
Kept you americans safe since 911.
Showed leadership and genuine concern for the troops.
Went forward with his iraq plan despite intense negative polling, destructive politics, career risk and media pressure.
Did not care what would happen to his career or reputation, only wanted to do what he thought was right in the longterm for america.
Succeeded in Iraq. Liberated tens of millions of people from tyranny and oppression.
A decent american POTUS to say the least. Smarter than he looks for sure.
Definitely no buffon or moronic cowboy as portrayed by his opponents.
I’d buy him a meal anytime.
proof
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054304.html
i love president bush and i am really going to miss him. i have felt safe while he is the president. now i’m scared to death of what is down the road for america. the same people that were asleep at the wheel under clinton are now in controll again. also, bambi is a puppet and does not have any convictions nor does he know what to say unless he has his puppet masters telling him what to say and think. i pray to God to protect my country under the upcoming administration.
thank you God for giving us president Bush during a terrible period in the USA!
Thank you Mata for the outstanding way you have started us out and thanks to Flopping Aces, excellent idea.
Yesterday the New York Post published an article written by Peter Brooks, “Bushes Better World, His Overlooked Successes On Foreign Policy and Security.” Giving credit where credit is due. Brooks mentioned various points in the three page article:
No terrporist strikes against the homeland, reinvigorated national security
60 million Afghanis and Iraqis freed. Healthcare up, child mortality down in Afghanistan. Six million Afghan children now in school
Plots thwarted here and overseas due to the policies his administration put in place. Policies that stopped an attack that had been planned in Pakistan that would have downed ten airliners causing more death than what occurred on 911. One plot that was thwarted was to be at a mall in the midwest where my granddaughter works during the Christmas seasons to add a bit of spending money to her budget. During one news report, they scanned the parking lot and I saw her car, I will never forget that day and what could have been thank you President Bush.
Hampering terrorist fundraising
Helped Indonesia fight al Qaeda linked groups, Abu Sayyaf and Jamal Islamiah
Caught North Korea cheating on their Nuke Program, Libya gave up their nuke program and Pakistan’s Khan is no longer providing services to hostil countries.
Brooks wrote much more, very good article, worth a full read.
President Bush swam the rough seas, fought the currents and under tow all the way while his opposition stood on the shoreline with their foot in the water whining.
Thank you President Bush for all that you have done to make this country safe in spite of the hostile resistance you faced. It has been difficult to watch you and your entire family endure the years of vicious attacks. Instead of striking back you were gracious, humble and forgiving.
This site has a thank you letter that will be sent to the President should anyone wish to sign it:
http://www.thankyoupresidentgeorgewbush.com/
BTW, thank you Gaffa.
GWB’s last presser and he finally lays the hammer to the press. The liberal elitest can whine, cry and critize but they never have a workable solution to anything. This is not a quote, but it is what he said. A good slam at the ‘po ole me’ democrats with big mouths and no solutions, and he’s laughing at the BDS crowd and will all the way back to Tx. He’s satisfied with his accomplishment and the liberal democrats are still crazy. I love it when a plan comes togather.
There will be plenty of work for the people in the white coats who carry the butterfly nets and the coats with many straps. Suicide hotlines will be over worked. My advice, be sure and use a big enough gun to do the job or if you’re going to jump, pick a high building.
The accolades seem to boil down to three things:
– Bush was sincere in his beliefs and willing to stand up to political pressure to defend them
– he kept the country safe from terrorist attacks
– his foreign policy initiatives freed various peoples overseas
As to the first, I’d say that having the courage of your convictions is useful only to the degree that you’re right. Fidel Castro seems to be a real true believer too, but since his beliefs are wrong and evil it redeems him not in the slightest. Since Bush seems to have bought in to a wide variety of bad liberal ideas (deficits don’t matter, we need immigration ‘reform’ aka amnesty, having government push for increased homeownership is good, federalism is obsolete – NCLB) I’m not that impressed with his steadfastness.
As to the second, this would be great if terrorism were one of our bigger problems. Unfortunately, devoting all your energy to stopping terrorists while other more serious systemic problems go unaddressed shows mainly a sense of misplaced priorities. Illegal immigration and budget deficits would have been more useful problems to solve from a conservative perspective; whereas if you did want an activist government helping people out, spending on infrastructure or healthcare would have provided greater returns than the GWoT. Of course narratives involving fierce turbaned fanatics are a lot sexier than boring stuff like people dying of AIDs and lung cancer, but sadly for the pro-Bush camp some of us can do math.
As to the third, I’m not interested in shouldering the White Man’s Burden a la Kipling while we have half-trillion dollar deficits. Balance the budget and then we can talk about our moral obligations to people overseas. Until then you’re just robbing my kids to help people I will never meet.
Least we not forget the attack on the USA in April 2001 where the Chinese held our Plane,{did we ever get that back} men and woman for almost 2 weeks.
Of course this is before the Democrats had allowed the President to even have his people in place.
When was it the FBI guy was in place of course this is after the Jumpin Jim and the Democrats had control of the Senate for the first 2 years.
May God Bless the USA and those who fight for her and those with her.
Catherine
Lets us not forget the chance the democrats gave to President Bush.
History is what it is.
Without the untiring support of the media, Bush would have owned the Dems. His great sin in the eyes of the media was to not be a mellifluous speaker like Obama, who has the knack of sounding wonderful while saying “present”. The media is comprised largely of talking heads who are exactly like that, so Obama is one of “theirs”, while Bush was the “other”, in other words a genuine person.
where the Chinese held our Plane,{did we ever get that back}
From what I recall they obeyed the letter of the law while thumbing their noses at us by sending it back in rather small pieces.
@sherlock:
“His great sin in the eyes of the media was to not be a mellifluous speaker like Obama, who has the knack of sounding wonderful while saying “present””
Actually, now that I think about it, I think that was just an excuse. Wasn’t Bill Clinton a slick-talking, awe-shucks simple country boy? They didn’t seem to have any problems with his accent or country background, because they liked that he leaned left. They only make fun of Bush because he is right-leaning. It has nothing to do with what he looks like or how he talks. They claim to like Obama’s ‘articulation’ and such, but that’s not it. Were Obama a very attractive, very articulate right-leaning Black Republican, he would be demonized in the press as much as Bush. But because Teleprompter Jesus is a communist-Marxist-progressive-leftist, they adore him.
It always comes down to ideology.
Bbartlog,
Boy, I’m sure glad you will never be a POTUS. The first priority for a government is to keep his country safe, and Bush did that. I can see that you are a pro-terrorist since you do not see the problem of terrorism. Typical leftist bullshit. Too bad that there is so many people like you in America. But when you will see this illegal alien govern your country and turn it into a communist country, you might change your mind about Bush.
What a world we live in when people who have achieved little in their lives can sit in judgment and offer nothing but criticism of those who aspired to achieve something not only for themselves but for the benefit of others. As a life long Democrat I thankfully can look at the Presidency of George Bush and offer thanks for a job well done. Those who can’t, represent what is wrong with this country and they are not smart enough to know it. Only the foolish would assume to know otherwise. Unfortunately, the foolish don’t know that they are fools.
Thank You Mr. President and First Lady Laura Bush for your service and dedication to our nation and her principles.
The first priority for a government is to keep his country safe, and Bush did that
Safe… from terrorism. Too bad there are also other problems in the world.
I can see that you are a pro-terrorist since you do not see the problem of terrorism
I can see that you favor infants dying of diarrhea since you don’t see the problems of third world public health! Actually, wait – I don’t see anything like that, because unlike you I’m not easily confused. The belief that terrorism is a minor issue is not the same thing as support for it. In fact one of the things that terrorists rely on is the tendency of people such as yourself to blow the threat wildly out of proportion to their actual capabilities; in that sense I’d say that you and your bedwetter friends are the real allies (albeit unwitting) of terrorism.
Typical leftist bullshit
I think of myself as on the right, but obviously opinions will vary.
But when you will see this illegal alien govern your country and turn it into a communist country, you might change your mind about Bush.
I share your belief that Obama will be a full-blown catastrophe. And I’m not in the stupid ‘Bush is the worst president ever!’ camp. But his overall record is still somewhere between mediocre and crappy.
http://www.thankyoupresidentgeorgewbush.com
Are you people for real? This guy has caused this country to spiral into a major economic crisis unprecedented since the great depression with his failed economic policies and a war which was initiated under his false petenses! He has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children not to mention the brave servicemen and women who layed down there lives for HIS war! It is on all your shoulders that these horrific crimes were permitted to escalate. The people have spoken at the polls. The most unpopular president in the history of the United States! I am awaiting the prosecution of him and his staff for high crimes… justice will prevail!
And by the way I am a staunch republican who has had enough!!!!! Open your minds.
Just shove it Greg. We’re SO OVER putting up with any more Bush bash crap.
I’d take George W. Bush back in office any day warts and all over the sheer lunatic fool that is in their now.
Crawl back under your rock!
Greg, I agree with you 100%. Problem is many here are deaf to hear anything bad about the former president. For the life of me I don’t understand why they are not pissed at him for destroying the conservative movement and derailing the Republican party with his reckless decisions and monstrous trade and national deficits.
@blast: Idiot, Bush-hating Troll!
I’ll thank President Bush for two excellent Supreme Court appointments and for his initiatives to improve the health and lives of poor Africans, the latter of which did more to keep America safe than did 6 years of war making and subsequent ongoing peace making in Iraq.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA