Countdown to Crawford, Days 3,2,1 - Good Bye President Bush

Of all the pictures I see of our current President, this one bothers me the most. The war. The number one problem I have with Bush’s presidency, the thing that sets him apart from Reagan and his father, the only two other Republican president's that fall within the realm of my adult life. His anti-environment legislation, his tax breaks for the wealthy; these are not new concepts for a Republican president. No big surprises there. It’s that war, that proverbial monkey on George Bush’s back that will decide, ultimately his “legacy”.

I’ve read the commentaries, the news articles, and watched George Stephanopoulos and others argue their talking points, and I’m generally in league with the consensus. The war and the mess it’s left our country in will last for decades, if not lifetimes to come. My grand children and great-grand children will still be paying for this stupid war. Does that make me happy and proud of our current president and vice-president? Ah no. It saddens me. It makes me sick to my stomach.

But, I’m tired of thinking about it. I’m tired of blaming Bush for the war, for our countries problems, because really it’s not all his fault. A man can not be more than he is. If 9-11 hadn’t happened, he’d probably have walked through the annals of time much like his father, Gerald Ford, or Jimmy Carter, only briefly mentioned here and there without much consequence.

But 9-11 did happen, and it changed the political landscape into one that President Bush was unprepared for. This is why I believe the best and the brightest should be elected to lead our country. You never know what extreme crisis they will ultimately face. After the planes hit the towers, Bush held some of his highest approval ratings due to his forth-rightness, his honesty with us, the American people. I believe because of that he felt he had a free pass to do whatever he wanted, and his arrogance was in part, his downfall.

He brought us to the brink with a war almost the size and scope of Vietnam, without raising a tax, without asking anything but of those that served in the military and their families. The honest and forthright talk became almost nonexistent. The message was, don’t worry about it taking longer for you to get on a plane, just keep spending, spending, spending. We are winning the war. Mission accomplished. We want your life to continue as it always has, making no sacrifice whatsoever….Thus budget surpluses became ballooning deficits, China and Japan became our lenders, giving the economy a false sense of security that all was well, until finally, the glass-plated floor fell out from under us.

In his arrogance, he thought we’d follow him along this lonely path. The majority of us, finally, did not. There are some of you that still hold out. Call it blind faith. Call it an outright decision to block out and forget about what I would call major flaws. Hmm...I wonder what you'd all say if he was a Democrat. You can make all the excuses you want, but his presidency, the eight years under his watch, have been a disaster. I'm sorry, but I hold him accountable for that. Even the Great Decider holds himself accountable yet his supporters refuse to. I find that interesting.

And so I say, enough. I don’t want to talk about him anymore, like I’m sure he doesn’t want to think about it anymore. I’m done. Finished. Good bye President Bush. Have a good time with your rocking chairs in Crawford. May they get much use in your later years. Do I think his decisions will ultimately affect him? I believe only mentally, as he is already extremely wealthy. He will never feel the hard pinch of finances like most Americans as a lot of us continue to feel it mentally, and physically. To the very cores of our lives.

Time to turn a page. Time to move onto something new. At least I hope it’s new.

I hope.