The Tragedy Of The Bush Presidency

I was recently thinking about how the nation would remember this president? For that matter how would the the country remember the presidency of George W. Bush?

I guess first we must note that George W. Bush did not win the presidency by winning the popular vote. Now that we have made that clear it would be fair to note that he wasn't popular then, and he is not popular now, even in retirement. I guess it would also be fair to deduct that he was never a popular president period.

As the 43rd President of The Unites States, I would be inclined to think that he would probably be remembered in the history books as the worst president ever. But before jumping to my own personal conclusions lets take a look at the Bush presidency. Let's begin by asking what specific policy has added to the benefit of mankind under the Bush Presidency? What legacy, what accomplishment has he left the American people.? I thought about those two very specific questions and could not come up with any answer, and found no concrete policy. But, I am still looking, and would ask the reader to enlighten me and tell me what policy did the Bush presidency leave behind benefitting mankind?

President Kennedy had our country running at full speed ahead with the technological race to put a man on the Moon. Mankind benefitted, and continues to benefit by the new technologies derived by that quest.

President Johnson had his Great Society. President Reagan had his Reagonomics, and Mr. Gorbachev {Gorby} "Tear down these walls". 

Wait, I do rmember that there was a lot of talk about No Child Left Behind. But most Americans will agree that the nation as a whole has failed miserably in education for our children. The current state of our education system is abysmal to say the least, just speak to any teacher who brings the children in her class, classroom materials, and supplies to supplement what the local school systems cannot obtain due to budgetary constraints.

Well I kept looking, and I thought to myself for sure the Bush presidency has left us some meaningful legislation that has benefited all of the American people, and the world at large. I looked, and looked, and the only thing I could find was the Patriot Act. Well many Americans may not know what the Patriot Act is, basically it allows the government to:"The Act increases the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial and other records; eases restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States; expands the Secretary of the Treasury’s authority to regulate financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign individuals and entities; and enhances the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts. The act also expands the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which the USA Patriot Act’s expanded law enforcement powers can be applied". {from Wikipedia}

After reading all of that I imagined well we must be safe, I mean this is is really going to make us safer because this is directly aimed at Al Qaeda correct? Please tell me that I am correct, or have we given the government, and the National Security Agency {NSA} more power to be in our business, or to monitor my e-mails, or the books we take out of the library, or to see who I am sending a text message to? Maybe they are even monitoring my commentaries on Now Public.

Anyway I kept looking for that one piece of legislation that everyone in the world could say was a great accomplishment for the Bush administration. I could not find one piece of legislation that the Bush administration has implemented that has been beneficial to the American people, and to the world community.

I hear things about free trade, but then I remembered that more jobs have been exported since Mr. Bush decided that free trade was the answer to expanding jobs here in the United States. I was told that over and over again. But then I recalled the word downsizing, and remembered the Bush tax cuts which allowed these free trade corporations to export American jobs overseas, and allowed those very same corporations to get a tax cut all at the same time.

But I hate to be repetitive but I am not going to give up, there has to be something that we can remember his administration by, something must be out there let's take a look at foreign policy for sure the Bush Administration must have made headway somewhere in the world after eight years. I'm still looking but all I see is Iraq, and the weapons of mass destruction. 4100 dead Americans, one "Mission accomplished" but no weapons of mass destruction, and no mission accomplished.

We spend a reported 12 billion dollars a month in Iraq, and the only country which had the Iranians in check for decades was now in shambles. I wonder what we could do with 12 billion dollars being used for cancer research. I often think how many scholarships we can give out to Science and Math majors to give our country a competitive edge and make our students the best in the world with just one month of the cost of the Iraq war. But I guess it is too much to expect government to work for the American people.

What could we do domesticaly for our crumbling infrastructure, if we spent one month of the cost of the Iraq war, 12 billion dollars for infrastructure and domestic jobs here at home. I better stop thinking because when I do it begins to hurt too much to think this administartion has squandered our freedoms along with our treasure, and the lives of America's finest.

As a citizen the thought of the last eight years is unbearable, I will always remember the Bush administration for "You're doing a great job here Brownie" for the debacle of Katrina. For the lack of regulation in the Securities & Exchange Commission allowing the catastrophe of our economy and the continuing greed on Wall Street. For allowing the National Security Agency to listen to every type of communication currently being used in the world and listening in on American citizens in America without court approval as required by law, and in the process recruit the telephone companies in direct violation and total disregard to the Constitution of the United States, and intentionally keeping the Congress uninformed in direct violation of our current laws.

I will remember the Bush administration for allowing Osama Bin Laden to roam free in Pakistan, after giving billions of taxpayer money to Pakistan's two bit dictator all in the name of the War on Terror. I will remember the presidency of George W. Bush as the presidency which erroded America's prestige throughout the world with the use of waterboarding, endangering our troops throughout the world. I will remember the Bush presidency for the day by day erroding of the Constitution of the United States of America.

I am going to stop now and try Google, and see if there was something, anything at all that I may have missed .Perhaps there  may be readers  who will say he made us safe and our country was never attacked on his watch. Perhaps we should take a step back, and reflect and remember that the troops stationed throughout the World, and serving multiple tours are what has made us safer. The same troops who come back to their families maimed, and in need of the best health care that money can buy, only to find out that they too had been abandoned by the Bush administration. The debacle of Walter Reed is shameful, for what was the richest countryin the world. and who can argue with that. But I guess it would be cynical to say it happened on his watch. 

I think the only positive thing the Bush presidency has left us is that more and more Americans are re-reading the Constitution of The United States again. We must not compromise the future of our children, we the parents failed them for eight years by paying little attention to the erosion of our individual rights and freedoms. Perhaps that is the only legacy the presidency of George W. Bush has really left for all of us, and that is that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. When I was in my twenties I fought proudly for my country, I served and came home believing in what I fought for.  Let's hope that our elected officials will also serve , and by that I mean serve the interest of the American people.