Conservative cartoons and Opinion

Tuesday, February 10, 2009


A respectful farewell and thank you to President G.W. BUSH

Watching the inauguration of the 44th president was everything I expected. It was soaring rather than programmatic, inspirational rather than concrete. One can make a very good argument however, that an inauguration speech should be just such a thing, full of basic idealism and visionary expression. To be honest I was impressed once again with the new president’s rhetorical skill and if I don’t comb his speech with a fine tooth political comb it was quite good. The whole experience was history in the making and would have been quite enjoyable if not for having to witness the repulsive booing of the outgoing President. It was a demonstration of classlessness that should embarrass every American, and was a new low even for the lowest common denominator among us.

The hatred of George Walker Bush will be seen by future generations as perhaps the riddle of the century. How sad that for many citizens it is impossible to step away from the flame-thrower hatred that presently passes for civil discourse and look objectively upon the man.

If an alien were to appear in all his sci-fi glory he would scratch his little green head in wonder at the disgust for Bush. Yes I meant exactly what I said!
He might wonder if they hate him for PEPFAR and the millions he spent fighting Aids in Africa? Was it his unprecedented spending on education, three times the amount of any of his predecessors? Perhaps it was his quintupling of federal funds for bilingual education, or his creation of a new drug entitlement program? Was it that he became a big pushover for the ever-swelling ranks of the illegal/ undocumented American community? After all, are not all of the above mentioned liberal goals? Are these not the very things the left wishes to accomplish by wielding the long blade of bigger government?

Bush of course is not a conservative, so that can’t possibly be the reason for his political crucifixion. Even a first year political science major knows that no definition of a conservative, however broad, can possibly be reconciled with the list of liberal policies cited above. As George W Bush leaves office one must ask if he will be exiting stage left or right.
So if it’s not his conservative politics what accounts for the revulsion and media massacre what is it? Bush after all, is basically a less articulate Tony Blair with a ranch.

Was it the cowboy boots and the swagger that so grated on the east coast media? Was it that he failed to worship at the feet of academia? Perhaps it was the wanted-dead-or-alive stuff although it is this man’s opinion that the country is not well served by having a dainty rose in the white house. Was it the “Bush lied people died nonsense?” It is strange that the activists who most assiduously promoted that factious line now have to adjust to the news that their own beloved anti-war candidate’s commitment to bring the troops home within 16 months has been revised into a plan that increases troops until 2011.



The truth is GW is who he is and he never pretended to be anything but. In some real ways I miss him already. He spoke a language of straightforwardness that is all but extinct today. Do you know how rare that it? If you don’t, you will after six short months of Obama’s enigmatic cool. It is true that he was rough around the edges but in the timeless ways he got it right. The man has unprecedented character, a void that badly needed filled after Clinton left office. Bush showed fortitude and steadfastness in a time when most of Washington sticks a wet finger in the political wind. Thanks to Bush no longer will we think tyranny is benign because it is temporarily inconvenient. Bush understood that tyranny is never benign to its victims. In Iraq, where Saddam’s goons shoveled children into mass graves, and in Afghanistan, where women were prevented by law from feeling sunlight on their faces, 50 million Muslims live better lives because of George W. Bush. Anyone who says differently has never been there and is boldly lying to you. I assure you there is nothing as painful as naïve criticism from a bunch of cheap seat, Muppet babies who would soil their pants at the sight of the Middle East truth.

In the weeks before and after the attacks Bush had the highest approval ratings of any president in history. He could have played it safe, many before him did just that. He had nothing to gain by risking everything and that alone should convince a reasoned person of his intentions. Yet, despite the Oprahfied chants of mechanical pacifism and the lifeless language of emotional narcissism that pours from every foolish media faucet true evil veered it’s ugly head on 9/11. Bush saw this and when he saw evil he acted. In the face of a western self loathing psychosis we can no longer afford Bush persisted. He fought a long existential struggle against America’s enemies in an academic culture that foolishly teaches its children that there are no enemies. He gambled all when the countries red states where clearly purpling to blue. He pressed on even when a tone-deaf media treasonously painted the war like a bad reality television show we should all bore with. With sheer force of will he stuck it out and he did so with a farsightedness that contradicts his bumper sticker image.

A man once said “honor is like and island, rugged and without a beach; once we have left it, we can never return.” It was a bleaker and lonelier island than Bush could have ever expected, but he never left it and for that I have deep respect for him.
When and where Bush will get the credit he is rightly due I do not know. It will surly not be in the latest printing of our history books. However, I am certain in our lifetime History will certainly make the case for Bush better than Bush himself did.

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