I like George Bush. I think he's a decent, honest man who has led by doing what he thought was right and not the latest poll. If we were to describe an outstanding leader, those would be major qualities we would identify.
But I don't understand the seeming indifference to whether people believe him or not. He doesn't articulate the case for or against anything, and lets his opponents define him.
Bill Clinton was accused of never leaving campaign mode. He had difficulty rising above politics in the White House. But he did a terrific job of making the case for his leadership and his decisions. He once made such an impassioned case for NAFTA that George H.W. Bush was reported to have said, at the signing ceremony, something like "now I see why I'm on this side of Pennsylvania Avenue and you're on that side."
I'd love to defend Bush, but sometimes I'm as angry as the next guy.
His tax cuts delivered us from an economic precipice that people have all but forgotten. He restored faith in Wall Street, which was gutted in the prior administration. He turned an economy from depression warning numbers (shrinking GDP in 2 of the 3 quarters leading into his Presidency) to powerful growth despite Hurricanes, terrorism, corruption on Wall Street, etc.
He made the right decision about stem cell research when the liberal community was prepared to sacrifice babies on the altar of Michael J. Fox.
The war in Afghanistan, with the world behind us, was an amazing success. Particularly when you consider the decades of Soviet failure in trying to accomplish the same thing.
Still, for every good thing, there's a bad one.
- Alongside good Supreme Court nominations, he chose Harriet Miers
- Alongside good instincts with regards to September 11th response, there was Hurricane Katrina
- Alongside good decisions about tax cuts, there was Social Security reform (doomed from the start)
- Alongside his great relationship with Tony Blair, there was Putin
- Alongside his effort to open markets, there was massive Medicare Drug spending (to some degree necessary because the electorate demanded action, but bigger than we could afford and still, not satisfying to the free ride side of the aisle).
- Alongside his good judgment with some administration picks, there were incompetent and/or unethical individuals chosen (don't forget Janet Reno and other Clinton bombs - who by the way was hand-picked by Hillary)
Is President Bush dumb? His grades at Yale would argue that he's smarter than Kerry, who liberals thought was a genius, until he lost the election and became a moron. But part of not looking stupid, is intensely wanting to not look stupid. When cameras are following you everywhere and there are millions of bitter, empty knuckleheads whose only ambition in life is to mock someone on YouTube, then you'd better care how you look. He doesn't seem to much care.
Is he heartless? Liberals have argued that ever since Katrina. I doubt anything is further from the truth. But he makes no real effort to demonstrate otherwise.
I don't suggest that he do what Bill Clinton did entirely, but Clinton was smart.
Do you remember how Clinton was laughing and joking with a gentleman on the way out of the funeral for his friend and administration official who died in a plane crash during his first term? Then he noticed the cameras and reached up to wipe away a pretend tear? His friend wasn't so savvy and continued to laugh through Clinton's timely wave of grief.
Do you remember Clinton stopping on the beach where he and Hillary were dancing to the music of...something or other...and he made an impromptu cross out of rocks he found on the beach? Nevermind that it later surfaced that it was a plant and a manipulation of a willing press and public. Dancing with his wife on the beach? Making a cross out of rocks? Does any of this strike you as "let him without sin cast the first stone?" Could it have been less nuanced? Yes, it was on the verge of the Monica fiasco (for which, I admit, I felt a little sorry for the guy - and glad a U.S. President wasn't impeached over that nonsense).
So I guess there's good and bad. But now with the CIA destroying tapes, it's hard to defend the administration. Whether it's his fault or not, the blame rests on the White House. Whether he knew about the Valerie Plame nonsense or not, if his administration officials lied, the blame rests on the White House (by the way, I'm glad he didn't pardon Scooter).
I'll bring this too-long lament to an end with this. In every season, some rain must fall. But I hope the next guy doesn't just leave the sprinklers on.
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