When did it become unpopular to believe in a strong and prosperous United States of America?
Judging by the comments of the Democratic candidates for President and from reading and listening to media pundits and my opposing columnist, it appears that the Presidency of George Walker Bush has been a failure.
During his term in office, President Bush overcame a weakening economy inherited from the Clinton administration and the 911 tragedy by implementing a series of strategic tax cuts which again unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit which had helped build America.
And President Bush rebuilt a military weakened and demoralized during the previous eight years. The armed forces under his leadership took down an oppressive regime in Afghanistan which had provided training and refuge to those who had terrorized the world. He also rid the world of a tyrant in Iraq who had killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens and regularly threatened his neighbors.
I am thankful that President Bush has served our country well since his first election in 2000. I can only imagine what the United States and world would look like today if Albert Gore had won his own state of Tennessee during that election and had become our 43rd President.
If Gore had become President, would he have nominated such solid individuals for the United States Supreme Court as John Roberts and Samuel Alito? I think not and am thankful that President Bush ultimately submitted those names including nominating Mr. Roberts to be the Chief Justice.
To be fair, President Bush has not been without faults. I have written frequently about them including his big spending ways and tendency to be fiercely loyal or stubborn rather than pragmatic at times. Despite record tax receipts flowing into Washington from his tax cut, President Bush spent all of that money and then some to fund such time bombs as the prescription benefit plan for Medicare and other federal government mandates including the No Child Left Behind Act. I am not one to favor burdening our future generations with the debt necessary to meet President Bush’s spending sprees.
Apparently the Democrats and liberal media think that President Bush has a few more faults than I have noted. Just type President Bush accomplishments into any internet search engine and you will see lots of sites created to joke or lambast him for one issue or another including his controversial decisions to not sign the Kyoto Protocol or to utilize aggressive wire tapping to root out possible harm against our homeland. About the only issue with which I do agree with those anti-Bush sites is that he is not the world’s most eloquent speaker.
I believe that President Bush will be valued by future generations as a President who led our country through challenging times when those against western ideals and freedoms sought to destroy our way of life. Hopefully the 44th President of the United States, when he or she takes office in January 2009, will continue that fight.
