Recently Bush has been focusing his efforts on improving his reputation - creating a positive, albeit false, legacy. His efforts are no less unsuccessful than the whole of his presidency.
When asked what he considered his greatest regret Bush stated, "I regret that we did not find WMD (weapons of mass destruction) in Iraq." We have learned that Bush had no evidence of WMD before he invaded Iraq, yet, he convinced Americans and our allies that such evidence existed. Without WMD the war in Iraq is unjustified. He could have said that he regrets having started the unjustified war in Iraq that has, so far, resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 Iraqis and almost 5,000 American and allied soldiers but he didn't say that because he wanted the war in Iraq - his “gut feeling” told him that the war was necessary. However, without WMD he can’t prove that his “gut feeling” was correct! That is his ONLY regret. He doesn’t regret the massive loss of life. He doesn’t regret the destruction of Iraq. He doesn't regret America's loss of standing in the world. He ONLY regrets not being able to find WMD with which to justify the war that he was going to wage whether WMD existed or not.
Bush isn't a good man because he lacks compassion for others. Bush was not a good leader; he used his presidency to serve himself rather than the people. His legacy consists, in part, of an unjust war of his making, the deaths of more than 100,000 innocents, the destruction of Iraq and violations of our laws, our Constitution and our treaties. I say "in part" because the war in Iraq was only one of many disasterous products of his presidency.
4 comments:
Amen brother. Voted for this scoundrel twice. The second time, I truly regretted. Jimmy Carter and Herbert Hoover are the only ones in hindsight that were glad to see him come along. I hope Texas doesn't deport him; there may not be another place in this country or world that wants him.
I agree with much of what you wrote Joe. I had so much hope for this man who originally ran as a compassionate conservative.
That said, I cannot agree with you that he "isn't a good man".. I think that he had bad advisers and was (among other things) stubborn to a fault.. but I am willing to say that he was sincere in what he did but, IMO, was sincerely wrong.
Peace to you today.
Bush wouldn't have been elected the either time without the "hopeful" support of religious conservatives who saw him as a "compassionate conservative." However, Bush didn't deliver the big items that most of them wanted - reversal of Roe v. Wade and a federal ban on same sex marriage. Lobbyists for deregulation of banking, insurance, commodity trading and environmental safeguards represent the rest the vote that got him into the oval office. He was of course far more faithful to these and their wants than to the evangelicals.
I respect your opinion but I will never believe that he is a good man and certainly not a compassionate man. When the world learned what Bush and Cheney always knew, that there was no WMD in Iraq and Saddam was neither a friend nor a supporter of al Qaeda, we knew that the war in Iraq was unjust. Yet, Bush and Cheney kept waging war, kept killing innocent Iraqi civilians and wasting American and allied soldiers. Their priority should have changed to "stop the unjust war as soon as possible" but their revised priority was to "avoid at any cost an American military loss." The House should have impeached Bush and in his second term the House Democrats could have done that but the Republican Senators would have prevented him from being put on trial by filibustering (note: During Bush's second term the Republicans set a record for the most filibustering of any Senate).
A good man doesn't waste lives to protect his legacy. A good man doesn't torture people. A good man doesn't violate the Constitution. A good man doesn't reward the rich and ignore the poor.
In my opinion neither Bush nor Cheney is a good, moral, ethical man and no amount of wishful thinking will change that.
Post a Comment