Posted on 07/02/2008 6:27:54 AM PDT by Eurale
There was a familiar quip Hillary Clinton used on campaign stops this year. It usually involved some snide reference to how America's image supposedly has been damaged during the Bush years, punctuated by a line that always drew hoots of approval from audiences that shared her loathing of the president:
"The whole world is going to breathe a sigh of relief," she would proclaim, "when that moving van pulls up to the White House on its way back to Texas."
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
You certainly will hear it from the Middle East, where terrorists and their millions of fans will discharge enough celebratory gunfire to pepper an entire desert with spent shells. The devil George W. Bush will no longer be there to impede their goals.
You will hear it from the portions of Latin America smitten with the thuggery of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. Mr. Bush will no longer be there to oppose his poisonous socialism and reckless saber rattling.
There should be a particularly loud sigh from North Korea, recently chastened by Bush administration diplomacy, a seeming oxymoron to the finger-wagging critics who have lied for years that this president seeks to wage war first and ask questions later. With the Bush thorn removed from their sides, the North Koreans indeed may be free to rethink their recently improved behavior.
No doubt about it, from Kim Jong Il to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, tyrants the world over will utter the sigh of relief happily anticipated by Bush-haters at home and abroad.
If the Bush years are followed by the McCain years, I hope those sighs are muffled by the anticipation of additional moral clarity from the American president. But wouldn't that mean more hate would be heaped on us from around the world? We should all hope so.
There has been no shortage of ridiculous articles this year evaluating how America's image will need serious refurbishing after the "damage" exacted by the Bush years.
One would presume that the most "damaging" element of the Bush legacy has been the seven years of the war on terror. Oh, how he - and we - are despised from the cafés of Paris to the sidewalks of Berlin, from the coffee shops of Cairo to the market squares of Caracas, all because we have spent the years since 9/11 trying to reform the part of the world that wishes we were all dead.
It is equal parts sad and scary that an entire political party and millions of its adherents in America believe that we should guide foreign policy by how much of the world likes us.
This is as fundamentally stupid as trying to raise a child by being a buddy instead of a parent. That is a sure recipe for a rotten, indulged, unappreciative kid.
If you think it an insulting condescension to analogize America and the world to a parent's lessons for a spoiled child, you are completely correct, and that is my precise intent. Much of the world deserves such derisive regard, and worse.
Europe doesn't know what an enemy is any more. The Middle East is so filled with murderous lunatics that rational voices are drowned out. And from Latin America to Asia to Africa, there is so much tyranny, terror and corruption that no single U.S. president could possibly make a sizeable dent.
But this one has tried, and for that he is despised by America's enemies around the world and political enemies at home.
He should wear their scorn like a badge of honor. I would love to see a day when America is admired consistently from continent to continent. But let the world admire us because we have done the right things, even when unpopular, not because we changed our definition of what is right to appease evil leaders and misguided masses around the globe.
Why the toons should think that they did not damage the American image is beyond me.
With obamasama saying outright that the way the toons handled the first WTC is the way to go, that means he is inviting the terrorists to strike us again. I just do not understand that kind of mind set.
I may not like everything W has done, but we have not been hit again. I did not agree with him on immigration, and I wish he had cleaned house of all of the clintonistas throughout the administration. I would also like to see some of the traitors addressed as such.
Seriously, the great irony here is that history came to the President's side, albeit too late to save him. France, Poland, Italy, Britain, everywhere except Spain he is now regarded as basically "right" on the ME. Sure, there were military mistakes, and those aren't laid at his feet any more than Kasserine Pass should be laid at the feet of FDR.
Bush had two great problems that prevented him from winning the "hearts and minds" of the public as well as winning the WoT (which I think he has done):
1) his inane "new tone" ensured he would be destroyed by his political opponents. I've heard him speak many times, and he deeply feels that he has brought a "new respect" to the Oval Office by not responding personally. But as Rush correctly points out, he is the leader of his party and by ceding the bully pulpit on partisan issues, it affect his policy issues as well. There is no indication that Juan McCain has learned these lessons at all. When I was in the Oval Office talking to him, he said Lincoln was his favorite president. Well, Lincoln could be diplomatic, but he also could be highly partisan if necessary.
2) The other great weakness has been adopting a liberal domestic agenda on many issues. We all know what this led to: the "base" deserted him. Harriet Meiers, illegals, prescription drugs, and spending all are responsible for his approval ratings being in the 20s, as opposed to the high 40s, where they would be if the base was still with him.
But you are right. The biggest sigh of relief will come from our enemies abroad who realize that this strong man is no longer there to stand the wall.
“Europe doesn’t know what an enemy is any more. The Middle East is so filled with murderous lunatics that rational voices are drowned out. And from Latin America to Asia to Africa, there is so much tyranny, terror and corruption that no single U.S. president could possibly make a sizeable dent.
But this one has tried, and for that he is despised by America’s enemies around the world and political enemies at home.
He should wear their scorn like a badge of honor. I would love to see a day when America is admired consistently from continent to continent. But let the world admire us because we have done the right things, even when unpopular, not because we changed our definition of what is right to appease evil leaders and misguided masses around the globe.”
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THANK YOU President Bush for doing the RIGHT thing even when it is the ‘unpopular’ thing to do!
“The whole world is going to breathe a sigh of relief,” she would proclaim, “when that moving van pulls up to the White House on its way back to Texas.”
Compared to the twenty moving vans it took to haul away all the property that the Clintons stole from the White House?
All President’s wear out their welcome to one degree or another. Its no different for Bush43. He deserves the criticism he gets for excessive spending, prescription drugs and his mindless support for amnesty. But he also deserves kudos for keeping America protected from another terrorist attack. If McCain gets elected, he’ll do his best to protect America. If Obama gets in, one thing is certain. America will be changed. Just not for the better.
If I may, I'd like to add at least one more kudo, Roberts and Alito. Yes he also tried Harriet Miers, but still we didn't get Ford's Stevens or Bush(41)'s Souter. While Reagan's Kennedy swings too much for my taste, we have got our strong 2nd RKBA. If we had gotten Bork instead of Kennedy, we would not have had Kelo or Guantanamo 'citizen rights' rulings in my opinion.
Remember this in November and don't elect Obama by voting for Barr or any non-viable 3rd party candidate! Yes McCain isn't my 1st choice, but the justices he will nominate can't compare to the Obama nominees in a Dem controlled Senate!
It takes years, even decades to see how a President’s SCOTUS picks turn out in the long run.
Anthony Kennedy was known as a pro-life Republican, before he was nominated. He received endorsements from every major pro-life group in America. After several years on the high court, Kennedy started to pal around with the wrong crowd. He fell in with the liberals and became pro-choice.
Many President’s weren’t staisfied with their SCOTUS choices. Ike wasn’t happy with Earl Warren, Nixon wasn’t pleased with Warren Burger and Bush41 wasn’t satisifed with David Souter. I’m sure Reagan wasn’t satisfied with Kennedy either.
Reagan did get to appoint Scalia to Justice and Rehnquist to Chief Justice. Two outstanding choices. Reagan also made an attempt to get a solid conservative named Robert Bork on the SCOTUS. Ted Kennedy and Arlen Specter fought him all the way and Reagan lost that battle.
How Roberts and Alito will turn out 10-20 years down the road isn’t clear. History has a way of fooling around with good intentions.
see my tag line
I for one will be sorry to see him go, even though I disagree with him on some issues. He has kept this country safe for 7 yrs post 9/11, and i dont think that is an accident.
“But he also deserves kudos for keeping America protected from another terrorist attack.”
It’s ironic that W’s popularity has been the victim of his own success. It has allowed the left to portray the war on terror as unnecessary. It’s clear that W pushed the terrorists back on their heals. It will probably take them awhile to mount a new attack.
Churchill lost the first post WW II election as well. C’est la vie.
Add to that the third problem of Scott McClellan, the worst White House press secretary in history.
In light of what has happened with ol’ Scottie since then, I’m wondering if he wasn’t the leaker on almost all these stories.
Brings to mind the old saying, “With friends like these, who needs enemies....”
Very well written. I agree with all you said.
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