Posted on 01/19/2009 11:36:59 AM PST by kristinn
President Bush deserves our thanks as conservatives and Americans for his tenure in office.
I remember the Clinton years and can appreciate the stark contrast in the eight years of Clinton and the eight years of President Bush.
The endless assaults on the Second Amendment under Clinton and previous Republican presidents ceased with the commencement of the Bush administration. In fact gun rights were recognized and strengthed thanks to the appointments, actions and inaction of President Bush (and Vice President Cheney.)The ghoulish exploitation of unarmed shooting victims stopped under President Bush.
The First Amendment was respected under the Bush administration, unlike the Clinton years when Bill Clinton himself led smear campaigns against his opponents in the media, especially against Rush Limbaugh. Clinton critics in the media and politics were audited by the IRS and otherwise intimidated and threatened with blackmail.
The White House itself was treated with respect. The Oval Offices was returned to its revered status by President Bush. It was no longer a place of sexual assault and perversion as it was under Bill Clinton.
Whereas Bill Clinton's number one priority for his eight years in office was trying to stay out of prison, President Bush spent his years upholding his oath of office. It is worth noting that on Bill Clinton's last full day in office he cut a deal with a special prosecutor to avoid prosecution when he left office and agreed to being disbarred by the Arkansas bar. Soon thereafter, facing disbarrment by the Supreme Court, he meekly resigned the bar.
The White House under Bill Clinton was criminally and shamelessly put up for sale. Pardons and national security were sold by the Clintons, their family members and the cronies. President Bush's administration was remarkably free of scandal. Phony scandals had to be ginned up against President Bush, like the Valerie Plame incident, to make up for the lack of high level corruption and abuse of power that was the norm for the Clinton years. What scandals there were involved lower level appointees and career bureaucrats.
It should be remembered that it was the Bush Treasury Department rejected an attempt by former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to manipulate the credit rating of Enron to help Citigroup.
The United States is no longer a punching bag for international terrorists. The nations listed as state sponsors of terrorism have been whittled down by President Bush through a mix of military and diplomatic efforts.
Terrorists no longer have a free shot at Americans and America. Our embassies are not being blown up, our ships are not being blown out of the water, our citizens are not being kidnapped and slaughtered at will, even in the war zones.
President Bush has prosecuted the war on terror without provoking the global conflict with Islam that Osama bin Laden tried to bait him into fighting. Terrorism is being rejected in the Muslim and Arab world, as the weakening support for Hamas and al Qaeda shows.
President Bush has been a steadfast friend to Israel. He rejected Arafat as a 'partner for peace' and laid the ground work for self-government in the Middle East.
In South America he has stood by Columbia in its battles with terrorists and its socialist neighbors.
President Bush has lifted the lamp of freedom to the world. He has treated nations seeking our help as partners with responsibilities and not condescended to them. He understands that freedom must be earned to be appreciated.
President Bush deserves thanks for the efforts he made that were not successful. His energy program would have alleviated the price spike in oil that exacerbated the economic crisis we're in. Likewise his proposals to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His economic leadership paved the way for record years of growth, low unemployment and low interest rates, and prompted quick recoveries from the Clinton recession, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. His administration prosecuted corrupt business executives who bribed their way through the Clinton years. Sadly, he was not able to repeal the business cycle, nor was he able to eliminate greed and foolishness.
President Bush's nominations to the federal courts have been stupendous. Many good judges and two good justices made it on to the bench. Sadly, Democrat obstructionism and Republican fecklessness kept many other good nominees, like Miguel Estrada, from being confirmed.
President Bush slow-walked to a temporary death liberal efforts on global warming claptrap, tobacco, the International Criminal Court, and the UN. He got us out of the ABM treaty with Russia and deployed missile defense systems. He even slow-walked the so-called North American Union, much to the anger of his friend, former Mexican President Vicente Fox.
On the borders and illegal immigration, where conservatives had their most strenuous disagreements with President Bush, more has been done to secure the borders and reform our immigration system than under any other president. While this is one area where his shortcomings hurt the Nation, it should be recognized that our borders have always been open and illegal immigration has been a problem that has not been adequately addressed by presidents for decades since President Eisenhower's Operation Wetback. For all his legendary stubborness, President Bush responded to the demands of the American people to do more to secure the borders without 'comprehensive immigration reform' being implemented first.
President Bush recaptured the Senate in 2002 and increased the majority in 2004 while knocking off Democrat leader Tom Daschle. His reward was to be betrayed by John McCain, Lindsay Graham and the other RINOs. The Republican party betrayed the conservative revolution, not so much with the Medicare prescription drug program and No Child Left Behind (both programs are working as intended, BTW), but by becoming the party of K Street. Their corruption and failure to support President Bush in his efforts to reform government led to their downfall. Their constant sniping over the war, led by John McCain, steadily undermined popular support for victory. President Bush prevailed in the war, but it took longer and came at a higher price than it would have were it not for the likes of John McCain. (No two term presidency since the Kennedy-Johnson years has held one or both houses of Congress for any or all eight years.)
Freepers should be thankful to President Bush for appointing one of our own as his press secretary, Tony Snow. Tony was a member of the class of 1998. It is a testament to how well Jim Robinson and the moderators run Free Republic that Tony's membership was never an issue.
President Bush has a record on taxes unequaled by several generations of presidents, including the most famous tax cutter, Ronald Reagan. Taxes were cut, and they stayed cut. President Bush even vetoed tax increases on tobacco, vetoes that were upheld.
Similarly, President Bush's pro-life record his exemplary.
President Bush has stood fast for the freedom, rights and dignity of the individual at home and abroad.
When faced with hard choices abroad he has stood by our allies and bonded with new allies. Anti-American governments in Germany, France and Italy were turned out by voters in favor of governments more in tune with President Bush.
President Bush is beloved in Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa for his support for their freedom and well-being.
And President Bush is beloved by those serving in our military. One only has to hear the deafening roar from the troops at Camp Victory when President Bush visited them in Iraq last December.
Or one could consider his last visit to Walter Reed where he presented Purple Hearts to several wounded warrors. The photos published by the White House of the soldiers and their families with President Bush told me two things: The soldiers requested President Bush to present the Purple Heart to them, and that they wanted the world to know by authorizing the photos to be released to the public.
They know his dedication to protecting our Nation and his support and appreciation for their service and sacrifice.
I remember the Clinton years when servicemembers made themselves scarce and had to be ordered to attend Clinton's appearances on base.
As President Bush takes his leave, I have a lot to be grateful to him for. I'll leave with one more. On September 11, President Bush could very well have declared martial law in our nation's capital. That he did not is a testament to his faith in the American people.
I will miss George Bush as president. And I will miss our Vice President Dick Cheney.
I look forward to reading the history of the Bush administration. The truth of these years has been contorted, distorted, unreported and outright lied about.
Thank you, President Bush. Thank you. You've earned your rest.
Good post. Appropriately critical, but with much respect.
Thank you Kristinn, and thank you President Bush!
Thanks. I have thanked God it was Bush, and not Gore or Kerry, many many times over these past eight years.
I am proud that the first vote that ever cast in my life was for President George W. Bush back in 2000. Thank you for your service and God bless. History will soon vindicate you sir.
President Bush will certainly be more appreciated when they learn what his successor is about to do to this country. Through it all, he was a genuinenly good man and suffered a great injustice in the evil of his enemies out to destroy him. But their time is about to come and best of wishes to Bush to find a nice existence in Texas-which is one of the states to obtain its sanity and defiance to the madness going on around this country.
Far from it. The President was an outstanding leader. Only the easily-fooled people on the right bought the stories the MSM fed them.
However, there are plenty of smart people who know we had a real LEADER/STATESMAN over the last 8 years...who on top of that is also a humble, sincere man.
Thanks for your great post!!
Thank you President and Mrs. Bush! I appreciate all you have done for us. Look for my Christmas card every year.
I agree. Thank you President Bush!!
And thank you, kristinn, for your contributions. Keep fighting the good fight!
FReegards, GG
And you can e mail your thanks directly to President Bush until 6 pm today:
You will receive an automated response from Karl Rove.
Thank you, President Bush! Thank you for your sincerity and determination to keep the country safe. I am certain history will judge you favorably.
I wish you and Mrs Bush could stay, particularly in light of what’s coming tomorrow, but I hope you enjoy a well-deserved rest.
Thank You so much President Bush for showing leadership when our nation needed it most.
Your steadfast resolve to protect our homeland while simultaneously bringing freedom to those in the Middle East will be your legacy. Despite never ending media bombardment, your guidance was instrumental in removing totalitarian regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
You protected the unborn by banning partial birth abortion, and rewarded taxpayers with a tax decrease. During your White House stay your love and devotion for your family was boundless and sets an example for others.
I was inspired by your willingness to publicly thank God Almighty for your wisdom and guidance, so few in public office will do so. You are to be admired and history will be kind to you.
Thank you Kristinn for remembering President Bush and reminding us that he was a very fine man and President.
Thanks. He does indeed deserve thanks, most especially for the manner he handled himself as Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces.
I believe history will be kind to its appraisal of his presidency.
One would be hard pressed to find a president since the WWII era who’s every decision impacted the very lives of every American citizen on a daily basis.
The best way to describe him in my estimation is that he was ever vigilant.
By the way, President Bush, my tagline, for a long time, was your phrase:
“We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. “
I noticed you used that in your farewell speech. Certainly, with you at the helm, that was the case.
Well said and he will be missed
Thank you for posting this, Kristinn.
President Bush is a good man and I expect that he will continue to weigh in on political matters in his life outside the Oval Office.
Thanks for that! It felt good to thank him.
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