Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Missing George W. Bush
The Examiner ^ | 11/14/09

Posted on 11/15/2009 9:26:04 AM PST by FromLori

It’s an old joke. The drunk says, “I miss my wife.” His friend asks, “Where did she go?” The drunk replies, “I traded her for a bottle of whiskey.” “You miss her, huh?” “Heck no, I’m thirsty again.”

I’m thirsty again, for the sense of security that I felt when George W. Bush was president.

After nine months of The One’s narcissism, excessive Congressional spending, and in the aftermath of the horrific Fort Hood massacre perpetrated by a crazed Islamic Jihadist, America’s Obama binge has worn off. Even some noteworthy liberals are wondering if we wouldn’t be better off today with a man like George W. Bush in the White House. You remember W, the bungling oaf who couldn’t pronounce nuclear. He’s the guy who kept our nation safe after 9/11.

I wasn’t a Bush fan. I always thought of him as a progressive moderate in the same mold as his father. His slogan, “Compassionate Conservative,” tipped it off for me. Bush’s brand of compassion led to record spending and the highest deficit in history until the new guy came along and blew the deficit through the roof. I supported and campaigned for Alan Keyes in the 2000 primaries. Had someone other than Bush gained the GOP nomination I would have been a lot happier, but I voted for him twice in the general election because I figured that, although Bush was a less than perfect candidate, he was a better alternative than the Global Warming huckster, Al Gore, or French-looking John Kerry.

George W. Bush was an accomplished politician rather than a statesman. But he was on track during three fourths of his administration. He foresaw the problems we are now having with Medicare, Social Security, and the housing crisis and tried his best to address those challenges, only to be stopped from implementing the solutions by a Democrat majority in Congress.

There are far too many Bush accomplishments to list them all, but here are a few: During his presidency Bush signed legislation for two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in U.S. history, allowing the economy to grow for seven consecutive years. He supported elimination of the death tax and reductions in capital gains, policies that turned around an economy that was in recession and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. He kept the unemployment rate at 5%, which many economists believe is tantamount to full employment and increased small business incentives to expand and hire new people. He also initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.

But Bush didn’t just direct his attention toward the economy. Under his direction Congress created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. He increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child and made the $5,000 adoption tax credit permanent as well as providing $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000.

Best of all Bush listened to the American people by changing his stance on amnesty for illegal aliens and corrected his mistakes with the Alberto Gonzales and Harriet Miers appointments by appointing two exceptional conservative judges to the Supreme Court; John Roberts and Samuel Alito.

The wisdom of his adventure into Iraq can be debated, but there is little question that his Iraq campaign liberated millions from under the thumb of a maniacal despot. He spent millions to combat AIDS in Africa and solidified our relationship with our Eastern European allies. In addition he was one of the strongest friends Israel has ever had in the U.S. presidency.

Bush was a decent man and devout Christian who loved his wife, his family, his country and his troops. He shed genuine tears when soldiers returned home in caskets and spent many private hours with the families of the fallen. He toured veteran’s hospitals and encouraged the wounded, something that he still does today. We never heard him give a shout out when announcing a national tragedy similar to the Fort Hood massacre. And we never heard him disparage his predecessor even though there is strong evidence that our nation’s most immoral President, Bill Clinton, dropped the ball that led to 9/11. Strong, diligent, and always a gentleman, Bush stood against the vilest attacks and mockery from his political enemies and never wavered from his beliefs. The rest of the world might not have liked him, but they respected him. His troops fought for him but his own party abandoned him as the Republicans eventually lost their way.

Bush had many faults. He brought the deficit to record levels and implemented the $700 billion TARP bailout for the banking industry. That was an error which, I believe, weakened our capitalistic system and cost McCain the election. It also set the stage for the current administration’s outrageous spending spree. One of Bush’s most obvious faults was that he had the mistaken idea that he could foster harmony and bring bipartisanship to Congress by working with the opposition party, even though Democrats double crossed him numerous times. I am reminded of the No Child Left Behind Act, written by Ted Kennedy. Just hours after Bush signed it, Kennedy, who got everything he asked for in the bill, attacked Bush for not spending enough money on the program. Nevertheless the strengths during the Bush years outweighed the weaknesses.

I may be looking through rose-colored glasses, but I have begun to miss W’s crooked smile and his folksy manner of speaking. I miss the humility and grace that he brought to the office. He didn’t have to be eloquent and he didn’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar. He was my President, and although I disagreed with him in many areas, I had the utmost respect for him. I also miss Laura, one of the most gracious first ladies in my lifetime.

After eight long years of relentless attacks on Bush from the left, America demanded change. The change that we got was Barack Hussein Obama. How’s that working out for you?

God bless George W. Bush.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: anotherbdsthread; bds; bdsreigns; bho44; bush; bush43; dubya; fourth100days; frbdsliveson; nostalgia; presidentbush; presidentgeorgewbush; w
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last
To: Toddsterpatriot; All

Did you purposely miss the point? According to Gallup, voters blamed “Reaganomics”/Reagan for the state of the economy in 1992, and it was the state of the economy that caused voters to vote for Clinton/Perot.

If we were to follow a previous poster’s logic, then Reagan (and his policies) were to blame for Clinton’s election . . . Dumb I know, but equivalent to the argument that Bush is to blame for the election of Obama — kinda’ precludes any PERSONAL responsibility for those recalcitrant Libertarians (big ‘L’), squishy Republicans (e.g., Noonan), perpetually clueless ‘undecideds’, and moronic Clinton supporters who voted for Obama against their own best interests. [And what about McCain for running one of the more inept campaigns in recent memory and all of those Republican politicians who disparaged President Bush more than they disparaged their Democrat opponents] . . . IDIOTS ALL!


21 posted on 11/15/2009 12:05:12 PM PST by DrDeb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Carry_Okie

Even though you obviously can’t read or reason, I’ll refer you to my response at #21.


22 posted on 11/15/2009 12:07:52 PM PST by DrDeb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Cross

AWESOME post; love the photos!


23 posted on 11/15/2009 12:08:36 PM PST by DrDeb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Cross; Chieftain

It never fails....

Put a nice thread about Bush and here come the ENDLESS JERKS who trash Bush...Hey you Bush haters...STFU!

We don’t need your brilliant armchair wisdom! If you want to put that crap on a Bush thread go to DU! ( OH, yeah, I knowwwwwww..”I’m just saying the truth, blah, blah blah.)

Its hilarious...a conservative site and we have a chorus of “IT’S BUSH’S FAULT”....DON’T BOTHER COMING UP WITH YOUR BRILLIANT REPLIES...


24 posted on 11/15/2009 12:12:17 PM PST by Recovering Ex-hippie (Ok, joke's over....Bring back Bush !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: stubernx98
I could never get anyone to define what “Change” they wanted.

They didn't know. They just knew that the media told them that we needed something different, so they voted for the cool black guy, cause he was different.

Most folks really had no idea what kind of change Obama wanted to bring about. They didn't pay attention to what he was saying, they were too caught up in the 'celebrity' of it all. They seemed to have the idea that "we can't do any worse than we're doing under Bush and the Republicans". I think the first 10 months of this administration disabused many of those folks of THAT notion.

25 posted on 11/15/2009 12:12:54 PM PST by SuziQ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: DrDeb
Did you purposely miss the point?

The point is Reagan had been out of office for 4 years when Bush I lost to Clinton.

According to Gallup, voters blamed “Reaganomics”/Reagan

A biased poll question lets GHWB off the hook? LOL! Nice try.

26 posted on 11/15/2009 12:30:33 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (Math is hard. Harder if you're stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: FromLori

I loved George Bush when he was first running for office.

I loved George Bush more the day he was first inaugurated.

I loved George Bush more the day he was re-elected.

I loved Georgy Bush even more the day he left office.

I love George Bush now more than ever.


27 posted on 11/15/2009 12:33:07 PM PST by drellberg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
I miss Reagan.
Bush? Not even a little.

If I had a staff infection, and then afterward battled cancer, I wouldn't miss the staff infection. I would miss being well.

28 posted on 11/15/2009 12:50:13 PM PST by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DrDeb
Read my lips. It was Papa Bush who opened the door for Clinton.

The Bush family is one of the worst things to ever happen to the GOP and the country.

29 posted on 11/15/2009 12:55:54 PM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: BGHater

Well I would too I don’t like those bank bailouts one single bit especially since those scummy banks donated heavily to obama and fund acorn and our taxes have to pay for them but in all the other areas and compared to obama there is no comparison.


30 posted on 11/15/2009 12:56:25 PM PST by FromLori (FromLori)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: FromLori; informavoracious; larose; RJR_fan; Prospero; Conservative Vermont Vet; ...

W


31 posted on 11/15/2009 12:59:51 PM PST by narses ("These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DrDeb
Did you purposely miss the point? According to Gallup, voters blamed “Reaganomics”/Reagan for the state of the economy in 1992, and it was the state of the economy that caused voters to vote for Clinton/Perot.

Yup, Bush did his job, just like his son did.

It wasn't "Reaganomics" that got Clinton elected, as the appeal Ross Perot made to the public was in the name of fiscal restraint.

If we were to follow a previous poster’s logic, then Reagan (and his policies) were to blame for Clinton’s election . . . Dumb I know, but equivalent to the argument that Bush is to blame for the election of Obama —

A false analogy in support of a baseless argument won't get you any converts. Remember "read my lips"? Well, it was a RINO/RAT cabal that broke that promise in the name of bailing out S&Ls pursuant to a real estate bubble.

Does that sound at all familiar?

IDIOTS ALL!

Oh, I see, we're "idiots" because we can discern a difference between RINOs and conservatives. I see. Apparently you are not so capable.

32 posted on 11/15/2009 1:04:05 PM PST by Carry_Okie (Islam offers three choices: surrender, fight, or die.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
Excellent article.

God bless President George W Bush.

33 posted on 11/15/2009 1:10:49 PM PST by jveritas (God Bless our brave troops)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
He foresaw the problems we are now having with Medicare, Social Security, and the housing crisis and tried his best to address those challenges, only to be stopped from implementing the solutions by a Democrat majority in Congress.

Not exactly, Pres. Bush's own party let him down on this one. Congressional Republicans backing Bush were nowhere to be found on this one.

If a Tea Party type crowd would have stood up and made themselves known at that time, real reforms might have been realized by instilling a spine in wimpy Republicans and more conservative Democrats.

When we conservatives take back power from Obama and company, the lesson we should learn is to never let up on the pressure applied to the elected in Washington to do the right thing.

34 posted on 11/15/2009 1:13:32 PM PST by upsdriver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tflabo
Amen, Oh God! Amen Spent yesterday looking at uTube videos of He and Laura, so good and soothing but sad too. We are in deep dodo.
35 posted on 11/15/2009 1:14:51 PM PST by rose
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: FromLori

Yes, God Bless President Bush. I was missing him before he even left.


36 posted on 11/15/2009 1:16:36 PM PST by BlueAngel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DrDeb

Bookmarked. Thanks, DrDeb.


37 posted on 11/15/2009 1:20:11 PM PST by BlueAngel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: FromLori

Yeah - we totally blew it by 1st allowing the congress to go ‘rat in ‘06 and then by putting 0bama in the White House.


38 posted on 11/15/2009 1:22:55 PM PST by Chi-townChief
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DrDeb

Great & informative post, thanks!


39 posted on 11/15/2009 1:31:14 PM PST by quesera (We are so screwed!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Recovering Ex-hippie

Not sure what post you refer to, but for the record, God Bless George W. Bush, a good man who loves his country and is GREATLY missed by me.


40 posted on 11/15/2009 1:47:36 PM PST by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson