Posted on 09/03/2003 2:01:57 PM PDT by NorCoGOP
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- In 2000, Bush campaigned upon meaningless slogans and the fact that he was a former president's son. His true vision for America did not appear until after 9-11.
Looking at past presidents, those who entered into office with a firm vision of where they wanted America to be when they left became the most successful in achieving their agendas.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Bill Clinton are just a few presidents in the last century who have been able to dream of a better America before taking office. All of these presidents have come from completely different eras with completely different problems, environments and situations that surrounded them as they took office. And yes, each of these presidents has had individual faults. As different as they are, the common thread that sews these great presidents together is that they had the character to challenge Americans to be even greater than what we were before. When these presidents left office, they left America, as well as the world, a much better place for future generations to build upon.
What is the current administration going to leave behind for future generations? By playing upon the fears that Americans have concerning terrorism, the Bush administration has been able to get what it wants by simply calling opponents "evil."
As a result of this political strategy, Bush shoved the Patriot Act through Congress, which happens to be one of the largest desecrations of the Bill of Rights. Need I remind Bush that it is the Bill of Rights that separates our American Republic from Saddam's Iraq and Kim Jong-Il's North Korea? This raises the larger question that if we are taking away our civil rights, what are we fighting for?
When Bush leaves office next year, he will not leave behind a better or stronger America. In fact he will leave behind a much weaker and poorer nation. When Bush was selected into office, he inherited more than a $5 trillion surplus and has turned it into a $4 trillion deficit. What does he have to show for it? Only tax breaks for the richest Americans and a war in Iraq that costs $1 billion a week, not to mention the loss of an American soldier's life almost everyday. Bush will leave behind 25 million Americans without health care, an economy that has only become worse since he came into office, an educational system that is ready to fall apart and a Veteran Affairs Department cut by billions.
After Sept. 11, the President missed the opportunity to ask Americans to dream of a safer and more secure America. Bush could have echoed the message that Secretary Tom Ridge told Pennsylvanians when he resigned as their governor, "Do what you do every day, but only do it better." Bush could have asked Americans to take an even deeper part in each of our own communities by volunteering at local food banks, schools, hospitals and community centers. Bush could have asked Americans to join organizations such as Teach For America and AmeriCorps. Bush could have firmly told America that even though terrorists had attacked us on our homeland and took the lives of loved ones, they will never, never take away the freedoms, liberty and justice that make America so infinitely better than any other country on the face of the planet.
Only we could take away what it means to be an American and Bush slowly is.
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