The president that some think is the worst in a century will be leaving office soon. After almost eight years of being maligned and reviled, however,these words are worth considering.
It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.
Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.
Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.
Now, we have a new president-elect. Senator Obama is not the man for whom I voted, and I have serious reservations about the purported vision he has for our country. Still, no one should be blind to what a historic moment this is and how it truly is a giant step forward from a terrible past that was not that long ago.
I do hope that as president, Obama moves far more to the center than some expect. Nevertheless, I will do my best to wish our new president well. We had a most classy example of that last night from a man who has already served our nation to the highest degree possible.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.
Here's hoping that my fellow McCain supporters will take the high road and never forget that, as McCain reminds us, no matter our differences, we are Americans first.
A few questions I have yet to have anyone who is Republican or a Bush supporter answer as of yet. You write that Bush has been maligned and reviled. I ask you what can you name as a few major accomplishments as President? The economy is in shambles. We are in 2 wars. Job growth has been dismal in his term as President, and the dollar has fallen. So I ask what does he have to hang his hat on as accomplishments?
You were not fond of Clinton, but when he left office we had a budget surplus, tremendous job growth, a roaring economy, the respect of nations around the world, crime dropping every year he was President. You might take issue with his stewardship over these matters, but they did happen on his watch. So again what did Bush do that we can point to as a success?
Also I am curious to understand what do you define as the center of the country politics? Obama is more centrist than most progressives are, but I am curious to understand what you deem as center politics or positions. For example recent polling have found these positions are what would label as centrist. So the question is are you to the right or do you feel the same as the majority of Americans?
Based on polling a majority of American's are seeking greater regulation of business
In polling 2/3rd's of Americans support some form of universal health care
2/3rds of Americans are for sitting down with our enemies without preconditions.
Per Gallup poll 61% of Americans believe in conservation over oil production.
Per Gallup poll a majority believe in stricter gun control.
Per Gallup poll a majority of Americans believe homosexuality should not be banned in the Constitution and should be an acceptable lifestyle.
Per Gallup poll a majority of Americans believe the war on Iraq is a big mistake even while believing the surge worked.
(I would of posted links but they light up the spam filter)
Seemingly, a larger majority of American’s tend to favor what most, I think, would consider centrist ideas that you might believe are liberal.
Posted by: Greg | Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 09:47 AM
1) We have not been attacked on our shores since 9/11.
2) Saddam was removed from power.
3) The war in Iraq has made tremendous strides since the surge, and could ultimately lead to far better circumstances for us and the world in the Middle East.
The economy was not "roaring" as Clinton left office. Presidents do not single handedly have the ability to manage economies nor markets. They have peaks and valleys; Presidents can have some effect, but they cannot will the valleys away.
As for what is "centrist" in our country - did you get your stats from the Daily Kos, Greg?
Posted by: Peg | Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Peg,
I asked for some accomplishments, so please explain how getting attacked on 9/11 is an accomplishment?
Saddam was removed from power. Yet he had nothing to do with 9/11 and I would not believe that many of those that have had loved one's lost to the war in Iraq which had nothing to do with 9/11 would feel about that. In fact most Americans disagree with you on that.
Now you may question where I got my poll numbers from, but I will let you in on a little secret they are from Gallup, Pew, and a few major newspapers. But as I noted I could not post the links because of the spam guard on this blog.
The economy was not roaring under Clinton?
Did Clinton not leave a budget surplus which Bush and the so called conservatives ran into a deficit in one year? Over the whole of the Clinton administration, the economy added 22.7 million jobs which was an average of 237,000 per month. Over the whole of the Bush administration they added only 5.8 million jobs or 72,000 per month. You seem to like to pretend that history began in August 2003, so that you can ignore the job losses early in the administration. But even that doesn’t do the trick. Since August 2003, the economy has added 8.5 million jobs or 172,000 per month. So even by cherry-picking the good Bush years and pretending the bad years never happened, they still can’t match the average rate of job creation under Clinton. Besides those numbers of the Bush years are not accurate because of the massive job losses we have seen over the last several months. So there is no way you can with any sort of accuracy claim Bush handled the economy better than Clinton.
Now, you might say that Clinton doesn’t deserve all the credit for good things that happened on his watch and I we can agree on that. But it’s the Bush apologist who are trying to spin a mediocre job record into proof that their policies are wonderful. Did I mention that the Clinton job boom followed an, um, increase in taxes?
As far as being a centrist country I would think that Democrats winning the Presidency in the manner that they would might suggest that the country might be more center than you would believe. Then again after watching how the Republicans have been killed for two elections in a row might also offer some proof to this thought. On Tuesday, the country both rejected conservative ideology as well as embraced new, progressive priorities. The latest Pew Research poll showed that only 25 percent of the public agrees with the centerpiece of the conservative tax program: making Bush's tax cuts permanent. The public also agrees by 58 percent to 35 percent that the government should guarantee "health insurance for all citizens even if it means raising taxes." Exit poll data showed that 60 percent of voters were worried about rising health care costs and that 66 percent of those people backed Obama. A majority of Americans also want to expand environmental protections, increase the minimum wage, recognize same-sex marriage, and end the Iraq war, to name a few.
The Progressive Majority:
Why a Conservative America is a Myth
http://mediamatters.org/progmaj/report
or
Here's a fun series of graphs based on finalized NYT exit polling data. The progression of the graphs tells the story of the election.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20081104_ELECTION_RECAP/electionChange2.swf
Posted by: Greg | Thursday, November 06, 2008 at 03:26 PM
OK, can I lay this at the mantle of Bush also?
Jobless rate at 14-year high as losses continue
The unemployment rate shot to a 14-1/2 year high last month as employers slashed jobs by an unexpectedly steep 240,000, suggesting President-elect Barack Obama will face a deep recession when he takes office.
The Labor Department said on Friday the jobless rate rose a steep four-tenths of a percent to 6.5 percent in October, the highest since March 1994, and that job losses in September and August were deeper than previously thought.
So far this year 1.2 million U.S. jobs have been lost, with 651,000 in the past three months alone as the slide in the national labor market picked up in intensity.
Posted by: Greg | Friday, November 07, 2008 at 04:51 PM