Laura and George Bush.
Starting in 2004, I became increasingly critical of President George W. Bush. A lot of things happened that I just didn’t (and don’t) fully understand: the Patriot Act, the way the Iraq War was first handled, Medicare and Medicaid, poor border control, the expansion of the federal government, and the bailouts.
As comedians and pundits continued to hammer him relentlessly and as the positive world view of America declined, my opinion of President Bush soured…
But deep down, I felt (and feel) that President Bush tried his best. Call me crazy, but I sincerely believe that President Bush tried (like all of us) to be an honest and principled person.
I believe that President Bush is a good man. Flawed, yes. But good.
Why do I bring this up?
On the evening of Friday, November 6th—just one day after the tragic shooting at Fort Hood—President Bush and his wife secretly visited the base ‘and spent “considerable time” consoling those who were wounded in Thursday’s shooting spree.’
‘The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit.’ [1]
Despite the wishes of President Bush and his wife, someone had leaked this story out to the press…and I’m glad it was. Even though it was a simple, three paragraph report, with no video, pictures or eloquent and lengthy words, I couldn’t help but get a little choked up.
Here I am, a person who feels that for the past eight years the government has wronged him, the nation and the world in SO many ways that I think of little but MYSELF—my views, my struggles and how I think government should behave.
And then there’s President Bush, a man who (depending on your opinion of him) is either an ethnocentric, power-hungry cowboy who cares little about the lives of others OR he’s a man who has been wronged by the media all these years and is in desperate need of a ‘media-makeover.’
Whichever portrait you paint, it would seem that President Bush NEEDS some positive face-time with the American people AND he cares only for himself.
But his actions on November 6th prove otherwise. What he and his wife did was an act of true, quiet, selfless service for the victims of a terrible tragedy and I honor him for it.
Thank you, President Bush. Not only for visiting and comforting the wounded, but for inviting me to see you and the world a bit differently. Thank you.
President Bush presents a Thanksgiving Turkey to the troops in Iraq.
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/07/george-w-bush-secretly-visits-fort-hood-victims/
I will ~Sigh~ with you sir. Some will never get it.
“But oh well….people notice lack far more than abundance, right?”
You are dead on : )
I have a lot of respect for President Bush. No, he wasn’t perfect, but he was real. I always like his Mom too, though I was never quite comfortable with President Sr.
By: Jane on November 21, 2009
at 9:12 am
[No, he wasn’t perfect, but he was real.]
Oh, gee… Since he acted like a buffoon, that makes him okay. Even though he started two wars, which he completely mismanaged, he let the orchestrator of the 9/11 attack get away, he doubled our national debt, appointed a crony to run FEMA, which led to thousands of people left stranded without the help that could have been there… but since he acted like a buffoon, that makes him real and that makes everything else okay.
By: Ben Hoffman on November 21, 2009
at 10:00 am
I wish I could find the other article (it was written by someone who served in Pres. Bush’s administration but here is another example of the unheralded things Pres. Bush did for the military):
http://www.eielson.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123111092
By: Jared on November 18, 2009
at 2:04 pm
Pres. Bush did stuff like that throughout his presidency. He visited military members in the hospital, had them to the White House, and did a lot of other things like that without ever letting the press know. I’m looking for the one article that talked about his little charitable acts like that. I’ll post the link if I can find it.
Also, it sounds like Ben is saying Pres. Bush was (indirectly) responsible for the shootings at Ft. Hood because “he…didn’t improve the communication between agencies that definitely would have prevented the shootings at Ft. Hood.” You know, not all bad in the world was caused by Pres. Bush.
By: Jared on November 18, 2009
at 1:48 pm
[But deep down, I felt (and feel) that President Bush tried his best. Call me crazy, but I sincerely believe that President Bush tried (like all of us) to be an honest and principled person.]
If he was honest, he wouldn’t have had to have the most secretive administration in recent history. He also wouldn’t have had to lie us into a war that cost our country a trillion dollars, over 4,000 lives, not to mention all the injuries to American soldiers. He also doubled the national debt, allowed us to be attacked on 9/11, didn’t improve the communication between agencies that definitely would have prevented the shootings at Ft. Hood.
By: Ben Hoffman on November 14, 2009
at 10:39 pm
~Sigh~ I already stated in my article that I’m confused with those things. I’m highlighting this one incident concerning Fort Hood.
That being said…
Secretive Administration? When a nation is at war would you have us be open? If the Manhattan Project had been public information could you imagine the results? Being a war-time President means having LOTS of things top-secret for security reasons. Do I like it? No. Do I understand it? Yes.
Lie us into a war? I never agreed with the war. The war should have been on the terrorists responsible and that’s it. However, ONE MAN cannot lie us into a war. Blair, the CIA, the Bush Administration, the news outlets (inculding the New York Times) were ALL pushing the war. In the end, Congress voted for it. Do I like that? No. I stand by Washington when he said that we should stay out of foriegn affairs. But ONE man is not responsible for the Iraq War.
4,000 lives and injuries. Yes and it’s sad. But what is truly heart breaking is that EVERY ONE who brings up those numbers NEGLECTS the fact that Saddam Hussein BUTCHERED between 500,000 – 1,000,000 of HIS OWN PEOPLE. Not to mention all of the brutal wars that HE started with other nations that cost ADDITIONAL millions of lives. 4,000 lives compared with 1,000,000….you tell me what’s humane?
Yes, he did double the national debt. No arguments there.
Allowed us to be attacked on 9/11? ARE YOU INSANE? What sociopath would allow that and how on earth would they get away with it?? You lose ALL credibility when you suggest that the Government was in on 9/11. It’s absolutely sick and false.
Didn’t improve communications between agencies? Please. The Clintons never felt like Bush deserved the White House and they made the transition between the two administrations exceptionally poor. Clinton knew that Bin Laden was a bad guy and should’ve prepped Bush on him, but failed to do much of anything. Do I blame the Clintons? No. Because in the end, terrorists flew the planes into the buildings. Terrorists, not politicians.
Oh, and one more thing: President Bush has saved millions of lives (not just in preventing terrorism) but in his ongoing fight against AIDS in Africa. His actions there have LITERALLY saved millions of people.
But oh well….people notice lack far more than abundance, right?
By: sethadamsmith on November 14, 2009
at 10:59 pm