In many ways, the Bush presidency is finished. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still think he has been a fantastic President, on the overwhelming majority of issues. There is no doubt that he will see the Iraq mission through to a successful conclusion, and history will vindicate him as one of America's all-time greatest Presidents. Yet, there can be no denying, that in terms of political effectiveness, on a whole range of issues, no one can stop the bleeding.
The tragic truth is that lamenting Bush's demise will not center around what could have been but, rather, what was. No administration in American history did more for it's Country, and the World, and got less credit for it.
For that, the blame must be put squarely on the shoulders of George W Bush.
The administration made all the right moves early on. They implemented an aggressive 1-2 tax cut punch that knocked the Clinton Recession out cold and put our country on the road to the best recovery and stock market bull in decades.
They acted aggressively against corporate criminals and made it known that they were serious about prosecuting them.
They rallied the nation in the aftermath of two colossal disasters- 911 and Katrina and, despite their hysterical media critics, responded admirably to both.
He sounded the clarion call on 2 approaching calamities- an energy crisis and a Social security Crisis.
He implemented tough fiscal discipline to reduce expanding Budget deficits by cutting discretionary spending. He know has a budget deficit hurling toward balance twice as fast as even his projections.
- Freedom to 59 Million oppressed Afghans & Iraqis.
- Taking the terror fight to the enemy.
- The best bull market in 80 years.
- The best economy, probably ever.
......and it all, at least for now, means nothing.
George W Bush, at the end of the day, is being compared to Jimmy Carter and some are actually lending credence to the comparisons.
The comparisons are absurd, of course. Inflation, Unemployment and Interest rates are ALL a fraction of what they were under Carter, and though voters are howling over energy prices, they aren't sitting in gas lines and they certainly aren't cutting demand any.
There is one area where the comparison is valid. Americans are depressed and feel defeated.
That, I'm afraid, Is George W Bush's fault. He has no-one to blame but himself.
If your enemy punches you once, you are not to blame. If your enemy punches you every single day, and you never fight back, you are to blame.
Even in the immediate aftermath of 911, Democrats could be seen testing the waters to see when it was ok to begin attacking Bush again. Like his father before him, Bush squandered the opportunity to capitalize on his high popularity. In the case of Bush the younger, it was a tragic opportunity missed because the window of opportunity remained open until about January of 2005 when, for the first time, he no longer held a majority of the Nation's approval.
Oh, don't get me wrong, he tried. In fact, he tried very hard. He had aggressive plans to drill in Anwar and build refineries to ease gas price pain. He had a comprehensive strategy to attack Islam fascism at every level and from every angle. He had great ideas for saving Social Security and making health care more affordable. He had wonderful plans for reforming our educational system and giving poor families a hand up.
All great ideas that, if implemented, would make America better.
He took his ideas to congress but he never took them to the people. Consequently, the democrats were able to turn George W Bush into Captain Smith- asleep, while the ship hit the ice berg.
Where I work, we have to keep a journal of projects we complete. As my boss has said, "If it's not documented, it didn't happen.".
The American people just don't know how much George W Bush did and tried to do for them because he never told them. If he had, he would have a lot more fans today.
When a Democratic Senate blocked drilling in Anwar, Bush should have taken it to the people. When they politicized Katrina, he should have nailed them for it.
Where were the prime time news Presidential addresses spouting the tremendous successes in rebuilding Iraq and the economy?
When Clinton was President, the sun couldn't come up without him scurrying for a bank of microphones so he could take credit for it. Bush did his job and just assumed we wold all see.
He disdained the press conference, which was his only opportunity to bypass the liberal media filter.
Therefore, all he accomplished was for naught, and all the nation's ills will be pinned on him because he simply refused to take his case to the people.
Now, ironically enough, Bush (and his administration and allies) has decided to lash out at his conservative base . From Peggy Noonan;
The White House doesn't need its traditional supporters
anymore, because its problems are way beyond being solved by the base. And the
people in the administration don't even much like the base. Desperate straits
have left them liberated, and they are acting out their disdain. Leading
Democrats often think their base is slightly mad but at least their heart is in
the right place. This White House thinks its base is stupid and that its heart
is in the wrong place.
For almost three years, arguably longer, conservative
Bush supporters have felt like sufferers of battered wife syndrome. You don't
like endless gushing spending, the kind that assumes a high and unstoppable
affluence will always exist, and the tax receipts will always flow in? Too bad!
You don't like expanding governmental authority and power? Too bad. You think
the war was wrong or is wrong? Too bad.
But on immigration it has changed
from "Too bad" to "You're bad."
The president has taken to suggesting that
opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they "don't want to do what's
right for America." His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, "We're gonna tell the
bigots to shut up." On Fox last weekend he vowed to "push back." Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal
immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose
the bill want "mass deportation." Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said
those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from
"rage" and "national chauvinism."
Nothing like pissing off your base to get you creamed at the ballot box. You would have thought we learned that in 1992 and, certainly, in 2006.
Conservatives aren't just pissed that the President is wrong, woefully wrong, on this amnesty for a price bill (that, as far as I can see, is doa). They aren't merely irate that he has taken to attacking us for being right.
What really irks us is that we have been the ones taking the political bullets for 6 1/2 years. That's right, we are the ones that had to defend ourselves against claims of a President lying about Iraq. We are the ones that had to endure the endless, hate filled invective that you were to blame for the Clinton recession and corporate scandals.
We were the ones that had to show people that the economy really was producing jobs.
We had to, because you wouldn't.
Now? Well, we gotta be honest, if you had done a little more yelling and name calling then- against your real political enemies, you'd be sitting here with a 70% approval rating.
America would still hate your immigration bill.....but they would be telling you in a much calmer way. I still love ya George, and I think you were a great President. However, your political effectiveness is now dead because you, just like your dad, broke the two cardinal sins of politics;
- Don't let your enemy define you.
- Don't piss off your own base.
Now, the challenge facing Fred Thompson is Herculean. He doesn't merely have to win the White House, he has to rebuild the entire Conservative movement.
He will do both, with one issue.
Immigration.
President Bush missed this issue completely but, fortunately for Thompson, every other candidate (democrat or republican), with a realistic chance of winning, has missed it too.
If Thompson acts like the anti-illegal immigration bad ass we need, the White House is as good as his. If not, Conservatives will, once again, stay home and we will get positively annihilated.
Labels: A Newt One, American Truth warriors, Blog talk radio, Checkmate, Conservative, Darter45, Fred Thompson, George W Bush, Iraq, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Z, Moonbats, Operation America Rising, Patriots for Conservative values, Politics, SonlitKnight, surge, Terrorism, The Headless Thompson Gunners, The Truth Surge, Zulz
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