My fantasy is that some document or event surfaces that makes clear either the danger that Bush averted, and/or the perfidy of his vitriolic critics. A latter-day Zimmermann telegram or Venona Project would be perfect.

Agree with your points. There is a certain satisfaction in being able to show just how shallow and self centered the political opposition was during a time of war – only problem is it will be years before it comes out fully and completely and Bush is vindicated.

At that point the very visible critics, many of whom are currently in Congress and in positions to know better, will be shown to have acted out of self serving interests rather than national interests – but it will be too late to hold many of them to account as they will have long ago passed from the scene by the time the full story comes out.

So, they can have their cake at the moment and for some years to come, basking in their “success” at hamstringing Bush at every opportunity and thereby gaining power for themselves, but eventually the full story will come out and their names will be written down along with many others as fools who sold out their country for the sake of their own greed.

Tom the Redhunter,

Agree with you as well. In spite of my support for Bush, there are many things he did that I did not agree with and there are many things he did that were mistakes – politically, socially, and militarily.

However, you’re never going to find any 2 people who agree on every single conversation. So I give him credit for at least trying to improve things even if I disagree with some of his actions in trying to do so.

On the whole, he got more right than he got wrong as far as the nation’s interests are concerned and we were lucky to have him in that position at this time in our history.

There are some things he did that I hope can eventually be reversed – but I have to content myself with being patient for at least 4 more years before that’s going to even have a chance to happen.

It is my hope he is able to write “that” book. One that opens all this up. I can’t help but believe parts would take people’s breath away. The left would spew nasties in defense of themselves and continue the liar, liar, pants on fire stuff. One hell of a web has been spun.

They chose to focus their hate on their own person, and not where it belonged, on Islamic extremists who kill their own women and children, strap bombs on their teenagers and declare that there are no gays in their country, people who riot over cartoons who think nothing of firebombing entire neighborhoods in paris, who behead people on camera and broadcast it all over the internet.

My friends, who are against ‘organized’ religion are strangely silent when it comes to the islamic bad guys. But they sure can hate Bush. It’ll be a relief not to hear every conversation started with the phrase ‘our appointed President.’

But I wish, I hope he knows that we appreciate the difficulty of the job, and the courage he has shown, in just putting his head down and keeping on, doing what is right. Perfect? No. No one ever is. But there’s blame to go around. When the republicans had the majority they should have made those Goddam tax cuts permanent. Nevertheless, people will be wishing they had him back, I’ll bet money on it.

And FredHjr It was the people, the policy wonks, the journalists, the blogs, and the Democrats who poisoned the political climate, not Pres. Bush. I have never seen anything like what was done to an American President in my lifetime thus far. I will not forgive these people for it. Never. I’ve got nothing but hard feelings for those people and I hope every single one of them reap what they have sown. In spades. I agree with you 100 thousand percent.

Bush was right

Invading was the right thing to do. Then we screwed it up, but finally got it right. Let’s hope it holds, and that Obama is wise enough to listen to Petraeus and Odierno on what to do now.

There as a post over at NRO’s The Corner not too long ago, in which Mark Steyn recalled that a few years ago some of his colleagues were complaining that “Bush should have done this” and “Bush should have done that” (not just Iraq, but on various WOT things).

Then John O’Sullivan came along and wrote (I go from memory) “What none of you realize is that Bush is as good as it was going to get.”

And he was right. Bush hasn’t done nearly enough to win the WOT, and it took him too long to get Iraq right, but it’s hard to think of any other (electable) person who would have done better.

On Nov. 4, 1999, in an interview with Andy Hiller, candidate Bush was asked to name the leaders of four current world hot spots: Chechnya, Taiwan, India and Pakistan. And he failed to answer 3 of the 4. He was going to be a domestic issues president – running at the tail end of the largest peacetime expansion. He had no intent to be a foreign policy President – despite his father’s foreign policy credentials.

Country was still divided over the disputed elections and his first months were lackluster. And then 9/11 happened. The hero of that day and ensuing weeks was Mayor Giuliani, not President Bush.

And since then, President Bush upheld his constitutional duties and his pledge. Due to its very nature, useful intelligence is never released until the statute of limitations runs out. So, it would be a long time before we know what might have been prevented. But it is pretty clear that around the world, terrorists have been very active. It is reasonable to assume that we have been safe largely because of the efforts of our government.

People argue that anyone would have done as good a job. But that is unfair. You can not add or subtract from a President’s record. Presidents do not shape events. Rather, events shape the Presidents. Just as Mr. Clinton richly deserves the praise for the largest peacetime expansion, so does Mr. Bush for this ‘safety’. Mr. Bush was not prepared for 9/11 – same way as Mr. Lincoln was not prepared for the Civil War. But those events propelled their presidencies to prominence.

Love him or hate him, this much is clear: “He kept us safe”. And for that I am grateful to him. And I am proud of his service. God Bless him and everyone who stood by him.

Mr. Bush’s major domestic political failures reflect brave attempts at statesmanship. In 2005, he took up the cause of Social Security reform. In 2006, he took up immigration reform. Whether or not one agreed with his programs, attempting either required rare political courage and the belief that political capital exists to be used solving the most difficult problems. Mr. Bush signally failed to use his bully pulpit to attack his political critics, I suspect out of concern for adding to the toxicity of the political environment.

Mr. Bush was a very poor political leader for the Republicans. I presume that he did not see it as his role only to advance the party cause. I always believed that he would not shirk the hard decisions, and that he would act responsibly on behalf of the greater good, even if it made him unpopular. I regret that he surrendered the public stage to his adversaries.

Mr. Bush’s Presidency was consequential along many dimensions. I do not regret having voted for him twice or being a campaign contributor in both 2000 and 2004. I am grateful for his service and wish him Godspeed.

He has been steadfast in making and implementing decisions that he thought were in the best interests of the country, rather than in the best interests of GWB, despite vitriolic criticism.

In that, he deserves the same sort of recognition now accorded to Truman and Lincoln, who comported themselves in the same way. Few now appreciate the vituperation to which Lincoln was subjected right up to the day of his assassination. Even members of his own Cabinet initially doubted his intelligence and capacity for the job.

Bush will be judged by Iraq. If Iraq continues to come right and becomes a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, Bush will be viewed as a visionary, and one of the greatest American Presidents for having changed the course of history, for the betterment of America and the world.