President Bush's Achievements

We'll say farewell to President Bush here in eight days. What a turbulent period in American history this has been, pinnacled by the September 11 attacks. I have been very critical of him during most of this period, to say the least. Regardless, there have been some positive notes worthy of mention, and this article written by Fred Barnes I think is fair. He summarizes his opinion of Bush's 10 best achievements. I would like to comment on the article in a very unprofessional, illiterate manner because I don't pretend to be as smart as Mr. Barnes or President Bush for that matter. But hey, I still got something to say, and damnit my opinion counts!

[Mr. Bush's] decision in 2001 to jettison the Kyoto global warming treaty so loved by Al Gore, the environmental lobby, elite opinion, and Europeans. The treaty was a disaster, with India and China exempted and economic decline the certain result. Everyone knew it. But only Bush said so and acted accordingly.

No shit! India and China were two of the fastest growing economies during this decade and generated growing carbon emissions at an exponential rate year-over-year. To exempt these two economies, while the rest of us are forced to scale back is patently unfair and provides India and China with an unfair competitive advantage. They pollute while we suffer. Fuck that!! The bullshit man-made global warming agenda must scam all nations, not just the select few coveted by the world. Totally agree with this one: 1-1

Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know. But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Yup, and I don't think President Bush went far enough. Force-feed them pork while Barney Frank sodomizes their ass! They'll start singing like birds. But in all seriousness, there is no denying that President Bush deserves enormous credit for maintaining our security since September 11. The events leading up to September 11, however, I don't think can be fairly placed on his back, as I am a firm believer that the Clinton Administration squarely owns that responsibility. 2-2

Bush's third achievement was the rebuilding of presidential authority, badly degraded in the era of Vietnam, Watergate, and Bill Clinton. He didn't hesitate to conduct wireless surveillance of terrorists without getting a federal judge's okay. He decided on his own how to treat terrorists and where they should be imprisoned. Those were legitimate decisions for which the president, as commander in chief, should feel no need to apologize.

The country is trending towards judicial tyranny. The President showed some balls this decade by bypassing the courts and getting the job done. Courts have an agenda, and so does our President. The problem is, the courts have a sinister agenda that does not keep our country's best interest in mind. ACLU anybody? 3-3

Achievement number four was Bush's unswerving support for Israel. Reagan was once deemed Israel's best friend in the White House. Now Bush can claim the title.

I remember when Bush ordered Israel to cease construction of the wall separating Israel from Palestine. Meanwhile, we were bombing anything that moved in Afghanistan. So let me get this straight, we can bomb the fuck out of whoever is threatening us, but Israel can't build a fucking fence. I also remember Bush ordering Israel to halt military engagements on several occasions early during the Presidency. Mr. Bush got it right later on down the road, but his record shows otherwise between 2000 and 2004. It seems that we require Israel to seek our blessing when it comes to their national defense. Uh, Israel can do whatever the fuck it wants regarding its own defense. We certainly do. 3-4

His fifth success was No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the education reform bill cosponsored by America's most prominent liberal Democratic senator Edward Kennedy. The teachers' unions, school boards, the education establishment, conservatives adamant about local control of schools--they all loathed the measure and still do. It requires two things they ardently oppose, mandatory testing and accountability.

In the spirit of anti-Federalism, what the hell to say on this one? And furthermore, anything Kennedy touches cannot be good for the country. Period. Drunk asshole. 3-5

Sixth, Bush declared in his second inaugural address in 2005 that American foreign policy (at least his) would henceforth focus on promoting democracy around the world.

You know what? Our foreign policy should focus on leaving the world the fuck alone! It should focus on sealing our borders with enough military equipment and troops to scare away all lifeforms including insects. Leave us the fuck alone and we'll leave you the fuck alone! You wanna come to America? Stand in line assholes! The notion that we can make the world a better place by kicking ass and forcing our ideology upon a bunch of barbaric cultures is completely insane! As far as our current campaigns go, we're already there so let's win, and I will not discount the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform. President Bush has supported our military and should be respected. 4-6

The seventh achievement is the Medicare prescription drug benefit, enacted in 2003. It's not only wildly popular; it has cost less than expected by triggering competition among drug companies. Conservatives have deep reservations about the program. But they shouldn't have been surprised. Bush advocated the drug benefit in the 2000 campaign. And if he hadn't acted, Democrats would have, with a much less attractive result.

Oh God! You've got to be fucking kidding me. I've ranted about this bullshit before and so I won't do it again here. To sum it up, though, we are $10 trillion in national debt! This is one of the main issues that cost the Republicans most of its power and maybe its future. 4-7

Then there were John Roberts and Sam Alito.

Absolutely! Justice Roberts kicks ass. And the Republicans actually did something right by forcing Harriet Miers to withdraw her nomination, which subsequently led to the nomination and confirmation of Justice Samuel Alito. Don't have to elaborate more here. 5-8



Bush's ninth achievement has been widely ignored. He strengthened relations with east Asian democracies (Japan, South Korea, Australia) without causing a rift with China. On top of that, he forged strong ties with India. An important factor was their common enemy, Islamic jihadists. After 9/11, Bush made the most of this, and Indian leaders were receptive. His state dinner for Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 was a lovefest.

Fine. And remember that the Australians and Japanese both helped support our Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. 6-9

Finally, a no-brainer: the surge.

I guess my primary gripe about this is why the fuck wasn't it performed sooner? How many lives could we have saved? Mute point now I guess. My best buddy from college just returned home after six years in combat. He says that the surge won the war for us in Iraq. I am so happy he is home, and his wife is pregnant with their first child. Seal our victory and then bring all our brave men and women home! We love you all and we are so grateful for your service. God bless America! 7-10


What's that old saying? "7 out of 10 ain't bad!" Look, I know this post is getting too long so I'll go ahead and conclude it here. There are issues that President Bush really fucked up on, including immigration policy and the incarceration of agents Compean & Ramos. I've always been on the fence with President Bush. I voted for him twice. But these last four years have been very difficult for me. Even though my life is much better than it was in 2000, our country as a whole certainly is not. I believe President Bush is an honest and decent man. I hope he retires in peace and stays far far away from politics for the rest of his life.