The Bush Legacy

It is becoming increasingly apparent to most of us that President Bush has become not only a lame duck president, as the far left predicted, but also a president without a plan. The war in Iraq was supposed to be a short one with a quick victory, a new government quickly established, and a hasty American withdrawal. That has not materialized. I was personally hoping the President could pull it off. But now we are hearing from Condoleeza Rice that we could have troops in Iraq for another ten years or more. I think the best thing we as Americans can do is to begin plans for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. We should provide diplomatic support for the new government but an American military presence is not wanted by most Iraqis.

Additionally, the economy is on the decline, albeit that is not completely the President's fault since we had several major hurricanes, including Katrina. But the budget deficit is higher than it has been in years. Even Clinton managed to balance the budget. What happened to all that Republican fire to balance the budget? Even though I like the idea of tax cuts, it has become obvious to me that the biggest cuts went to the wealthy. Bush's plan to jumpstart the economy appeared to work for awhile but now it seems to be dead in the water. Interest rates are climbing and economic growth is stagnating.

Finally, what will be President George W. Bush's legacy? The major push by socially conservative Christians to elect a president who would appoint Supreme Court justices who would uphold the U.S. Constitution rather than legislate liberal law from the bench may have questionable results. Like Bush, Sr., Bush, Jr. might have appointed two justices who may turn out to be liberals in the closet. Let's not forget Reagan's ill chosen appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor who turned out to be a justice favoring the murder of the unborn. Likewise, David Souter, Bush, Sr.'s appointment, turned out to be liberal and a justice of death.

For those of us who voted for President Bush the only redemption for his presidency at this point would be the overturning Roe v. Wade or else a severe restriction on abortion. I had great hopes for the Bush presidency. I can only hope and pray that things change for the better before the end of his term.