J-Wild

Friday, December 09, 2005

GWB


I voted for Bush twice, rallied behind resolution 1441 as a justification for removing Hussein, resonated with Bush's manner of speaking, and his personal faith. I was in awe of the team he had assembled around him in 2000, and I thought he would bring back honesty and integrity to the seat of power. I argued his case and defended him and his decision to everyone around me (and I do mean everyone). I thought he was brilliant in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. In short I was a big fan and supporter.

During both elections I jumped up and down with excitement as he was elevated to the presidency, and slightly reveled in the tormented faces of all my friends and co-workers.

But I think I have lost my way, I no longer see any compelling evidence to remain a supporter, defender, or buddy of GWB. I do love what he has done for AIDS funding and for his New Temporary Worker Program, but everything else seems like an utter failure. Which brings me to my top five. Five things that I can't understand or justify about Bush's policies:

1. Leaving the door open for the possibility of torture. What happen to his faith?

2. Katrina and FEMA. Some people would like to say the response to Katrina was rooted in racism. I have come to believe that would be giving the people in charge of FEMA too much credit. They were just incompetent, and Bush was the one who put the leaders in place there. Why would Bush even be seen on the same tarmac as Mike Brown let alone accept a resume from him?

3. The War Accountability Act. I made that up, but how many of you could perform in your job the way the Rumsfeld has and still keep your job?

4. Fiscal responsibility. The national debt is being added to faster than at any other time in history. Increased spending, tax cuts, and an expensive war are fueling these deficits, and Bush seems to be oblivious to any of this. The house just passed another 95 billion dollar tax cut bill, with the senate working hard on their own version. The bulk of the cuts are for capital gains and dividend taxes which primarily benefit people making over $300,000 a year!

5. Corruption and cronyism. Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely and it seems as though the Republicans have fallen into that trap.
I am sure there are some of you out there who read my blog that like or even support George Bush. So I am asking. How can I find my way back? What about President George Bush is worth strutting the halls about again? I really want to know. I am surrounded by a city that loathes the President, so could someone give me some good reasons not to share their sentiment?

For you Democrats out there one question...With so many missteps made by this President over the last six years shouldn't he and the Republicans be easy targets for defeat? Hillary, Murtha, Pelosi, Lieberman, and Dean can't even agree on how to go after the President on an unpopular war, how in the heck can they be expected to lead?

Just questions from a former and now gluten free Kool-Aid drinker.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good things...Hmmm...He's got a nice Texas drawl and wears some nice ties. That's about all I know.

I voted for him in the first election, but the post 9/11 mess took me away from Bush and from the Republican Party.

As for the Dems who might run in 08, I got no idea what their problem is. Maybe a nice Independant woman like Mackenzie Allen will run.

Anonymous said...

Jason I to voted for Bush and simply wish we has had better options. I am sorry but I can't think of any good reason to continue to support him.
I would encourage all of us to start praying now for our next opportunity to choose our leader. I will certainly pray that we will have a choice between two competent leaders who represent two different sets of ideals and are comfortable where they stand. Who talk about the issues they believe in and not about each other. And I will also pray that the American people make an educated choice based on something other than fear.

Byron said...

Who was the last President that did it all right, or even did half of it right? 2 things to consider in backing a Pres. 1. Can we even imagine the responsibility that he has to face every day; the reality that comes to his desk is overwhelming. 2. The truth about what goes on behind the closed doors of national and international politics is unavailable to the general public. What we get from the media is a whitewashed fraction of the truth. Support him or not, he is gone in 2 years and the next Pres. will come in with just as much support as Bush did and leave with just as many enemies. That life for a Pres.

Tony Arnold said...

I voted for Bush twice, sung his praises as a Christian, and reveled in a Cross wrapped in the Stars and Stripes.

I am ashamed of myself. I practiced idolatry. Bush is the poster child for Constantinian Christianity.

I see no suffering servitude in the war, the Patriot Act, and our domestic policies.

The book Mere Discipleship really helped to awaken my understanding of discipleship. We have had many discussion about these issues at the Mere Discipleship Discussion blog.

Tony

J-Wild said...

Great comments. I appreciate everyone sharing and particularly for Byron and Justin whose tone is different than the others who have commented.

Briefly, I agree that all Presidents make mistakes, and I never believed that Bush would be perfect. But some mistakes are bigger and more long lasting than others. It seems like this war can only be incredibly disastrous or moderately successful. And that our preparedness to fight terrorism is seriously lacking. Those are two pretty big mistakes.

The reason why we need another, possibly redundant law, regarding torture is because when we were caught with our pants down engaging in torture that led to the deaths of prisoners there were no real consequences. Imagine if Rumsfeld had been removed, Abu Grab demolished, and the President apologize on behalf of the American people. Perhaps we wouldn't have to visit an issue we once thought was closed. The only reason we have a new torture law out there is because the current one is being exploited for it's loop holes. McCain should be embraced as a hero for bringing this to the forefront of our nations conscience.

The local and state government failed miserably, but the disaster was on a scale that was too big for them to handle. That became obvious on day one and continues to be evident today. Yet the Federal government didn't react in force for nine days. Even now, FEMA was about to tell all those Katrina evacuees that they were going to be evicted from their hotels or temporary residences on December 22nd! And it took a JUDGE to keep them from going through with it. Speaking on a strictly public relations basis how does that make sense to have thousands of people evicted three days before Christmas?

Finally, I read a story about a family that received a Christmas card from their 23 year old husband and father who was serving in Iraq. The card said how excited he was about coming home in January to be with them. A few hours later the Army Chaplain arrived to tell his wife, 3 year old daughter, and parents that he had been killed by an IED. Now there is NOTHING I can do that could come even close to making the sacrifice that this family has made for America and Iraq. However I kind of resent that I am not being asked to sacrifice at all! I feel like I am being told that since the economy is good and I have lower taxes I should go about my business, shop, and invest money in the stock market while small segments of our population are forced to bear the full brunt of the war in Iraq.

Again, just to be clear, there isn't anything I could do that would be equal to what the thousands of soldiers have done in sacrificing their time, families, health and lives. But I think having the President stand up and say:

"We are all going to be asked to give and sacrifice in this endeavor, because as Americans we must share this burden of bringing freedom to Iraq. Those in the armed forces will be asked to give of their skill, time, and expertise and those who are civilians will be asked to sacrifice so that these men and women can have absolutely every thing they need to wage a successful campaign for freedom, while we continue to honor our domestic and other international commitments."

I feel like the Bush of 2000 would have said that, and we would be better off.

Anonymous said...

I'm late on this so this will probably never be looked over, but I thought I would add my two cents. Background first: I have never voted for him and I am studying US healthcare. My comment is this. Bush gets continual praise for his AIDS and Africa contributions. I believe 15 million or something. Well, out of that 15 he has released only 2 and that 2 has been spent on setting up a network and planning. A network and planning that already exists, but because he believes in abstinenece only, he has to recreate the wheel. So his actual contribution to the AIDS in Africa is closer to $0. Actually, the latest I read Uganda (the teacher's pet in fighting AIDS) has recently seen worsening condition since they adopted Bush's abstinence only campaign so that they could secure funding. I can't even give him credit on AIDS and Africa. I hope the Dems can pull it together, or Jeb Bush 08?