A Polite Re-hash...

by jwright

A long time Internet friend of mine, Mr. Alan Sherman, attorney at law and professional "world traveler extroardinaire" recently added my name to a political emailing list of his; a broad, informed list containing many of his friends and acquaintances from across the planet.
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One of his friends in particular struck my fancy with his sensible postings and it's my pleasure to share part of a recent exchange we had prior to the election, or immediately afterward, one... allow me to introduce K. Murphy:
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Re: GWB
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Jaq posted in part: What JFBurk (another long time Internet friend) posted earlier is close to my opinion too. GWB initially offered to bring a "new tone" to Washington, DC and look what it got him; the most maligned president since Abraham Lincoln (and look where Lincoln's place in American history is today).
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K. Murphy's RESPONSE: Actually, by the end of Lincoln's presidency he was greatly loved and respected. Warren Harding, Ulysses S. Grant (who I greatly respect even though I am a southerner), Calvin Coolidge and Jimmy Carter were maligned at the end of their presidencies and history (with the possible exception of Grant) has not treated them well.
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I truly hope that GWB winds up with a high place in our presidential list but I solely doubt it. Bush did not really realize he was the President until 9/11. Attorney General John Ashcroft created a new category called a "person of interest." This is McCarthyism at its worst. No more is a person innocent until proven guilty. He (Bush) had (Secretary of Defense) Rummy, a man who did not listen to his generals and as a result did not put enough units into Iraq (putting aside whether we should be there or not-- if we go in we should at least try to win.) It took four years before we had a strategy that seems to be working. Bush abdicated his responsibilities and let the neocons take over. Shame on him.
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From 9/11 on the Dems gave him everything he wanted. Look at the financial cost of the war and yet we do not have Bin Laden, even when we had the chances. I do not like Michael Moore but maybe there is truth to the comments about Bush's relationship with Bin Laden's family. Further, we are no safer in the world than before.
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Finally, in 2006 the Dems started to have some backbone and said, "enough is enough!" Can they be effective leaders? Only time will tell but I do not think they can do any worse than what we have had. It is convenient to blame the current financial crisis on Clinton and Greenspan-- they deserve a share of the blame no doubt but Bush has been in charge of the nation and the economy since 2001. I spent five years in the USMC and as an officer when I took command, everything related to that command was my responsibility even if the problem predated my command. Shouldn't it be the same for Bush? It does not seem so. He has been in charge of the economy for almost eight years. He has plenty of time to correct problems. (By the way, Truman said the buck stopped here- He understood command, responsibility and accepted it.) He (Bush) did not do it (correct the problems) and the financial crisis fell on his and McCain's head like a ton of bricks.
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The fact is the Republican party has been controlled by the neocons and the Christian Taliban. It is time that true conservatives take back their party and quit complaining about the Democrats, Clinton, and Obama. When they do, I will probably vote with them. While I like McCain as a person he was not the right choice. He further aggravated the problem by choosing someone that made the Christian Taliban happy but not the rest of the country. About 56 million people felt it was time for a change. I agree with them.
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Finally, one of the people in this email pointed out that the Prisoners at GitMo are not covered under the Geneva Convention. OK. Then they should be covered under America's laws. Further, no president in our past has ever authorized torture as acceptable national policy. Shame on him and the fact that he allowed such a policy to be acceptable. We stand for much more than that. Have a great day.
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K. Murphy
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Jaq responds: Well said, K. Murphy, I find little fault in much of what you wrote and don't chose to nit-pick. (However, one could write pages on the obstacles the Dems placed in GWB's way during the first six years bewfore they took over in 2006. Non-stop obstructionism IMO.)
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Post Election, GWB got off to a bad start, at least that's my recollection. First, the "dangling chad" fiasco in Florida that allowed Al Gore to attempt to cherry pick Dem strongholds for recounts that led to the USSC telling the FSSC to go pack sand.
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Then Bush got off to a very slow start after his inauguration because of that hassle, IMO at least. It took him forever to get his administration approved and in place, to the point of keeping some Clinton appointees; Tenet, for one. Questionable to say the least. At the same time, we had two Senate majority leaders, Trent Lott & Tom Daschle, who "shared" that post on and off for a while. Talk about gridlock.
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In May of 2001, Vermont's Republican Senator Jim Jeffords decided to jump ship switching parties allowing Dashle to run the Senate for the next 19 months. Adding to that mess, the country was coming out of a Clinton tenured recession brought about by the bursting of the tech bubble. Blue collar friends of mine in the construction industry were losing big bucks fast from there 401s and weren't too happy about it. Of course, the media took the bait and began beating up Bush, claiming adnauseum that the economy was "in the tank." It never stopped. All that prior to 9/11.
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Barring another one of those national tragedies, president-elect Obama will have it better, although if Rahm Emmanuel decides to be Chief of Staff, we might forget about "coming together." He is more partisan than Karl Rove ever thought of being, even his friends say so.
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I totally agree with your assesment of how the Iraq incursion could have been handled better. (Especially in the later stages following the fall of Baghdad and Saddam's capture.) Too many bureaucratic egos imbedded at the Department of State, Defense, CIA and in our military at first... (Many left-overs from the previous Clinton Administration). We were basically at "war" with ourselves for several years. Sadly, we took Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi at his word at first, an Iraqi politician who hadn't been in country since 1958? Leader? Jeesh!
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I also am of the opinion that the entire eight years of Bill Clinton's tenure were an unbelievable waste of a great talent (and mistakes as well). Too bad ol' Bill didn't govern as he could have.
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My biggest disappointment is the way the national media have during the last decade unashamedly and outwardly fallen into bed with the elitist liberals. Instead of reporting facts, as is their journalistic mission, they are seeming to emulate Woodard and Bernstein, or trying to be opinion columists. Pretty shabby IMO. The same goes for the broadcast media, and we can thank CBS's Walter Cronkite (remember Tet?) for that. Where are the new Edward R. Morrows?
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Regards,
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Jaq~