Okay all you Bush-whackers, here’s my take on the prematurely declared worst president ever. The three biggest things I consider failures from the Bush Administration are:
1.)The Patriot Act and the TSA – The biggest knee jerk reaction and attack on Constitutional civil liberties since the Alien and Sedition Act. Last month I saw an old lady get extra attention by a TSA agent at an airport in Albany, NY. While six would be terrorists planned an attack on Fort Dix and, praise God, got caught before they could carry out their attack. How did the terrorists come into our country? The border.
Recently it’s been reported that FBI agents have abused their power under the Patriot Act for personal reasons. I’m not surprised. You give an FBI agent unlimited power to pry into someone’s personal life based on the mere suspicion that they just might have the remote possibility of being a terrorist it’s going to be abused. In fact the FBI might be building a profile on me right now. Well, I’m a card-carrying Republican, so back off!
We treat citizens like terrorists rather than seriously fight a War on Terrorism. If we were serious about stopping terror attacks on our country first we would have immediately closed the border on both sides. Starting 9/12/01 we would have been installing a fence and checkpoints along the border of Mexico and Canada. Nobody comes in, and nobody comes out until we know they have no criminal intent. Annoying, yes, but less annoying and more effective than strip searching grandmas on their way to Orlando.
Second, and I have to hand it to the Democrats for suggesting this one, we would search 100% of the cargo that comes into this country from overseas. Not only could we find potential bombs maybe the USDA could find invasive species like the Asian Longhorn Beetle and Zebra Muscles before they destroy our lakes, forests, and wildlife. We would also stop drugs at our border and human smuggling.
Finally, we’d take the war to the terrorists, and much better than we have been. Where is Osama Bin Laden? Why is Saddam dead and Osama at large? More on this one later.
2.)The Faith Based Initiative – Some evangelicals praised President Bush’s faith based initiative, while others, like Pat Robertson, were against it, and for good reasons. First, if churches start getting federal money for drug rehab programs, they are open to more federal regulation. Second, the money can’t just go to one religion, it has to go to all of them. Third, they have to have a secular based program, and if so, what’s the point of giving ad to religion based programs anyway? Finally, a survey done a few years ago stated that only 53% of Americans wanted evangelicals to get federal aid, only 1% more than those who wanted the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) to get it. The Church needs to fund the church, not the State.
3.)The No Child Left Behind Act – Really it’s the “Every Child Left Behind Act.” Standardized testing everywhere. I seriously think public education could be subcontracted out to Kaplan. All they are tested on is reading and math. Reading and Math. That’s all they learn. I almost wonder if they are actually being taught evolution let alone intelligent design. No science eduction, no arts, no social studies, nothing that would make them good researchers and engineers. Nothing creative or artistic. No advanced college prep courses. Nope, everybody has to be equal in eduction – equally inept. I heard of a survey of high school students in the Northeast and they actually knew less after they graduated high school than before they started high school. What a waste of talent in many students. Just reading and math…oh, and sex ed, but I think that goes under reading.
Iraq: Okay, President Bush had to make a judgment call. He got faulty data that Iraq had large stockpiles of WMD’s. It wasn’t his fault, it was the CIA’s fault. However, he had to do something. More and more I think an air strike on where they supposedly were was better than an invasion. Also, remember last time there was three months of air strikes before there was a 100 hr. ground war? I don’t remember a long aerial campaign before we had troops in Iraq this time. However, I didn’t have all the data that he did so I don’t know if I would have made a different call. And I respect the office to much to entertain if he had ulterior motives like cheap oil or avenging his father.
Anyway, regardless of the reasons we are there. The government has been over toppled and rebuilt, and that scumbag dictator Saddam Husein is no longer terrorizing his people and ruling with an iron fist. The country is in transition. This is Vietnam all over again, and I don’t want to repeat the mistake of Vietnam. Like it or not, we are now committed to stay there until the Iraqi government can protect itself. I’d hate to see the democracy topple and Iraq go from a Stalinist dictatorship to an Islamic dictatorship because we didn’t have the guts to stick it out. President Bush was wrong to say the mission is accomplished – it’s not, and he was wrong to say we aren’t nation building – we are. However, if Iraq can become a pro-America, pro-Israel democracy in the Middle East they would be a valuable ally in the War on Terror.
Finally, Jimmy Carter’s comments on President Bush: A lot of people who lived through his administration thought he was the worst president ever, so I question his ability to judge presidential character.
Callin’ ’em like I see ’em,[br]
Joel
