The Legacy of George W. Bush’s Presidency

As I look about today, I find myself faced with so many scary and miserable situations and potentialities. From Zimbabwe to Guantanamo, this President has done more to undermine the security, safety, stability, and successes of the United States and the Free World than any anti-American state, terrorist, or organization could have planned or hoped for.

Presidential hopeful John McCain says that in the 21st Century nations don’t attack other nations, while his apparent recently adopted mentor, the President, warns Russia to stop bullying. I fail to see how anyone could miss the hypocrisy here. The truth is that this administration has made it possible for autocrats and dictators everywhere to do as they wish and to justify it by the precedent and example of the United States. The cyclone, humanitarian, political crisis in Myanmar, the political turmoil of Zimbabwe, Russia’s attack on Georgia; all of these and more point to the Bush Administration’s weakening of America’s geo-political strength and position. Everyone else has figured it out: we are stretched too thinly to respond, so, everyone else is prepared to flex their muscles. Thanks to GW and company, they can, and will.

Concentrating troops on the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the resultant obligation of occupation distracted the U.S. from the legitimate War on Terror. If the administration of George Bush had bothered with the facts instead of an undisciplined, ill-planned oil grab, the object of the world’s attention, Osama bin-Laden would now be incarcerated or dead. In overreaching, George Bush has missed every mark. Iraq is still in turmoil and unstable, Al Qaida and bin-Laden are still free and alive and very much a potential threat while Iran has ascended to Middle East power player. Troop obligations in the Middle East have made military responsiveness a talking point without purpose.

Meanwhile, thanks to Republican laissez-faire economics and encouragement of the greed of their corporate sponsors, the American economy has tanked, dragging the world, to a lesser extent, with it. Although the world economy has moved from absolute American dependence, the American economy is still large enough to impact globally. Americans at the middle class and lower have seen their tax rebates devoured by corporate and government sponsored inflation in fuel and food, the two absolute essentials for day-to-day living. A greater percentage of Americans now live in poverty than at any time since the Great Depression, and many more are daily falling below the line in practical terms.

Still, George Bush’s administration wants to make additional in-roads against progress, proposing to expand the definition of abortion to include non-barrier contraception and seeking to scale back protections for wildlife and wilderness areas. Can this Administration not see that it has done enough damage?