Unwarranted Criticism

In a recent interview, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had this to say about George W. Bush;

"You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject."

A “total failure”? I don’t think so. George W. Bush has accomplished a number of very difficult tasks.

• His leadership through the very difficult period immediately following the attacks on 9/11 was nothing less than inspirational. While other American Presidents have shied away from the challenge of actually dealing with the problem of international terrorism, President Bush dealt with the problem comprehensively and effectively. As a result, we have not seen another attack on U.S. soil for almost seven years.
• President Bush established the ‘Bush Doctrine’ which declared as enemies all terrorist organizations and countries which harbor them. To conduct this ‘war on terror’ President Bush put together a 30 nation U.S.- British led coalition.
• In the process of conducting the war on terror, President Bush has deposed two oppressive regimes and replaced them with pro-American democracies in a part of the world where we need them most, the Middle East.
• The attacks on 9/11 severely damaged our financial system. Al Qaeda intended to cripple it and might have been successful if it were not for the great optimism that George Bush communicated to the entire financial community. The financial chaos that Al Qaeda had intended to create never happened. Additionally, the President’s economic recovery policy not only helped us to recover economically within a year of the attack, but has spurred an economic boom that lasted five years. The down side was that in 2006 the American people grew weary of hearing the term ‘all time high’ in connection with the stock market.
• President Bush nominated and successfully received Senate confirmation of two ‘originalist’ justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. This stands out as a major accomplishment when one considers the fact that the majority of Bush’s lower court nominees have been waiting most of his presidency to receive an up or down vote from the Senate.
• The Bush Presidency has been such a huge success that even Liberals regard him with a certain amount of reverence. I have spoken to Liberals who say to me that George Bush knew about the attacks on 9/11 before the fact. When I ask them why they think that, they respond; “He’s the President”. This response clearly indicates that they believe George W. Bush to be omniscient, a trait heretofore ascribed only to God!

Now, I could have addressed Speaker Pelosi’s comments by pointing out the failures of Congress under her leadership. I have not done that. In fact I intend now to address the accomplishments of Speaker Pelosi.

• First, Speaker Pelosi’s leadership has given new meaning to the term ‘do nothing Congress’. So far this year the 110th Congress has passed only four pieces of legislation. Now, admittedly most Americans would think of this as a negative, but as a conservative, I can’t help but be very pleased when a liberal dominated Congress does nothing.
• Second, Ms. Pelosi and her cohorts, in the process of trying to drive President Bush’s job approval numbers down, have managed to drive the approval numbers for Congress even lower. Now, again, some would view this as a negative and I don’t believe that to be fair. The Democrats set out to shake the confidence of Americans in their government and since the numbers have fallen dramatically across the board, there is no doubt that it was a successful endeavor.

In the interview, Speaker Pelosi also said regarding President Bush, "God bless him". To that I wholeheartedly agree. God bless George W. Bush. God Bless everything that he has tried to do, successful or not. And, God bless our service men and women who have put their personal lives on hold and dedicated themselves to accomplishing the task the President has given them.