The Measure of the Bush Presidency

When the terrorists attacked America on 9/11/01, whatever other plans President George W. Bush, may have intended, fell by the wayside, and the very lives of living in the USA, became in doubt and jeopardy. Nobody awakening the next day, could even imagined a future in which lives even in America, would ever again be free from the unrelenting fear and memory of an imminent and ruthless act of savagery at any moment, anywhere.

Obviously, that’s not the world we live in now -- of that constant fear of death and destruction, and in fact, those thoughts are so far removed from most people’s consciousness, that many now are in denial that such events ever happened, or could ever happen again -- because that overwhelming fear has already dissolved into denial.

Now, however, the most deceptive and manipulative, including and especially many in the mainstream media, would have us believe, that such atrocities were merely staged or imagined -- and were never real. They were nothing but “lies,” merely as a pretext for unprovoked aggression, they will now insist, although at the time, they were among the most fearful.

And it may be largely on account of that shame, embarrassment and humiliation, many have turned so bravely to attack their protector -- which wouldn’t be unprecedented in the annals of history or literature. Often when one empowers another, those not taught to use that power wisely and responsibly, first turn against those who have given them such powers.

And in this case, that power is the freedom from fear -- that constant and pervasive fear that enveloped the world days after those memorable terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, when the world was literally paralyzed by fear, and the most hopeful thought that only time could diminish such fearful preoccupations.

But all that change suddenly and dramatically with President Bush’s War on Terror -- whereby no international boundaries would now protect one from the retribution of justice. On the top of that list was the refuge of terrorist activity in the country run by the Taliban in Afghanistan. “Those who knew better,” proclaimed that such a venture was doomed because even the Russians had been defeated there.

So imagine the shock and awe, when that war seemed to be over with virtually no resistance and casualties. Khadafy of Libya immediately proclaimed he was out of the international terrorism business, including sheltering those with such designs and suspicions.

Saddam Hussein of Iraq, therefore, became the most outspoken in defiance of the international resolve not to harbor any terrorists, and even, pointed out, he had plenty of secret weapons himself, to maintain his defiance -- and even suggested he might have a plan or two of his own to take advantage of the volatile situation of anxiety hanging as a cloud over security and prosperity in the world.

The response from President Bush is history -- and an immense, unprecedented prosperity so consumed the world in relief that it led to its present excesses, which too in time, will resolve itself, although maybe not as dramatically and definitively as the overthrow of regimes harboring the terrorist elements in the world.

That day is past -- although, again the media demagogues will convince us, there never were good days that got out of control to have been the excesses -- that now have to be addressed and resolved. Those who don’t know history, have very short memories, and think that the present, is all that has ever been -- and is not the result, of the challenges of a previous time.

So while there is fear and anxiety about the financial future many thought just months ago was assured -- the excesses and abuses change that future quickly, and destructively. It is not that we’ve never had prosperity, but when we had that success, many were unprepared for such good fortune, and thought they were now entitled to that forever, and irrevocably.

But those are the challenges for the next president. The measure of the Bush presidency was in keeping everyone here at home in America, alive and well -- with a chance to live and enjoy the future.