George Bush's Legacy
By Doug Patton (08/21/06)
A great deal has been spoken and written about Bill Clinton's legacy, mostly because of his fixation on it. Much to the chagrin our former narcissist-in-chief, that legacy will forever be the redefinition of the words "sex" and "is," to the detriment of an entire generation. But what will be the legacy of George W. Bush?
Will it be the spending, the most aggressive we have ever seen from a Republican president? Will it be the creation of a Medicare prescription drug plan, which has become the largest and most expensive new entitlement program in forty years? Perhaps it will be the president’s utter refusal to hear the voice of the vast majority of his constituents on the issue of illegal immigration.
Most Americans would say that, without question, the issue that will define this president’s legacy will be his response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States, specifically his controversial insistence on invading Iraq in 2003.
Of course, the jury is still out on whether this will be a positive legacy or not. If the ultimate result of liberating that country from the iron grip of Saddam Hussein is the establishment of a lasting democratic state, then Mr. Bush will go down in history as the man who had the vision to bring freedom to the Arab world. However, if the fledgling democracy degenerates into bloody sectarian civil war, giving rise to an Iranian style theocracy, then the Bush legacy will be something quite different indeed.
Naturally, I have a suggestion for a positive legacy that would put Bush in the history books next to our greatest presidents.
Given the pathetic record of the United Nations over the last sixty years, Bush should tell Kofi Annan and his band of thieves that he is throwing the full weight of his administration behind a plan to remove the United Nations from its New York City digs and withdraw U.S. funding of this corrupt, anti-American, anti-Semitic organization of terrorist sympathizers. Give them until, say, the end of next year to clear out.
To counter the whiners in both political parties who believe the sky will surely fall without the U.N. to guide us, Bush should announce that he will support a brand new global organization, headquartered perhaps in Puerto Rico, comprised only of democratically elected governments. No kings or queens, tyrants or dictators. No Ayatollahs or warlords. And no terrorists. Only duly elected representatives of the people will be welcome. All others may continue to rant and condemn the U.S. and Israel in the U.N., if they so desire, but they will have to do it somewhere else, and without U.S. funding. As justification, if any is needed, Bush could cite the continued demand of international despots and U.S. liberals that American sovereignty be compromised while recognizing and legitimizing terrorist entities like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Bush has famously championed liberty in parts of the world that have traditionally been denied any human rights at all, notably in Afghanistan and Iraq. Imagine the impact of that determination on a global scale. By taking one great worldwide stand for democracy, the president could affect not only his own legacy, but like most great leaders, alter the history of the world in the process. Just as Jefferson is known as the author of the Declaration of Independence, Washington as the father of his country, Lincoln as the great emancipator and Reagan as the leader who ended the Cold War and brought the Soviet Union to its knees, George W. Bush could be remembered as the president who finally made it clear to the world that the United States of America will, in the words of John F. Kennedy, “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
Now that’s a legacy.
© Copyright 2006 by Doug Patton
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