I was disappointed by the overwhelmingly positive bi-partisan coverage of George H W Bush last week.
I know we are not supposed to speak ill of the dead. And, since I didn’t know the guy personally, I will agree that he was a nice guy and a loving family man. For all I know he’s in heaven right now, chatting with the angels about why the Astros couldn’t get the 3rd out in some of those key innings of the ALCS.
But he was a lousy president.
George H W Bush was a one-term president who got 37.7% of the popular vote when he ran for reelection. He left office with the country mired in a recession.
Pat Buchanan was the undisputed intellectual champion of the Republican Primary – successfully attacking President Bush from the Left and paving the way for the Populist direction the GOP would eventually move. In the general election, more than a third of Republican voters jumped ship and voted for Ross Perot.
Americans did not want four more years of President Bush.
“Read my lips, no new taxes.” Politicians lie. I am not going to tear down President Bush because he lied and signed a huge tax increase into law. I am going to tear down President Bush because he was a Republican who raised taxes!
Many of you don’t care for Republicans. I have some serious issues with the Grand Old Party myself. However, we really do need one party to show restraint keep government from taking all of our money. A Republican President who raises taxes is like a homeless shelter with no beds that is just as cold as outside; it’s a deeply troubling surprise.
Politicians talk a good game about making the rich “pay their fair share.” But they don’t want fairness; they want as much money as they can get from whomever they can steal it. $5 per pack cigarette taxes and State Lotteries are aimed squarely at poorer Americans, trying to move as much spare cash from poor pockets into the hands of rich politicians.
A Republican politician who agrees to raise taxes isn’t being responsible, he is being rapacious.
President Bush had a splendid opportunity to usher in a new era of peace after the Cold War. With his imperialist domination plan called New World Order, he eagerly accomplished the exact opposite.
Instead of extending a sincere offer of friendship to Russia, Bush cynically supported drunken buffoon Boris Yeltsen. Instead of doing the right thing and disbanding NATO, President Bush began to extend the belligerent alliance right up to Russia’s doorstep. We have perpetual hostility with Russia and no one deserves more blame than President Bush.
The Bush Administration quietly promised their old buddy Saddam Hussein that the US military wouldn’t interfere in any little Arab wars. When Hussein took the bait and conquered Kuwait in 1990, President Bush reneged on his promise.
Desert Shield is remembered as a splendid little war, wiping away the humiliation of Vietnam. On the battlefield, it was a success. But the blowback was terrible.
The always amoral Saudi monarchy was perfectly happy to let the US military use the Muslim holy land as a staging ground for Desert Shield. Devout Muslims weren’t so keen on the idea.
Have you ever wondered when and why Islamic terrorists like Osama Bin Laden began calling Americans “Crusaders”? This is when and this is why. I am not saying that Desert Shield was a grand evil scheme to lead us into perpetual hostility with the Muslim world. But I do know that no deserves more blame than President Bush.
I am not trying to spread hate here. I honestly hope that Mr. Bush is in heaven right now having a lovely conversation with Saint Michael about Justin Verlander’s slider. But he was clearly a bad President. We agreed on that in 1992, remember?
