A Bold Prediction

Write this down. In 50 years, history will rate George W. Bush as a better (and by better I mean, more effective) President that Barack Obama. In 2009, that sounds ludicrous. Our current president broad popular support even though his policies are losing traction. George W. Bush, on the other hand, was trashed in the media in the waning years of his presidency. He could do no right. The Democrats had seized congress and he was a truly lame duck his last two years in office.

Bush 41 had his issues. He wasn't articulate. He could be easily portrayed as a frat boy who was 'stupid'. He was truly a war-time president; standing watch over the worst attack on America and Freedom in 50+ years. His focus on the Global War on Terror (which is now a bad word, according to the White House) gave his political opponents a weapon with which to bludgeon him at every turn. The reports of casualties grew stale and the secrets of the spy trade began to emerge to a population that had grown weary of harsh tactics and stern language. Meanwhile, the economy (which had been set up for failure for years) began coming apart at the seams. The two things that folks bank on to end a recession (housing starts and automobiles) were the very reason for it. But with George Bush, I always felt he was telling the truth. He wasn't a calculator like Clinton. He said what he thought and it hurt him politically. He did what he thought was best for the country and it hurt him politically.

This latest president seems to still be on the campaign trail. For as eloquent of a speaker that he is, he has never articulated (in detail) his heath care plan. Like everything else, it seems to be George Bush's fault. Eventually, the American people will see that President Obama has some culpability in this, as well. I think that will be sometime in early November 2012. Historians will catch up with that assessment some time later.