Today on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, I heard some commentators discussing how GWB will be looked at in a historical context. Well, I personally find him to be a figure who will not be looked at kindly by history.
On 9/11/2001, George W Bush was given something that very few Presidents get, in fact something that very few people in the world have ever been given. Opportunity. For a very brief moment, the whole world was united, and George Walker Bush had the Opportunity to unite the world in a true battle of good versus evil. However, he failed miserably, and now, five years later, the majority of Americans disapprove of his performance as President, and possibly more importantly, the tremendous outpouring of good faith that united the world after 9/11 has been squandered, and will now be very difficult to regain. Now, it appears that more people hate American than did on 9/10/2001, which is another terribly tragedy, since is unfortunately means that there are probably more terrorists today who hate us than there were on 9/10/2001.
In dealing with the American public, instead of appealing to our greatest hopes and dreams, and all that is good in America, Bush preyed on our worst fears and prejudices. He used the fear of future attacks to justify his invasion of Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11, or it appears Al-Queda. He uses it today in a push to shred the Constitution by eliminating the need for search warrants, even though the FISA law allowed for search warrants after the fact.
In dealing with the rest of the world, instead of using the tremendous opportunity that was dropped into his lap to create a coalition to fight terror and capture the real terrorists, Bin Ladin, Al-Zarkawi etc, he exuded arrogance and a bullying attitude, which alienated much of the rest of the world. Even long term allies such as Germany, France, and our neighbors of Canada and Mexico did not support the Iraq war resolution. It was amazing how quickly all of the good will toward America was squandered.
Now we have to keep our eye on the clock, as there is just over 2 years left until the next Presidential election. How much more could they screw up? Unfortunately, I'm afraid GWB still thinks he has a lot of "hard work" left to do. Lets keep our fingers crossed and say our prayers.