Bush's Regime is, as a whole, almost unquestionably the worst in American history. This foul-plagued Administration couldn't come at a much worse time for US. In the Clinton years, the nation managed to overcome some major economic and social problems, and achieved a high level of stature in the global community. There was peace in the world, with a few regional conflicts, but the US enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity. Budget deficits accumulated from the Vietnam era through the Reagan Admin were turned into surpluses, and progress was made toward paying down the national debt. We were on our way back after the cold war, and the US appeared to be resurgent. We were free, and we had one of the great democracies in the world. One could rightly be proud to be an American, even though Clinton had to do all in his power to fend off right wing quasi-fascists who attempted to impeach him for sexual infidelity.
Unfortunately, and very sadly, indeed tragically (a tragedy of Shakespearean and Biblical proportions, not only for the US, but also for the world as a whole), then came Bush. A demented child & juvenile delinquent who had a history of gleefully torturing animals and other human beings, who was a failure as a businessman, who had to be bailed out of jail on several occasions, and had his criminal records magically erased by wealthy family members and powerful family friends. . His numerous indescretions, disobedience, alcoholism, drug abuse in the National Guard and failure to uphold his duties led to a kind of dishonorable discharge (i.e., he was not allowed to fly--his flying wings were in essence taken away, a significant dishonor to him and his family). He became Governor of Texas despite having an undistinguished record, and as he described himself, was literally "floundering" in the world of business. . As Governor of Texas, he acquiesed in and tacitly approved of systematic acts of torture, abuse, and beastiality in the Texas State Prison system. This man, who used heinous tactics to discredit John McCain and McCain's wife, raising questions about their mental health in order to win the Presidency, nonetheless had the political connections and wealth to win high office, succeeding only through the intervention of high public officials closely linked to his family, who literally stole the Presidential election in what may be referred to as a quasi-coup d'etat. This divisive and small minded man set about to undermine the very foundations of democracy. He started his Presidency with a plan to invade Iraq. After failing to prevent the attacks of 9/11/01, through dereliction of duty (i.e., failing to read his daily briefings or to take appropriate actions to safeguard air traffic through increased security precautions at airports), he used the completed attacks as an opportunity to establish a quasi-fascistic regime in America, and to engage his Regime in an imperialistic invasion that has few parallels in modern history. A violation of international law, he failed to win the approval of the United Nations, and invaded in a pre-emptive war, reminiscent only of the fascistic invasions of the 20th Century, and of some of the most heinous excesses of the British and other Empires of the Industrial Age.
In doing so, Bush and his Regime have destroyed America's credibility as a great democracy, and have turned us into a laughing stock in the world. American prestige abroad has dropped to levels not seen in decades. The entire legacy of American internationalism in the post WWII period was completely undermined and sullied. America's economy, which had been booming during the Clinton years, abruptly went into a nosedive. The stock markets, an index of economic vitality, were flat for the first six years of this repugnant sham of an Administration. Working people saw their wages decline. The proportion of workers with health insurance dropped significantly. The number of Americans who were optimistic about the nation's future dropped steadily. Despite having the benefit of a surge in popularity associated with any international crisis, Bush became the most unpopular President since Richard Nixon, and one of the most unpopular Presidents in the history of political polling. The US became isolated and despised in the international community, and other nations became proportionally stronger. By the middle of the Bush Regime, the rest of the international community had worked out a set of relationships that effectively shut the US out of high level decision making. In effect, they decided to proceed on their own toward noble efforts such as establishing an international war crimes tribunal and efforts to reduce global warming, to assist in overcoming global poverty and pandemics. The US, under the Bush Regime, has become increasingly irrelevant to much of the rest of the world.
The US is no longer seen as a leader among nations, but as a kind of rogue state, albeit still a global superpower. In this regard, it echoes the gradual fall of the British empire, which began with worldwide hatred toward the oppression of the abusive British, which treated nations like India with contempt, extracted their national resources for their own gain, assisted in maintaining the Apartheid system in South Africa, engaged in horrid behavior in Northern Ireland for decades. But despite these many horrors of British history, and despite the miseries of the Blair regime (due in large measure to Blair's incomprehensibly foolish decision to ally himself with Bush) it is not possible to find a single British Prime Minister who ever alienated world opinion as suddenly and dramatically as the Bush regime has done.
Many signs point to the possibility that, despite the remarkable prosperity of the Clinton years, America never fully regained its economic health. It appears increasingly possible that the US is slipping into economic oblivion due to massive budget deficits, a national debt approaching $10 trillion, a depleted military, US national morale almost as negative as it was in the nadir of the Nixon/Vietnam years. Meanwhile, the world is undergoing massive climate change due to burning of fossil fuels, predominantly in the US and China, which is emerging as the world's next superpower both economically and militarily.
Paul Kennedy wrote presciently about this in his thoughtful classic book, "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers." Many Americans thought that this was simply a warning to the wise, but that the decline of the US as the world's greatest superpower would not take place, at least not during their lifetimes.
Today, there is little reason to be so optimistic, and there are many reasons to be fearful that Paul Kennedy's warning against American international hubris is actually turning out to be more than a warning--and to be a prophetic work. It is becoming increasingly difficult to believe that the destructive forces set into motion by Bush can be reversed within our lifetimes, either domestically or internationally.
The world may have changed, irrevocably, during the Bush Administration. What a tragedy to live in this nation and to witness the impending decline of the United States of America. And what a tragedy for the people of the world to suffer from the gross excesses inflicted by the Bush Regime. Indeed, it is possible that Bush has squandered the only opportunity that we might have had to save the planet from environmental disaster.