Indecision points
By Robert T. Smith
web posted June 28, 2010
Our former President George W. Bush has penned a book, entitled Decision Points, describing key decision points of his life, many of which focus on his time as president. Mr. Bush's pending book release this November is reported to include an analysis of, and explanation for some of his policies when in office. Mr. Bush's moment of explanation came and went. The damage already done, this leaves our former president's pending tome to seem ill-timed and irrelevant.
From the outset of his decision to run for president, Mr. Bush was cast in classic Progressives' fashion as the affable, unsophisticated dunce; a redneck, semi-literate cowboy, in much the same fashion that the left portrayed former President Reagan. Even in its pejorative assaults, Progressivism is a lot more about the past than any forward thinking or new ideas.
At first, Mr. Bush's unwillingness to respond to the very personal insults seemed in true Christian fashion to represent praiseworthy conduct. Who among us could be so tolerant to withstand the withering verbal and print-media assault on their every idea, decision, and even personal integrity without firing back. Unfortunately, over time, others had to carry out Mr. Bush's ideas, decisions, and policies. As a consequence, those who supported or were implementing Mr. Bush's policies and decision points were abandoned, due to his inability or unwillingness to defend them.
Most egregious was Mr. Bush's unwillingness or inability to defend his military decisions. Afghanistan was the good war, generally supported by most in a bipartisan manner. However, the transition to Iraq as an additional front of the broader war against our enemies was a point of departure. To the left, a police action seeking the 9-11 perpetrator, Osama Bin Laden, was sufficient justification for the Afghan military activities. However, to expand to an overall war plan against an interrelated enemy was too broad a step for the Progressives' 9-11 perpetrator, police action mind to accept. The war in Iraq was the bad war to the Progressives, and the full weight of the Progressives and their main stream media mouth piece was brought to bear against this war.
Even though the full congress had approved Mr. Bush's use of force against Iraq and much of the rationale for the use of force was not predicated on finding weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Bush was unable or unwilling to defend his Iraq conflict decision. Imagine being one of the soldiers sent to fight a war that was ultimately sold to the American public by the Progressives as illegal or illegitimate. It would be demoralizing at least to be a soldier putting your life on the line, far from home, under extreme conditions for a tainted action that your commander-in-chief was unwilling or unable to defend.
Even worse, while making snap decisions in Iraq to kill or be killed, our soldiers became prey to the second-guessing legal vultures, prodded on by the Progressives and unabated by Mr. Bush as their commander-in-chief. Soldier's actions in some instances were illegitimately condemned as cold blooded murder by Progressives, most famously former representative John Murtha. These Progressives' motives to slander our soldiers appeared to satisfy their political agenda, whose goal was to politicize the war to the detriment of their enemy; the Progressive's enemy being George Bush and the Republicans.
The taint of Hurricane Katrina was hung solely around Mr. Bush's neck like an albatross, even when it was abundantly clear that the main issues were botched by the Democrats in charge of the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. This perception remains today, due to Mr. Bush's inability or unwillingness to defend his decisions over the hurricane natural disaster and Democrat-induced disaster aftermath of the hurricane.
The listing of political allies being abandoned by Mr. Bush from a legislative perspective is almost too numerous to recount. Prime examples of Mr. Bush's legislative abandonment of conservative and certain Republican allies are the extensive federal meddling and exorbitant costs of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act and No Child Left Behind Act. Remnant issues of huge deficits, egregious additional social programs like prescription drugs and bank bailouts began on Mr. Bush's watch.
The timing couldn't be worse for Mr. Bush's pending book release this November 9, coincidental to the mid-term elections. The elections of 2006 and 2008 were dominated by the Progressives as a result of Mr. Bush's real or perceived policy failures. Our current President Obama ran and was elected to a large degree based on the fact that he wasn't George Bush. The Obama administration to this day still blames the country's problems on former President Bush and, based on recent polling, a majority of citizens still agree with this Progressives-driven excuse.
As a part of the inevitable run-up to his book release in November, Mr. Bush will bring his past back into focus and trigger the inevitable Progressive, main stream media re-hash of his failed administration, at the very moment when the Republicans and Conservatives are trying to resist Obama's agenda and focus on moving forward with better ideas than the Progressives. If past is prologue, any defense of his decision points offered by Mr. Bush will simply be further grist for the mill of progressive-mainstream media propaganda.
Mr. Bush's book is not needed as a tool to evaluate his presidency. Former President Bush's unwillingness or inability to defend his policies and decisions at the time delivered us to our current period of discontent under President Obama. On behalf of the Republicans and Conservatives, with all due respect Mr. Bush, feel free to continue to keep your Decision Points to yourself. 
Robert T. Smith is an environmental scientist who spends his days enjoying life and the pursuit of happiness with his family. He confesses to cling to his liberty, guns and religion, with antipathy toward the arrogant ruling elites throughout the country.