Hating George W. Bush is not only dull and unoriginal, but it shows a complete lack of understanding of the world in which we live in. Sameh El-Shahat
Posted by Tina
To hear the left media and countless progressive political players tell it, our president has been a disaster. They claim he is a lousy president and has caused the entire world to hate America. But we all know by now that elitist left America is just terribly opinionated and wrongheaded…so who cares what they think!
Lets try a different a different perspective, Holy Cows: George W Bush – buffoon or great leader? by Sameh El-Shahat posted in the Telegraph (UK):
*Sameh El-Shahat argues that George W Bush has been the most under-rated president… ever. *** Whatever happened to leadership and honesty as presidential traits? I happen to believe that the only leader in the West to have these two admirable qualities in droves is the leader of the free world: George W Bush.*
*Yes, weve all heard the Bushisms and laughed at them but do you really think somebody supposedly that thick can make it to the top of the most sophisticated political system the world has ever seen? *** No, and that is because Mr Bush is far cleverer than most of his predecessors. He may not have been a Rhodes Scholar, but he has the ability to reach out to his people and read them. *** Take the Iraq war for example. OK, so he got us into Iraq in the first place. But for Petes sake, hes the leader of the worlds only superpower. He needs to take decisions, even if sometimes they have nasty consequences – which is far better than we do in Europe, where we enjoy dithering not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself.*
El-Shahats article received 562 comments…most that I read were positive toward our president.
And if that isnt enough feel better about the president and America for you, try another great article. This time from this side of the pond:
History Will Judge, by Dr. Charles Krauthammer
*Getting a jump on history, many books have already judged him. The latest by Bob Woodward describes the commander in chief as unusually aloof and detached. A more favorably inclined biographer might have called it equanimity. *** In the hour I spent with the president (devoted mostly to foreign policy), that equanimity was everywhere in evidence — not the resignation of a man in the twilight of his presidency but a sense of calm and confidence in eventual historical vindication. *** It is precisely that quality that allowed him to order the surge in Iraq in the face of intense opposition from the political establishment (of both parties), the foreign policy establishment (led by the feckless Iraq Study Group), the military establishment (as chronicled by Woodward) and public opinion itself. The surge then effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864. *** That kind of resolve requires internal fortitude. Some have argued that too much reliance on this internal compass is what got us into Iraq in the first place. But Bush was hardly alone in that decision. He had a majority of public opinion, the commentariat and Congress with him. In addition, history has not yet rendered its verdict on the Iraq war. We can say that it turned out to be longer and more costly than expected, surely. But the question remains as to whether the now-likely outcome — transforming a virulently aggressive enemy state in the heart of the Middle East into a strategic ally in the war on terror — was worth it. I suspect the ultimate answer will be far more favorable than it is today.*
Equanimity: 1 obsolete : fairness or justness of judgment : EQUITY 2 : evenness of mental disposition : emotional balance especially under stress *the inner life where the rational soul may cultivate equanimity in defiance of all outward circumstances Reinhold Niebuhr* 3 : right disposition : BALANCE *rest restored the strained muscles to physical equanimity Richard Jefferies* *perfection was nothing but perfect equanimity and harmony John Galsworthy*
Churchill was also a man of equanimity:
…we have to call upon our whole people * men, women, and children alike * to stand up with composure and fortitude to the fire of the enemy Sir Winston Churchill