A Sincere Thank You to George W. Bush

The purpose of this blog entry is to sincerely thank George W. Bush for his service to and influence on this country for the last eight years. No, really. I mean that.

I believe that all of us, at one time or another, have either been involved in or observed a situation in which something had to get so bad and become so desperate that it necessitated a major shift in thinking and action. If we can do that as individuals, why can’t we do that as a voting body in society after all?

Now, it’s one thing for the President of the United States to have no grasp whatsoever of the world that exists around him (do you know the difference between Suuni and Shiite now, Mr. Bush?). It’s another thing to be stubborn and choose to surround yourself with ol’ buddies while ignoring the smartest people in the room. But to be ignorant AND obstinate is unacceptable when you're the leader of the most powerful country on earth.

In November the country finally said enough is enough with whatever the GOP platform has evolved into under his (or Dick Cheney’s or Karl Rove’s) rule. I hope it’s not too little too late, but at least we have a decent shot at getting back our credibility in the world and rebuilding our society, in both physical and psychological senses.

So, thanks George W. Bush. Thanks for convincing us that there was yellowcake uranium in Iraq so that we could mess with them while Osama bin Laden and the real 9-11 architects could hunker down in the caves of Afghanistan. Thanks for your utter disregard of the Constitution by allowing carte blanche taping and wiretapping and selling it to us as “The Patriot Act”. Thanks for allowing the incidents at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib to take place on your watch.

Thanks for privatizing the war so that execs at companies like Halliburton can rake in the dough while soldiers and their families are struggling to stay above the poverty line. And speaking of our soldiers, thanks for the lack of resources to help them re-adapt to civilian life. Thanks for the apathetic response to Hurricane Katrina and the people of New Orleans, and for deflecting accountability of the response to local government.

Thanks for overseeing an enormous federal deficit and doing absolutely nothing about our financial crisis until your support base started crying “uncle”. Thanks for giving us those words of wisdom: “Wall Street got drunk”, when you were asked what your take was on the situation. I'm guessing you didn't think the cameras were rolling when you said that.

And finally, a big thanks for being the man with lowest approval ratings since they booted Nixon out of office 35 years ago. Because of you, the events of January 20, 2009 took place around fifty years before I thought it would be possible.

I can't even predict how I'm going to bowl next Thursday night so I won't attempt to take a stab at what the Dow will be at next year, what unemployment levels will be at, or to what extent this country will be looked upon as a model society again. But I like our chances. An intelligent, compassionate leader with the good sense to surround himself with other intelligent and experienced people whose views aren't necessarily commensurate with his own.

I don't hold any grudges against you, Mr. Bush, or wish you any ill will. I'm choosing to learn from the past and also know that the present and future are all we can really affect.

But if you don’t mind, please have a nice flight back to Crawford, Texas, enjoy your retirement, write books (well, maybe you ought to have someone do that for you), go quail hunting with Cheney, and so on. The rest of us have our work cut out. Oh, and don’t forget to pack that “Mission Accomplished” sign. It would really add that little something extra to your front yard.