December 25, 2008 Paul Miller americanthinker.com With less than a month remaining in his Presidency, I want to take a minute during the most wonderful time of the year and remind America why I greatly admire President Bush.
To be fair I must mention that there are numerous aspects of his Presidency that have disappointed me. I have been a tireless critic of his economic policies and the increase in the size of government that has taken place under his leadership. I am terribly disappointed that during his time in office, having GOP control of the legislative branch for six of those years, he never made a meaningful effort to implement real education and tax reform in the form of school choice and a flat or national sales tax system. These missed opportunities to put in place free market solutions to some of our nations biggest problems, while at the same time behaving like a Democrat when it comes to the role of government in American life, will be the failures historians talk about fifty years from now. What I also believe historians will talk about, despite what the MSNBC crowd thinks, is that President Bush was a man of extraordinary character who cared deeply about people. This past week it was revealed that President Bush has personally written letters to each of the families of the more than 4,000 soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. This effort to personally help families heal after losing a loved one in war is a testament to Bush the human being. The fact that America is just beginning to learn about his activities as "comforter in chief," which include private meetings with over 500 families and countless hours visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed hospital, shows that Bush is a person before he is a politician. Where are the cameras and reporters when Bush conducts these meetings or visits the hospital? They are nowhere to be found. Unlike most politicians, Bush doesn't comfort families or thank wounded soldiers because it's good public relations. He does it because it's the right thing to do. Throughout his time in office, Mr. Bush has been criticized by conservatives for losing the PR war. What could help a President more during a time of war than front-page stories and news reports that show his caring side? But using the wounded or grieving families for political gain isn’t who he is. Meanwhile, most mainstream news outlets portray him as incompetent and evil. President Bush is viewed as a modern-day Hitler by the far-left and their views are reinforced by the New York Times and NBC. The truth is that he cries over the lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. He knows that decisions he has made, right or wrong, has broken-up families, divided America and caused great heartache. The emotional toll he has gone through as commander in chief during a time of war is painful enough. However the personal trauma he has endured thousands of times in an effort to help heal others, will probably prematurely end his life. In his own way, President George Bush will die for his country. It's about time we start treating him as one of America's finest. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
