Thursday, May 29, 2008

Leadership Woes

George W. BushI admit it, but you had to make me say it, I supported Bush in two elections. But disappointment in George's leadership has me in a quandary. On the one hand, I think George W. Bush is one of the most decent people to ever live in the Whitehouse. On the other hand, his failure to lead this country has left Republicans behind the eight-ball.

Compassionate Conservatism: What a joke! The only thing I see is appeasement to the Democrats. George Bush has went out of the way to cater to the Democrats hoping for their support, and in the process, made himself their target and alienated those who supported him. Coaxing the Democrats into supporting him may have sounded like a good idea, but when he saw that it wasn't going to work, he should have abandoned the effort. Instead, he allowed the Democrats to Demagogue every issue and turn public opinion against him. He failed to recognize that appeasing the Democrats was not going to help, and stubbornly refused to listen to his supporters.

Leadership or Stubborn: Early on in the Iraq War, with Bush's belief about all people yearning to be free, he failed to take decisive action when order collapsed in Iraq. Bush held nobody responsible for for the collapse of law and order in Iraq. Somebody should have been held responsible for dismal planning. He stubbornly clung to the idea that these people would 'just do the right thing' simply because he removed Saddam Hussein.

Appeasement Problems: Everything that this administration has touched has been a disaster. Katrina had the Democrats scrambling because New Orleans and Louisiana were totally Democratic. Yet Bush allowed himself to be the fall guy for problems that were mostly State issues. He wanted to be a good guy for the Democrats. They have castigated him for Katrina ever since.

Big Spender: He refused to veto those huge spending bills that allowed the Democrats (and Republicans) to earmark all kinds of goodies back to their home states. No leadership at all in guiding the budget process; it has to be categorized as 'stubbornly clasping the idea of making nice' that enabled such a drain on the treasury.

Other Issues:

1.) Failure to prosecute the leakers of national security issues.

2.) Prosecuted 2 Border Agents for doing their jobs.

3.) Refuses to enforce our border laws.

4.) Refuses to pardon Scooter Libby for the high crime of nothing.

5.) Allowed himself to be boxed in over the U.S. Attorney firings. (Lack of Leadership)

6.) Bush demonstrated a general weakness about Constitutional Issues of Executive vs. Legislative. Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria left the world wondering who was in charge of foreign policy. The trip left Bush looking irrelevant.

Not Enough Space: I could detail an entire page of the leadership failures of this President. But history will be kinder to George than I will. George Bush remains one of the most decent men on the planet. If there was ever a contest for being 'well intentioned', George Bush wins, hands down.


Cheers,
-Robert-

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