I realize that many readers will dismiss the following blog after this statement, but I'm going to make it, anyway:
President George W. Bush might very well be remembered as the worst president in the history of the United States.
I don't make this prediction lightly, either, but when history judges Bush's two terms, I expect his administration to make Herbert Hoover look like Abraham Lincoln.
In a nutshell, Bush's gross mismanagement of the economy, his dismantling of civil liberties and the Constitution, his flippant and inhumane bungling after Hurricane Katrina, his ineffective "war on terror" and his six-year, $1 trillion war in Iraq that was launched under false pretenses -- all these add up to a debacle the likes of which this nation has never seen and hopefully will never see again.
All of this was at least discussed, then generally dismissed, by Bush on Monday during a most surreal press conference. Basically, Bush acknowledged his faults but doesn't really think he did anything wrong.
And, as pitiful and depressing as it all was, I still believe Bush isn't an evil man. Delusional, incompetent and perhaps surrounded by some evil people like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, but at the core, Bush did the best he could.
Too bad it wasn't that much.
Now, not everything Bush stood for appalls me. While parts of the Patriot Act and the invalidation of habeas corpus for U.S. citizens are terrifying, I'm not overly concerned about the way he treated alleged terrorists who were nabbed overseas. The detainees at Gitmo aren't American citizens, they are prisoners of war. And while torture is never right nor is it acceptable, the Geneva Convention never considered radical fundamentalists who have no problem flying planes into buildings. Bush is right: we haven't had a terrorist attack since 2001. I'm not sure how much his administration can take credit for that, but I'm thankful, nonetheless.
That said, he has bungled everything else he's touched. He walked into a presidency with a budget surplus; he leaves with a $1 trillion deficit -- coincidentally, what he's spent in Iraq.
And while Iraq is a better place (or will be someday) without Saddam Hussein, he's sent more than 4,200 patriotic Americans to their death. More than 90,000 Iraqis have died, too, and not all of them were "bad guys."
More importantly, Bush launched this war under false pretenses, and he knew it. That is simply unconscionable. Bush is a "means to an end" sort of guy, but using Sept. 11 to rally Americans around an unconnected war is despicable, and members of Congress from both parties who sat idly by are equally to blame for not asking tougher questions before sending our soldiers into harm's way.
In yesterday's news conference, Bush admitted the "mission accomplished" debacle was a mistake, but for as much as pundits like to make fun of him for it, it's hardly notable in the big picture.
What is notable is that all along the way, he acted unilaterally, sabotaged the faith of European allies and squandered the post-Sept. 11 goodwill from the whole world that could've been parlayed into actually capturing and/or killing Osama bin Laden.
At home, Bush made only a feeble attempt at progress. His half-baked mission to fix Social Security was only a smoke-and-mirrors diversion for his international follies, and seeing his spiel in person, at our office in 2005, only made me more convinced that even Bush didn't care how it turned out.
Of course, Bush isn't to blame for Hurricane Katrina. He expressed regret Monday about not landing Air Force One in Baton Rouge. Again, who cares? How about a little regret for putting his pal and former horse training judge Michael Brown in charge of FEMA? And what about all those Americans still displaced, while the Iraqi citizens are receiving pretty good healthcare right now?
Finally, all these failed policies have obliterated our formerly sound economy. Remember what you bought with those tax stimulus checks? Me, neither. All I know is that the financial future of this country is seriously leveraged, and pretending it will all work itself out is a dangerous path to follow.
Now, people are expecting miracles from Barack Obama. They expect this fairly inexperienced politician to "pull an FDR" and solve all the country's problems in 100 days or less. Obama is inheriting the worst job in America, and the odds are heavily stacked against his success.
But the real reason I'm writing this blog is because I'm frankly stunned that America, as bruised and battered as it is, made it to the end of Bush's two terms relatively unscathed. It's a wonderful testament to our country's resilience. One man, even Dubya, can't run the United States completely into the ground in eight years.
Somehow, and I don't know exactly how, the sun still rises and sets every day. Our allies, current and former, will probably get over their numerous snubs. Our parents will still get their Social Security checks, and we will probably, too. The free market is starting to deal with global warming and foreign oil dependency, since $4.30 gas prices slapped consumers upside the head, and even Detroit is starting (albeit slowly) to listen.
And, just like every recession, someday it will end and will be followed by an expansion. It's technically possible that once America catches its collective breath, the next generation of leaders (Obama or otherwise) can start undoing some of the last's generation's horrendous mistakes.
I'm not saying I'm encouraged, but I'm not despondent, either.
It will take work, but for a change, Americans look like they're ready to roll up their sleeves and dig in.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
