Farewell, George W. Bush

As unpopular as it is for me to say this probably, I hated to see Bush leave office today. I have been a strong Bush supporter for many years, and even though he’s made some choices that in the long run turned out to be non-beneficial, I think we can all learn from him. In his welcome home speech in Texas tonight, he said “I haven’t always done what is popular, but I’ve always done what I think is right.” He also said that he has no regrets as far as his decisions while in office, and he leaves with the feeling of accomplishment. I admire that, and I highly respect him for it.

Democrats are extremely good at standing at the podium, looking good for the camera and saying “the time to act is NOW!” However, none of them ever seem to actually “act now.” Whether it’s terrorism, the economy or other important issues, George Bush always took the liberty to make a quick-thinking decision when time was pressed. I realize that these quick-thinking decisions were not always popular, and not always right in the long run, but I feel it’s always better to at least make a decision and have it turn out wrong, rather than not make a decision and allow the problems to pile up for the next guy. Here’s what isn’t fair; The economy is such a large part of people’s opinions when it comes to approval ratings. George Bush made a lot of progress in other areas, however, with the economy declining, that is what he will always be remembered for, and that isn’t the way it should be. You have to take the bad with the good. Even though the economy will be forever looked back upon as a failure of his, I agree with a lot of the media when it comes to him being remembered as a decent, good-hearted guy who gave it his all.

Remember this: The major task that the President of the United States has after being sworn into office is to “protect the citizens of the USA.” It isn’t to save the economy, it isn’t to give tax breaks, it isn’t to build new roads, hospitals, etc. It’s only to protect. Being Commander-in-Chief, he did a marvelous job of this, and for that one fact I will always think of him as being a success.