Beating Around the Bush

With 2008 being such a big year in politics it is certainly no secret that this marks the final year for the Bush administration. With “Change” being the center of the campaigns for the candidates running for the presidential nominees, especially for Barack Obama, it seems to shed some negativity on President Bush.

In the beginning of his first term in 2001, President Bush led the country through the hardships following 9/11 (hope this doesn’t sound like a Giuliani placement). The response to the terrorist attack result led to the War on Terror- something that for many only sounded good at the time. This is probably the biggest of all the problems people have with now with the government. But here’s something many have to try and remember, the Government has a list of how many troops it needs and where they need to be stationed and it’s your sons and daughters “volunteering”.

Another problem the Bush administration faced was the immediate response or lack of to the aftermath left by Hurricane Katrina. So when the levees that believed to be supportive fail and you decide not to evacuate and you end up finding yourself on the roof of your house in a flood, who do you blame? The officials in D.C., and that’s only because you don’t want to blame yourself.

NBC News’s Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory sat down with President Bush during his trip to the Middle East. He asked the President his thoughts on the candidates running for change for the country. Bush replied saying it’s something he would do if he was running today. And indeed he’s right; any candidate following a race from any moment in history is looking to change the course of the previous administration. Gregory also asked the president if he regretted not having caught Osama bin Laden. The president responded with the note that he isn’t out of office yet.

We can’t look at President Bush’s approval rating and just assume he’s failed this country as a leader, only the history books of tomorrow can tell us whether or not he was a Lincoln, a Johnson, a Roosevelt, a Kennedy, a Ford, or even a Carter.

I may not understand everything when it comes to politics, but I’m doing my best to deepen my understanding of the world around me- plus I haven’t taken Government class yet. But I do know one thing. Just because President Bush’s approval rating is low, it doesn’t mean there’s not someone on his side. And who’s to say you know what the right choice to make is. Plus, the president has a number of advisors telling him what the best decision to make is, and maybe the negative response to those decisions is why some of Bush’s advisors are “retiring”. Whatever the future holds for Mr. Bush, and whatever future generations think of this time in history, has yet to be told. But right now in the present, maybe some of us could step back and stop beating around the Bush.