remember back when i made a goal to be respectful of the office of the president? well, i think that post and what i wrote/thought back then is what makes me stop from actually forming a whole political post now. trust, i have started many posts about how i am feeling about politics and our current situation, but i remember that i made a vow to change my ways and so i end up deleting what i write strictly because i get so upset and angry and truly start ranting.
and i also don't want to be a hypocrite.
but right now i am going to say what i have been wanting to say for months. and i am going to try to say it as respectfully as i can. and i'm going to try not to rant.
i get so angry and disgusted when i hear people degrade president bush. like him or not, he was the president of the united states of america. and like his policies or not, he was the president of the united states of america. and agree with him or not, he was the president of the united states of america. and yes, he made mistakes. but he is also human, allowed to make mistakes, last i checked.
the lack of respect for a man who did is very best to serve this country to the best of his ability angers me. but what angers me more than the belittlement and degradation of president bush is the idea that no one is allowed to say anything negative about president obama. and that when president obama messes up or makes a mistake, it is to be overlooked, like it never happened, never to be talked about.
in other words, i am outraged by the double standard. the blatant disrespect of president bush that is the "norm" in the media is appalling to me. and it makes me sad.
it makes me sad that someone who gave of themselves fully for the country that we all love is freely disrespected on a regular basis...and that it is "okay." and that the same people who disrespect president bush demand respect for president obama. it is sad. and it is aggravating.
but don't get me wrong...just because president bush is degraded and belittled and made fun of regularly, i do not condone the same treatment of president obama. and as much as i completely disagree with almost every single thing he has done as president, i will not degrade or belittle him.
(and this is where i usually start ranting...so i will stop.)
i will close with some stuff from some other people...they can express how i feel about president bush and his service to our country more eloquently than i can. first, senator orrin hatch paid tribute to president bush on the senate floor back in january. i would like to share with you the closing remarks senator hatch made:
president bush has been our leader, our chosen leader, for the past eight years. he has been a man of principle, conviction, and action. he has had to tackle challenges, both here and abroad, that are difficult even to describe, let alone comprehend. there have been many successes, and this has been a time of transition, adjustment, and change. president bush, as is his way, takes a very practical view of his contribution to america. he says he will be remembered as someone who dealt with tough issues head on, helping our country protect itself, and who was unashamed about spreading certain fundamental values such as liberty. at home, he says, he trusts individual americans to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. in his last state of the union address, president bush said that our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and our union will remain strong if we trust in the ability of free people to make decisions.and from this article by michael gerson in the washington post:
protecting america from outside enemies and strengthening america from within. that is a legacy to be proud of, and i am so thankful for president bush’s leadership and courage and i pray for god’s richest blessings for him, for first lady laura bush, and their family in whatever lies ahead for them.
let me close with a quote from president theodore roosevelt, whom i know president bush admires. president roosevelt said this in paris in 1910 and it expresses my sentiments about president bush as his time in office ends.
'it is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.'
...many liberals refuse to concede bush's humanity, much less his achievements.and here is the video of senator hatch's remarks. please pay special attention to the remarks he makes right before yielding the floor (starting at 3:34), as they were not included in the speech that was posted on his website.
but that humanity is precisely what i will remember. i have seen president bush show more loyalty than he has been given, more generosity than he has received. i have seen his buoyancy under the weight of malice and his forgiveness of faithless friends. again and again, i have seen the natural tug of his pride swiftly overcome by a deeper decency--a decency that is privately engaging and publicly consequential.
