By Susan Martinuk, For The Calgary Herald
There's nothing so easy as kicking a guy on the way out.
A banner at one of the inaugural balls made that point quite clear: "F---GEORGE." So much for the illusion that Washington's balls are the epitome of sophistication and culture for America's elite.
The media also had a final round of Bush-bashing. For most of his presidency, Bush fought against biased reporting that viciously attacked his policies and, eventually, denigrated him personally. This past week, in the frenzy to take one last kick at the cat, a number of reporters crossed the line of decency to produce copy that was mean-spirited, rude and disrespectful.
One cartoon (I refuse to name the paper and give it publicity) showed a statue of Bush being toppled in the same infamous manner as the Iraqis toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein. Their political "analyst" produced a rant called Bye Bye Buffoon in which he supposedly dissected the legacy of the "two-term doofus."
Another analyst took a dig at President Bush's religious conservatism, saying it was responsible for the closed-minded "don't ask/don't tell" military policy he hoped the new commander-in-chief would now overturn. One problem--the policy had nothing to do with George Bush or religion. It was initiated in 1993 by Bill Clinton's liberal administration.
I have no problem with analysis that raises legitimate questions about Bush's legacy as president, but the above demonstrate the kind of uninformed commentary and rhetoric Bush-haters in the media have descended to and we are now supposed to accept as legit.
We all know journalists have the responsibility to get the facts right, but key facts and journalistic standards seem to get pushed aside when the subject is George Bush. As the late Democratic senator Daniel Moynihan said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."His fellow Democrats and liberals would do well to listen to his advice.
One fact that has been long lost is George Bush did all he could to keep America safe. In fact, it was his response to 9/11 that made it possible for Washington to safely have its massive inaugural celebrations (where five ex-and current presidents, senators, congressmen, the elite and two-million Americans would have made a tempting target, if not for new security measures).
There have been no terrorist attacks on U. S. soil since 9/11, yet people seem ungrateful to Bush for making homeland security a priority.
All sides of the political spectrum acknowledge Bush as a world leader in the battle against HIV-AIDS in Africa. He committed $15 billion for AIDS relief that has been highly successful in reclaiming the lives of millions of Africans and AIDS orphans. Prior to leaving office, Bush secured another $48 billion to fund the program for five more years. The international AIDS community considers him a hero.
Bush extended Medicare to cover prescriptions for more than 40 million seniors. Ironically, this was one promise Bill Clinton gave Americans when he set Hillary in charge of fixing American's health care system back in 1993. Neither goal was achieved.
In spite of the personal attacks and the lack of gratitude shown to him, Bush left his office with grace and dignity. Even his detractors noted that from the moment the election was over, Bush and his administration made a point of co-operating completely with Obama's team to ensure a smooth transfer of power.
This was a sharp contrast to the Gong Show that went on when George Bush entered the White House eight years ago.
The Bush administration team arrived to find offices ravaged by Clinton staffers, files in disarray and the "W" key removed from computer keyboards. Clinton himself made his mark in his last days by pardoning the husband of a key campaign fundraiser, dozing off during Bush's inaugural speech and taking the White House furniture. Much later (and after much debate), the Clintons returned $28,000 of furniture to the White House. Even a liberal Washington Post columnist called the exit "a script that would have made Saturday Night Live blush."
As Albert Einstein once wrote, "The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
George W. Bush was willing to take on evil. It cost him his popularity and perhaps his own legacy, yet he never once wavered. A man who stands for a costly principle is rare, and it's something we should gratefully acknowledge.
Susan Martinuk is a freelance journalist. Her column appears Friday.
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