Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

By: SW

President Bush is hated by the left, and he isn't much appreciated by the Independents or even Conservatives these days. In a little over 4 months he will finish his term, and will quietly retire to his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Like any presidency, it should not be judged except by history since history tends to be more objective.

Nearly four years ago after he was re-elected, he spoke about using his "political capital" to advance what he wanted to do for this country. Unfortunately some of that capital was squandered, thus resulting in the thumping that his party took in the 2006 mid-year election. Reckless spending, and failing to communicate the progress of the war to the public in an effective manner are two of the reasons.

But on this day, the seventh anniversary of the gravest attack ever on the United States, we cannot deny the fact that we have not been attacked again. It is not by accident, nor by the lack of resolve on the part of the country's evil and hateful enemies. But so far by the grace of God and by the vigilant efforts of the Bush Administration the U.S. has not been attacked. Many people do not believe the world is a safer place after U.S. started the Iraqi War, and some even opined that the War had caused terrorists to increase in numbers (as if they did not exist previously). But there is no denying that Al-Qaida terrorists are being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, instead of in New York, Boston or Los Angeles. And I think one of the key reasons that we have not been attacked here again is because most of the leaders of Al-Qaida have been eliminated.

Let's give credit where credit is due. No matter what you think of President Bush, he deserves credit for keeping the country safe for 7 long years. Anne Coulter wrote an article yesterday titled Bush 7, Terrorists 0, wherein she commented:

Preventing another terrorist attack is like that. There is no media coverage when another 9/11 doesn't happen. We can thank God that President George Bush didn't care about doing the safe thing for himself; he cared about keeping Americans safe. And he has, for seven years.

If Bush's only concern were about his approval ratings, like a certain impeached president I could name, he would not have fought for the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq. He would not have resisted the howling ninnies demanding that we withdraw from Iraq, year after year. By liberals' own standard, Bush's war on terrorism has been a smashing, unimaginable success.

Bush is probably the most under-appreciated President in modern history. Recently Andrew Klavan wrote an article titled "What Bush and Batman Have in Common" in the Wall Street Journal. He closed with these words:

That's real moral complexity. And when our artistic community is ready to show that sometimes men must kill in order to preserve life; that sometimes they must violate their values in order to maintain those values; and that while movie stars may strut in the bright light of our adulation for pretending to be heroes, true heroes often must slink in the shadows, slump-shouldered and despised -- then and only then will we be able to pay President Bush his due and make good and true films about the war on terror.

Perhaps that's when Hollywood conservatives will be able to take off their masks and speak plainly in the light of day.

Let's be fair. Let's thank President Bush for keeping us safe thus far.