So says Jeffrey Shapiro in a WSJ op-ed today. Shapiro's an investigative reporter and lawyer who interned with Sen. Kerry's legal team during the 2004 campaign.
Shapiro begins - - -
Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president. . . .
Mr. Bush has endured relentless attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.
This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."
Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties. . . .
It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.
Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control.
Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.
Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
[President Bush’s] low approval ratings put[s] him in the good company of former Democratic President Harry S. Truman, whose own approval rating sank to 22% shortly before he left office. Despite Mr. Truman's low numbers, a 2005 Wall Street Journal poll found that he was ranked the seventh most popular president in history.
Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging Truman's presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years -- and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous [.] …
Our failure to stand by [Mr. Bush] has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.
Shapiro’s entire op-ed’s here.
Does anyone doubt the truth of what he says?
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Treatment of Bush a Disgrace
Posted by JWM at 5:12 PM
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Shapiro's piece in the WSJ should be read closely by the Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats should hang their heads in shame - no person deserved the treatment meted to Bush. The Republicans should read it as a warning as to how one should NOT behave. One may disagree with a president's policies - that is a right that one has as a citizen of this country. However, the abuse and vituperativeness that was the hallmark of Bush's opponents was not only uncalled for but was the height of rudeness. For all that one may disagree with Bush, he is a decent man who has the courage of his convictions and who was more than willing to stand and take all the heat - not blaming others for any failures that they might have had but insisting, as did Truman that the buck stopped with him. I believe that history will treat Bush more kindly. He faced an incredible threat and he did not shrink from the difficulties that he faced. One can only hope that Obama has the mettle to face the challenges of the next four years with the grace and equanaminity that marked President Bush's tenure as president.
cks
What would happen if all those who voted for other-than-Obama treat President Obama as the Democrats have treated George Bush? Obama's victory speech isn't much different from Bush's, and it is to be hoped the American people, especially Republicans, don't act like Democrats.
Tarheel Hawkeye
JinC - on a different note - the local media here in Cincinnati just reported that Obama is planning on naming John Kerry as Secretary of State and that the Breck girl, John Edwards is also sleighted for a cabinet position.
cks
The BBC is punting Rahm Emanuel as BHO's chief of staff.
John Kerry, I wouldn't employ him as a second hand swift boat salesman, never mind to be SofS.
As for Kerry in the cabinet? What will he be, hairdresser in chief?
Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush.
Imagine the outraged cries of racism should the same courtesy be offered to BHO! The Dems are a mindless bunch of hypocrits!
Not only has the treatment of Bush been inexcusably ungrateful to the man who has kept us safe for 7 years, but the trashing of Sarah Palin by Carl Cameron on O'Reilly tonight was totally nauseating. Why did Carl do that? Why did O'Reilly run it? Who cares if she met some staffers in her bathrobe? Maybe she had come to trust them. Maybe she didn't know they were going to stab her in the back instead of protecting her.
John:
I live in Texas so I had some knowledge of George Bush before he became President.
As much as I admire his moral character and steadfastness, I felt he was ill prepared to lead us in Washington. He thought he was still in Texas where everyone got along. And then he forgot who elected him. All he had to do was reach across the aisle for the support of the Conservative wing of the Republican party....too difficult for a "compassionate conservative" I guess.
After his signing of the McCain-Feingold bill, the perscription drug monster, the Harriett Miers fiasco and then the incoherent statements made on network television on the CIR Act, I finally threw in the towel.
I'm sorry for the man but the ridicule was self induced.
Ken
Dallas
I totally agree with anonymous's remarks regarding the Sarah Palin piece done by Carl Cameron - who I used to believe was a fairly even-handed reporter. It seemed that O'Reilly was egging him on as well. It was obvious that there were those in the McCain camp who wanted McCain to choose Romney or Giuliani and were upset that they had a relative neophyte as their candidate's running mate. Frankly, Palin is a smart woman who came up to speed quite quickly with all the other duties that she had - after all she was still governor of Alaska and a mother of an infant. Her unfailing good humor in the public despite the constant attacks on her and her family (not to mention the troopergate investigation) demonstrate a person who is grounded in who she is and what she can do.
I hope that there will be a real soul-searching in the Republican party. There are many good Republican leaders out there who are young, articulate, intelligent, compassionate, and morally grounded. Rob Portman of Ohio, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota are just a frw that come to mind in addition to Palin. It is time for the old guard to retire. Newt Gingrich should run a bootcamp for the rising Republican stars on how to put together a program. The much maligned (by the Democrats) Karl Rove needs to be utilized - his comments last night were spot on - I think he has one of the best political minds since Mark Hanna and Lee Atwater.
Republicans will do themselves no favor by being obfuscatory towards Obama. Let the Democrats self-destruct. Both Reid and Pelosi are not going to cede any power to Obama. Obama will have to govern toward the center if he hopes to keep approval ratings in the high numbers - after all there was a large swath of the center of the nation who voted Republican.
The left of center Democrats in the Congress are going to fight him tooth and nail as they attempt to move this country in their direction. By supporting moderate Obama proposals, the Republicans will go a long way toward dispelling the belief (fomented by the same left of center Democrats) that they cannot govern in a bipartisan manner. Obama does not want to be a one term flash in the pan - and despite Hillary Clinton's comments to the contrary (and I believe that Clinton is more of a centrist) - if she sees any opening because Obama veers to the left, she will move in and create a fight for the Democratic nomination in 2012. These next four years should be interesting.
cks
I totally agree with anonymous's remarks regarding the Sarah Palin piece done by Carl Cameron - who I used to believe was a fairly even-handed reporter. It seemed that O'Reilly was egging him on as well. It was obvious that there were those in the McCain camp who wanted McCain to choose Romney or Giuliani and were upset that they had a relative neophyte as their candidate's running mate. Frankly, Palin is a smart woman who came up to speed quite quickly with all the other duties that she had - after all she was still governor of Alaska and a mother of an infant. Her unfailing good humor in the public despite the constant attacks on her and her family (not to mention the troopergate investigation) demonstrate a person who is grounded in who she is and what she can do.
I hope that there will be a real soul-searching in the Republican party. There are many good Republican leaders out there who are young, articulate, intelligent, compassionate, and morally grounded. Rob Portman of Ohio, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota are just a frw that come to mind in addition to Palin. It is time for the old guard to retire. Newt Gingrich should run a bootcamp for the rising Republican stars on how to put together a program. The much maligned (by the Democrats) Karl Rove needs to be utilized - his comments last night were spot on - I think he has one of the best political minds since Mark Hanna and Lee Atwater.
Republicans will do themselves no favor by being obfuscatory towards Obama. Let the Democrats self-destruct. Both Reid and Pelosi are not going to cede any power to Obama. Obama will have to govern toward the center if he hopes to keep approval ratings in the high numbers - after all there was a large swath of the center of the nation who voted Republican.
The left of center Democrats in the Congress are going to fight him tooth and nail as they attempt to move this country in their direction. By supporting moderate Obama proposals, the Republicans will go a long way toward dispelling the belief (fomented by the same left of center Democrats) that they cannot govern in a bipartisan manner. Obama does not want to be a one term flash in the pan - and despite Hillary Clinton's comments to the contrary (and I believe that Clinton is more of a centrist) - if she sees any opening because Obama veers to the left, she will move in and create a fight for the Democratic nomination in 2012. These next four years should be interesting.
cks
The spectacle of watching the purchase of the White House has been horrifying to me. The specter of liberals in charge of all three branches of government, and a corrupt media that will not challenge them to correct course is disheartening.
Of all the shocking Bush bashing I have witnessed, the worst one was the media-liberal Katrina hoax. Senator Reid sent out a memo that President Bush must not look good in his hurricane response. The rest is sordid history. The greatest loss was that our great country responded to disaster as it always does, and the ‘Corrupted Ones’ made it into a political smear instead of the act of loving response of a nation taking care of its own.
The unhinged Bush haters started on day one of his administration to destroy him, and now the same unhinged people are saying Obama deserves a chance. The people that actually love the USA will give him a chance. I am just wondering when the watchdog media will do their job, starting with their uncontrolled bias, and the outright fraud taking place during this election.
I am not depressed that Obama won, I am depressed that my fellow Americans were deceived by the medias’ suppression of information critical to decision-making of this importance. The image of the Black Panther at the polls with his stick, “Guarding” the polls, shocked me again, as their intimidation did at Duke.
My only ‘Hope’ is that the Obama administration ushering in this New Deal of ‘Change’ isn’t as corrupt as his campaign. In my unseasoned opinion, the political corruption cancer that has festered in Chicago, has been unleashed into all fifty-seven states.
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