Message to President Bush

Mr. President,

You inherited a nation unprepared to face the 21st century threat of terrorism. While your predecessor was happy to allow law enforcement to handle the issue of terror (1993 WTC, 1996 Khobar Towers, 1998 Embassy Bombings, 2000 USS Cole, etc), he failed to nip the problem in the bud. You came to power on the verge of a dot.com bubble going bust. Rife with corporate scandals, major companies had inflated their own revenues with false statements, and 'cooked books,' before you took the oath in January 2001. The White House was stained (for lack of a better word) by the immoral actions of President Clinton, and his staff even saw fit to trash the place in protest of your victory over Al Gore. The complete disrespect for this nation by the Democrats, and lack of a moral compass in their past leader, did more harm to this nation than many have even realized. You came to power with a hostile press on day one. The term "lame duck" was used in the opening months of your presidency, and then again only hours after your re-election in 2004. It appears that the mainstream liberal media was always under the impression that your caricature (as exemplified by SNL's out-of-context usage of a few of your utterances over the years) was in the White House, rather than George W. Bush. This was a nation divided, torn, in decay, and desperately needing new direction in the new century.

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was a young Airman stationed at the Pentagon. While on the bus headed to work, I saw a passenger plane ram into the building, killing over 180 innocent people, and sending several terrorist to hell. You had the clarity of your convictions to guide you, and you made the bold statement, what has become known as the Bush Doctrine, that terrorism is not a law enforcement issue. You cannot bring blown up bodies to trial and convict them. You also stated that terrorists who would do harm to the United States and our interests could no longer hide behind political boundaries. This bold move angered many of our detractors worldwide, but more important, it put the terrorists on the run. Osama bin Laden first denied having anything to do with the attacks. With a strong US Military, I can understand his fear. It was only later discovered when our forces found a video of the Al Qaeda leader talking about how he planned the attacks that his "confession" was public.

You faced an economic downturn, at the hands of corporate scandals and poor credit lending practices. Your administration has done more to combat white collar corporate crime, than any in the history of this nation. More CEO's were prosecuted and jailed than anyone thought possible, yet your opponents have the audacity to claim you are in the pocket of corporations. You attempted to do something about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as early as 2001, while your party held hearings in 2004. Democrats claimed racism, and other motives and successfully prevented GOP action to solve the crisis before it happened. Perhaps they knew they would blame your administration anyway, or perhaps people like Barney Frank had their own motives?

After 8 years of your administration, we know a few more things than we did when you came to power. Terrorists are out to kill us, and end western civilization, but we can soundly defeat them if we do what we know is right and just. You've spent countless billions on the Global War on Terrorism, but what liberals fail to acknowledge is that we could have done this cheap and fast. Multi-million dollar precision-guided missiles (which you have insisted that we use) cost 100 times more, but help to prevent civilian casualties in a time of war. We've never been at war with the Iraqi people, or the citizens of Afghanistan, but we've successfully removed the Taliban and Saddam Hussein from power. After liberating 2 nations that probably never thought they would know freedom, other dictators are shaking in their shoes. Libya gave up its weapons of mass destruction, without a shot fired. Other regimes, scared of U.S. intervention, have begun saber-rattling in an attempt to shake their fears and show strength that isn't there.

Mr. President, thank you for doing what is necessary to protect this country. You have had an uphill climb from day one, but the world is safer today than it was 8 years ago. America is safer today than it was 8 years ago. Although we face an economic crisis (which has nothing to do with you), you have consistently generated more revenues through tax cuts. Unfortunately, the American people did not hear your message. Instead, they heard Will Ferrel speaking and liberal pundits on the mainstream press. After the election of Barack Obama, I was disappointed, but hopeful. I hoped that Obama's liberal ideology would fade as the awesome responsibility of the office of the President came over him. After he chose an ardent left-winger as a Chief of Staff, and then had the audacity to leak the content of your private meeting, a meeting in which you exemplified grace and dignity in a peaceful transition of power, my hopes are faded.

History will judge you as someone who saw the threats of his day, rising above the fog of subjective opinions that the press and the majority of the world let blind them.

Thank you for your service.

--Joshua Brooks Sphere: Related Content