Friday, February 06, 2009
The Bush Legacy pt.2
A tour of some of the most iconic moments of the George W. Bush presidency starts with his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2001. On the surface, it was all ritual and routine — the peaceful transfer of power from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration. However, it was all a mask of the rancor over the 2000 Florida recount and the intervention of the Supreme Court.. which subsequently ended in Bush's favor. Despite losing the popular vote, the powers at be awarded Bush with the highest office in the land. And still, once in office, he proceeded as though he had won a mandate of the people for the people and by the people. With narrow Republican majorities in Congress, he immediately won approval for education reforms known as No Child Left Behind and for a series of huge tax cuts.
But by that first summer, there was a growing sense of public indifference toward Bush. A Republican senator defected, due to ideological differences foreseen in the newly minted Republican party. The president's job approval ratings began to slip, in September, the world as we saw it had changed forever. The Sept. 11 attacks. Bush sought to reassure the nation in a televised address, saying, "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong." Three days later, he stood with rescue workers amid the rubble of ground zero. To the cheering crowd, he declared: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who ... knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Americans felt sorrow and patriotism, revenge and shock. The first attack on the American homeland by foreign agents. It was momentous.
A week later came a speech to a joint session of Congress in which he brandished an aggressive foreign policy: "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." Unbeknownst to many Americans, it was this "cowboy" mentality of shoot first ask questions later that would come back to haunt them.
The president's approval ratings soared, exceeding 90 percent, higher than any other President in approval rating history. American forces went to war in Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The Americans had support from just about every nation that had the sense not to mess with the sole super power remaining in the world.
Then Bush turned his attention to Iraq. There was no evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and the Sept. 11 attacks, but the Bush administration repeatedly made the case to the world. Bush et al warned of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, though none would ever be found. Bush even included this line, known to be false at the time by the CIA, in his 2003 State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Six weeks later, with a meager international support, the war in Iraq began. Baghdad fell. In May, President Bush landed in a fighter jet on the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California. A giant banner proclaimed "Mission Accomplished." "My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed," he said in a speech aboard the carrier. However, a cloud loomed on Bush's day in the sun. Reports that soldiers were not properly equipped to fight an urban war mounted with the lack of body armor for every soldier and vehicle. "Coalition" forces jerry-rigged steal plates to the sides of Humvees while Haliburton's stock soared. And still, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden eluded capture. It quickly became clear that the mission in Iraq was far from over. The insurgency grew; violence and chaos ensued..
But by that first summer, there was a growing sense of public indifference toward Bush. A Republican senator defected, due to ideological differences foreseen in the newly minted Republican party. The president's job approval ratings began to slip, in September, the world as we saw it had changed forever. The Sept. 11 attacks. Bush sought to reassure the nation in a televised address, saying, "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong." Three days later, he stood with rescue workers amid the rubble of ground zero. To the cheering crowd, he declared: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who ... knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Americans felt sorrow and patriotism, revenge and shock. The first attack on the American homeland by foreign agents. It was momentous.
A week later came a speech to a joint session of Congress in which he brandished an aggressive foreign policy: "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." Unbeknownst to many Americans, it was this "cowboy" mentality of shoot first ask questions later that would come back to haunt them.
The president's approval ratings soared, exceeding 90 percent, higher than any other President in approval rating history. American forces went to war in Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The Americans had support from just about every nation that had the sense not to mess with the sole super power remaining in the world.
Then Bush turned his attention to Iraq. There was no evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and the Sept. 11 attacks, but the Bush administration repeatedly made the case to the world. Bush et al warned of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, though none would ever be found. Bush even included this line, known to be false at the time by the CIA, in his 2003 State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Six weeks later, with a meager international support, the war in Iraq began. Baghdad fell. In May, President Bush landed in a fighter jet on the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California. A giant banner proclaimed "Mission Accomplished." "My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed," he said in a speech aboard the carrier. However, a cloud loomed on Bush's day in the sun. Reports that soldiers were not properly equipped to fight an urban war mounted with the lack of body armor for every soldier and vehicle. "Coalition" forces jerry-rigged steal plates to the sides of Humvees while Haliburton's stock soared. And still, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden eluded capture. It quickly became clear that the mission in Iraq was far from over. The insurgency grew; violence and chaos ensued..
