A gentleman from Britain asked me the other day how anyone could possibly like President Bush, and that he did not know anyone who did. I pointed out to him that liberal Manhattan columnist Pauline Kael did not know one person in 1972 who voted for Richard Nixon, even though he won 49 states. This British fellow watches BBC, and while normally I would not bother to engage him, he was so incredibly polite and sincere in his effort to hear a dissenting viewpoint that I felt compelled to respond. My blog is about promoting healthy dialogue and debate, and this fellow, while being to the left, was quite reasonable. Here is my response to him. It is longer than Tolstoy’s War and Peace, because my reasons for liking the President a lot are numerous. Now, my ode to “The Dub.”
Sir,
Although you said a mouthful, I will do my best to respond only because you come across as very thoughtful. I will not be giving you an unbiased perspective, because I am quite biased. I am a conservative, and my heroes include Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. My opinion is mine alone, and you could ask other Americans, and they would disagree with me. Now to do my best to answer your questions. You come across as very likable, and I am happy to disagree with you while not being disagreeable.
The BBC is left wing. So are the New York Times and MSNBC. CNN is to the left, although less so. Fox News is considered center right, but the left likes to call it right wing. Fox News bothers the left, but the truth is Fox News does not stifle debate. Without Fox News, there is no debate. The left has ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, etc…The left in America is angry that the right has any voice at all. You should watch Fox News, not because they are always right, but because it is a perspective that you will never get on BBC or the others. Other fabulous sources are the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, The New York Post (NOT the NY Times) and www.realclearpolitics.com which links to sites on the left and right.
One funny thing about Americans is that we reserve the right to fiercely criticize our leaders, but get enraged and rally around them when others do so…especially the French. In fact, the election of 2004 came down to Ohio. Some citizens in one town in England decided to adopt one town in Ohio as their “sister city.” They wrote letters to these Ohio citizens asking them to support Kerry. It backfired. This town, normally pretty centrist, voted overwhelmingly for President Bush even as their surrounding cities split evenly. They resented the foreign interference.
Here are several reasons why I like the President.
1) His economic policies are FABULOUS. The US economy was good during the Clinton years, but it is even better now.One respected economist Larry Kudlow calls the US economy “The Greatest story never told.” The war in Iraq overshadows everything, and I understand that. However, the economy right now is doing well. One main reason for this is the President’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. I support supply side economics, which is the heart of Reaganomics. Respectable people can disagree on whether supply side theory works. I believe it does. The US stock market (no longer for the rich, now many small investors own stock) has never been higher, inflation is low, unemployment is low, etc. The media will not talk about this good news because good news does not sell, and republicans are hated by the media in this country outside of Fox News.
2) I am Jewish. My father is a Holocaust survivor. The President is the best friend Israel has ever had. Now the BBC is almost as anti-Israel as Al Jazeera, but for anyone who cares about Israel and Jews, President Bush is fantastic. When other nations are attacked, they fight back. When Israel is attacked on a daily basis, they are told to exercise restraint. This is nonsense. George W. Bush let Ariel Sharon run wild, and I will forever be grateful for that. Diplomacy does not work with genocidal lunatics. Force is the only solution. 70-80% of Jews are democrats, but that is because they tend to care more about social issues such as abortion then Israel. They are liberal first, and Jewish second. Also, most Jews are secular. Secular Jews and Christians vote democrat, religious Jews and Christians vote republican. I am not saying democrats are Godless, but by and large the more one goes to church/synagogue/mosque, the more one votes republican.
3) I am an unabashed, unashamed supporter of the War on Terror, and believe the Iraq war was the right thing to do. One day I will have to answer before God, and I pray I am right. As of now, I will go to my grave believing it was and is right. To avoid spending hours on this topic alone, please read the article on my blog www.blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com entitled “The Iraq War–Legally and Morally right then and now.” I do not expect you to agree with me, but I break down why I feel this way point by point.
4) I like his trade policies. I believe in Free Trade, such as NAFTA and CAFTA. Isolationism and protectionism are wrong, tariffs and quotas are a mistake. I believe in an international global world with very few trade barriers.
5) I support the NRA. I know Europe does not like America’s gun culture, but in America, the areas with the strictest gun laws have the highest crime rates, and the areas with the loosest gun laws have the lowest crime rates. Gun control does not work because criminals do not obey laws. When you disarm law abiding citizens, crime goes up. President Bush understands this.
6) His choices for the US Supreme Court have been superb. To me whether a justice is liberal or conservative is less important than that they are the finest legal minds. Past presidents republicans and democrats have picked choices that were not the very best. President Bush picked Sam Alito, a very bright man. His choice for Chief Justice, John Roberts, is one of the finest legal minds in American history. Intellectually, the guy is a heavyweight, the top of the legal food chain. He did pick someone else that was seen as a lightweight, but she was not confirmed, so no harm done. He truly has helped make the Supreme Court a deliberative body of legal excellence.
When I say I could care less that the rest of the world hates us, what I mean is that a leader of America has to lead America. We cannot let the fact that other nations disagree with us force us to alter our policies. I will even take it a step further. Even if 51% of the people disagree with the President, he should not automatically abandon his position. Bush’s critics call him stubborn, but I see him as resolute. Stubborn is when one is wrong and refuses to change. Resolute is when someone is right and refuses to change. Bill Clinton was popular because he followed popular opinion. That is not leadership.
Lastly, and this is not to make excuses, Bill Clinton was President during an inconsequential time. The Cold War had ended, and 9/11 was far away. Anybody could have led America in the 1990s. President Bush is a war president, and he has made unpopular decisions. Reevaluation is acceptable, but not to the point of vacillating. I understand a lot of the world is against the Iraq War, but President Bush cannot use that as his guide. Also, France and Germany have elected conservative leaders to go along with John Howard as a staunch US supporter. Aznar in Spain and Berlusconi in Italy backed Bush when they were in power. I have traveled to Thailand and Singapore, and they were very Pro-American. Again, the BBC is not a good source in terms of unbiased news.
Anyway, I will visit your nation one day, if for no other reason than I find British women to be the hottest, classiest women in the world. If I found one who is a Tory, and Jewish, I would marry her tomorrow.
Oh, and I loved Whitesnake and Def Leppard, and Dangermouse was my favorite cartoon growing up. American Football is my biggest passion, and the very first game in England will be played October 28th. I hope you enjoy it.
Be well good sir,
eric
This is an excellent assessment of George W. Bush’s presidency in 2000-2007. I have disagreed with him on a few issues, such as raising steel tariffs, the prescription drug legislation, and some aspects of immigration reform. The positives, however, greatly outnumber the negatives. When I recently read Carl Sandburg’s volumes on Abraham Lincoln, I came to realize that few were Lincoln’s intellectual equal, but it seems to me that the current president has had to endure similar harsh and thoughtless criticism, and yet possesses a similar resolve and goodness. Nicely written.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! We finally came to an agreement. We both like def leppard!
I used to experience bewilderment whenever I would see Pres. Bush on TV. Every time they showed him he was always waving at someone, and it bothered me because they never showed WHO he was waving at. Then, one day just recently it occured to me. He’s NOT waving “to” or “at” anyone. He’s simply waving goodbye to another cabinet member!!
“His economic policies are FABULOUS. ”
Does that include record deficits and the record debt? How about the fact that the dollar has never been worth so little?
“2) I am Jewish. My father is a Holocaust survivor. The President is the best friend Israel has ever had.”
The President is supposed to serve the American people, not Israel. I wish Israel the best of luck but it’s not my government’s role to sponsor them or their enemies (and we do sponsor both).
“I like his trade policies. I believe in Free Trade, such as NAFTA and CAFTA. Isolationism and protectionism are wrong, tariffs and quotas are a mistake. I believe in an international global world with very few trade barriers”
You seem like a nice person, but your good intentions are deadly. I don’t even know where to begin to start to explain how wrong you are.
“I support the NRA.”
The NRA is terrible. I agree with you about everything in your section about guns except that the NRA is good and that Bush understands the positive benefits of American citizens owning firearms. The NRA has sold out, quit and join the GOA or my favorite, the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.
“6) His choices for the US Supreme Court have been superb.”
If you are in favor of continuing the dismantling of the American legal system and replacing it with an arbitrary rule of man subservient to it’s political-corporate benefactors instead of the law, sure they are some superb picks. I guess that’s why you think so…you want to destroy America in the name of saving it.
You sir, you are the abyss. You are the madness growing stronger by the day, eating away at the center of our civilization. You have been lied to and knowing nothing else you have embrace those lies wholeheartedly, and now you are a dangerous fellow, a genuine menace to society. I do not exaggerate – I fear you more than the gangbangers and their weapons, or the foreign terrorists with their weapons, or the various foreign nations and their armies looking at our empire collapsing with ambition in their eyes. I fear you and I fear your thoughts. I fear you as I fear the socialists and the communists. I hope that some grand epiphany is headed your way to awake you to the true nature of what it is you believe.