President Bush's Last Day

Today is President Bush's last full day in office, at noon tomorrow, his term will end and his successor will be sworn in.  During his eight years in office, Mr. Bush has received a lot of criticism for his policies and perceived shortcomings both personal and professional.  At his core, Mr. Bush is by all accounts, a fundamentally good and decent man - a decent man who was ill served by his closest advisers.  Mr. Bush promised to be a uniter and not a divider, unfortunately, he has proven to be the opposite.   We are more divided today than we were eight years ago.  In the days, weeks, and months after 9/11, we were truly united in the fight against terrorism.  Somewhere along the way, the train went off the tracks and we lost sight of our ultimate goal  (the end of terrorism) and became caught up in a bizarre teenage rebellion.  Mr. Bush consistently ignored the one man who knew more about Iraq, the  Middle East, and the pressures of the Presidency - his father.  Mr. Bush used his father's presidency as a reverse playbook,  everything his father did, he did the opposite - all in the name of being re-elected.It's been said that Bush 43's advisers  saw his father's term as a failure because he lost his bid for reelection; therefore, they would do the opposite of what Bush 41 did.  Sometimes Father does know best, had Bush 43 listened to Bush 41 we might not have been caught up in our present mess. Bush 41 could have taken Saddam out during the first Gulf War; however, he left him in power because you can't replace something (Saddam) with nothing(what we've done).  General Powell knew this  and explained it thusly with his Pottery Barn analogy, you break it, you own it. General Powell learned in Vietnam that when you go to war, you must have a defined mission, an obtainable goal, an exit strategy, and overwhelming force. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush's closet advisers did not learn this lesson because they weren't there.  Mr. Rumsfeld wanted to use a much smaller force and failed to formulate a plan to secure the country, maintain order,  provide services, and win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. The spread of Democracy is a noble goal, however, it's not something that can be exported and given to people. People must seek democracy for themselves.  

History will judge Mr. Bush harshly for several reasons, the economic collapse, the war in Iraq, his obtuse handling of Hurricane Katrina, and various administrative shenanigans - politically motivated hiring and firing in the Justice Department, Abu Ghraib, an out of control Vice President, and torture.  

In recent interviews, the President and Vice President have tacitly admitted to torturing detainees in violation of the Geneva Convention.  The Geneva Convention was skirted by saying the detainees weren't soldiers, but enemy combatants, therefore, the Geneva Convention didn't apply.  In order for America to have moral authority, our conduct must be transparent and beyond reproach.  We cannot torture.  Anyone.  Experts have shown torture does not work, the information obtained is simply not reliable.  This is why we don't allow coerced confessions as evidence in a court of law.  Since the President and Vice President have all but admitted to condoning torture, what do we do about it?  We have two choices:  1. we can do nothing or 2. we can investigate and prosecute if warranted.   If we choose the former, we must ask what happens to our moral authority if we do nothing.  If we choose the latter, we must ask ourselves is it worth it.  Such an investigation and subsequent prosecution threatens to further divide our great nation.  Is it worth it? 

God Bless President Bush - a fundamentally good and decent man who on some level deserves better.  So do the American people.