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David
Karki
Read David's bio and previous columns here
December 17, 2008
Thank You, President
Bush, For Keeping Us Free of Scandal and Terrorism
As we observe the
scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, arrested for
attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat formerly belonging to
President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder, and think of what it
portends for the next four years, it causes me to be grateful for the
two most important things President Bush has accomplished during his
tenure.
The first is that there
has been absolutely no hint of the scandal, soap opera or three-ring
circus that had been a daily suffering under President Clinton. The
dignity and the prestige of the office of the presidency were restored,
and we could once again take for granted that this sort of thing
wouldn't happen. As the Blagojevich scandal shows, this presumption is
no automatic thing. Nor was the restoration a certain thing, simply by
having changed the inhabitant of the office.
Yet here we are, with
the proper dignity and respect being shown, down to even small matters
of etiquette. I sincerely hope that this effort on President Bush's part
was not in vain, but skepticism is the order of the day.
From Blagojevich, whose
two gubernatorial campaigns Obama was a major part of and to whom he's
already had to hold a press conference denying any connection (before
he's even been inaugurated!), to the infamous Rev. Jeremiah Wright, to
Bill Ayers and Tony Rezko, there is as much potential for endless
eruption of scandals and soap operas on Obama's part as there was on
Clinton's part. Just as Clinton had the Arkansas machine, Obama has the
Chicago machine, every bit as filled with closeted skeletons and history
he'd rather not see revisited.
Perhaps if Obama had
been properly vetted during the campaign, we wouldn't be here now. But
the mainstream media was so desperate to orchestrate the election of
their Messiah that none of this was looked into when it should have
been. And ironically, if sickeningly, this might be the one thing that
keeps the Obama Administration from unraveling into the total circus the
Clinton Administration became the media's complete sellout for Obama
will continue through his tenure, as they do everything they can to
cover up for and protect the object of their slobbering mindless
worship.
Heck, they've already
pulled out the old Clinton/Lewinsky Nuts-'N'-Sluts card to play on
Blagojevich, labeling him crazy and sociopathic. It remains to be seen,
I suppose, if he saved the evidence so that he can avoid being
destroyed. Will he have the equivalent of the DNA-stained blue Gap dress
to serve as the ultimate trump card?
The second, on a more
serious note, is that we've gone seven-plus years with no terrorist
attacks on U.S. interests. On the morning of September 12, 2001, this
would have been an unfathomable prediction to make, and yet President
Bush has made it come true. From eight years of Clinton that began with
attacks ('93 World Trade Center), was filled with attacks (Khobar
Towers, embassies in Kenya/Tanzania, USS Cole) and ended with the
biggest attack of all in which nearly 3,000 people were slaughtered on
our own soil, we've had none in the years since.
This is an achievement
that should earn Bush a parade, not to mention every American's eternal
gratitude, and yet it will be taken utterly for granted. Ironically,
President Obama will benefit from that success in the war on terror,
which he staunchly opposed as a senator. Here's hoping that Obama
manages not to screw that up even as he'll likely try disingenuously to
take at least some measure of credit for it.
Perhaps as Bush helps
him transition to the presidency, Obama will see that Iran is very close
to having a nuclear bomb, and no amount of 60s peacenik diplomacy is
going to stop them from completing that and using it. Or that
Pahk-ee-stahn (to use Obama's mispronunciation) is sufficiently unstable
that marching into it to grab bin Laden when he can do nothing sitting
in a cave by himself so long as his terrorist network has been crushed
would be the height of reckless stupidity.
It's entirely possible
for the U.S. to return to its 1990s naοvetι and misguided policies. And
the price for doing so will, now as then, be paid in bloodshed and lives
lost.
I hope that the Obama
years will not be as fraught with scandal and terrorist attacks as the
Clinton years were. Sadly, the former is already looking bleak and I
fear that the latter will inevitably follow.
For having an
administration that was blissfully free of both, I for one say from the
bottom of my heart: Thank you, President Bush. For these two
achievements alone, you have the humble gratitude of millions of
Americans who will never forget it.
© 2008
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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