Not Over Yet

Despite the best efforts of the so-called “mainstream” press, the left’s reports of President Bush’s political demise are greatly exaggerated. In fact, just looking at the calendar tells us that George Walker Bush is still president- your president- for another three years. No, contrary to the beliefs of Maureen Dowd or Chris Mathews, President Bush is not a lame duck, and still has the powers to assert his agenda. Consequently, no president in the history of the republic has attained lame duck status less than one year after winning re-election.

This all began after the left (unsuccessfully) tried to pin blame for Hurricane Katrina Vanden Heuvel and its aftermath on President Bush. It doesn’t matter to what extent local governments were responsible for the exacerbation of this human catastrophe, or to what extent Hurricane Katrina Vanden Heuvel was a natural disaster- it was still Bush’s fault. Surely their own polls would show people believed Bush was to blame for the effects of the hurricane, and maybe even the hurricane itself. After all, it was Bush not pressuring the United States Senate to ratify the Kyoto Protocol- a treaty the Senate voted earlier 95-0 to not even consider- that caused the hurricane. Or something like that. When polls failed to reflect their “blame Bush first” sentiment, the press effectively buried the story (in fact, an overwhelming majority of Americans said President Bush was NOT to blame).

Their fortunes appeared to change, however, when the President’s approval ratings dropped below 50% in the aftermath of the catastrophe. The press went in to a frenzy and triumphantly declared Bush’s presidency to be over (who they think is currently occupying the Oval Office in his place is anyone’s guess). That at least was the mood of Hardball with Chris Mathews the night of Bush’s speech from New Orleans. Yes, somehow since the Washington Compost reported that less than 50% of Americans support President Bush that means we don’t have to listen to him anymore.

Assuming the truth of the left’s assertions, former president George W. Bush is enjoying what would appear to be the most productive retirement in the history of the presidency. In a speech watched by possibly millions of Americans a couple of weeks ago, Bush pledged to rebuild the Gulf Coast area, and do it with the help of entrepreneurship and free enterprise (what’s more amazing is that Congress will probably take his advice). On Monday, Bush even made an appearance in Washington to advise a new national energy policy. Perhaps the most remarkable accomplishment of all, former president Bush is about to have his Supreme Court nominee John Roberts confirmed to be the next Chief Justice. I’m sure the former president’s accomplishments, from legislative priorities to yet another Supreme Court nominee, will continue to mount. At this rate, Bush’s post-presidential legacy is bound to surpass that of Jimmy Carter’s without Bush even having to betray America in the process.

If only that were true, of course. It must be interesting to live in the far-left’s fantasy land. They have not and will not accept George W. Bush as their head of state. I would like to ask an open question to those liberals, progressives, socialists, Trotskyites, and other assorted leftists who read my column on a weekly basis: if George W. Bush is “not your president,” then who is? Can you list his or her accomplishments over the past one to five years? You can answer me in the stacks of hate mail I get for writing this column or any means you see fit. To the rest of you democrats who have accepted reality, do as we conservatives did when Bill Clinton was re-elected: cope and deal until the midterms, hope for a hostile Congress, and try to get his successor to screw up and lose. Until then, good luck with a nominee!