Dear Gentle Reader:

A week ago, I dropped my computer and now it refuses to recognize the hard drive.  I am hoping that I will be able to get it fixed next week when I go to Cape Town, South Africa.  At the moment, I am in Lesotho and the computers at the internet café are very slow and will not allow me to upload pictures and video so I will have to wait a day or two to post the blogs about Bali. Instead, I am giving you a truncated version of my thoughts about the Bush administration from my written journal.

The Bush Legacy

I watched a portion of Bush's final press conference last week.  After the press conference, the talking heads began to pontificate on the past eight years.  By and large, the group of reporters termed the past eight years as a failure. They focused on the intelligence failure that led to the Iraq war, the failed economic policies that led to a global recession, the turning back of civil liberties, and poor standing that the US now has on the global stage. They tried to be charitable and find positives but you can only mention his strong commitment to aids funding for Africa so many times. 

I thought there were a number of positive things the Bush Administration has done over the past eight years.  I am pretty sure it wasn't on their agenda but their policies and politics have led the way for substantial change on the political front both at home and in the world.

The Rise of Barack Obama

Barack Obama's political rise is in response to the failed rhetoric of George W. Bush.  President Bush came to the office in 2000 with the message of bipartisanship and compassionate conservatism.  He promised a new day in Washington DC but in the end he used the attacks of 9/11 and the Iraq War as a way to divide the country and push a strong conservative agenda that helped the rich and turned its back on the middle and lower class.  Conventional wisdom was the country was not ready for an African American president, but the politics of division and extreme rhetoric of the Bush team turned off so many voters that they craved someone who could bring significant change.  Obama's message of change and inclusion was the tonic that was needed by the American electorate which pushed him through the primaries and the general election with record numbers.  Obama brought a sense confidence and when he talked about his stances on foreign policy or economic change, the average American could tell that he knew the facts and was making common sense decisions.  Though there have been a bump or two during the transition, Obama has seemed more presidential then the sitting president over the past two months.  In the end, Barack Obama would not be being sworn in tomorrow if there wasn't eight years of George W. Bush.

The Rise of Nicolas Sarkozy and the European Union

The Bush team did a masterful job of losing significant clout on the international stage during their two terms.  His disregard for the United Nations and singular focus on the Iraq War, created a void in proactive international relations.  Nicolas Sarkozy in both his role as the head of France and the European Union quickly positioned himself as the person to fill that void.  Sarkozy made a strong statement for the EU in his handling of the Georgia/Russia conflict.  When the worldwide recession hit, Sarkozy called for the economic summit of world leaders.  The Bush administration concurred but it wasn't them calling the shots.  Now with the conflict in Gaza, Sarkozy is making strong overtures calling for a strong peace accord while holding both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership accountable.  I am sure the Republican leadership never thought when they were lambasting the French for their lack of support for the Iraq war and renaming "french fries" that they were going to be paving the way for the French to have significantly more political clout on the international stage.

The Ownership Society is Forever Redefined

Bush rode into Washington, DC on the mantra of the ownership society.  His vision was that his administration was going to change the American political and economic landscape. Reagan created the perception that the government was the enemy and Bush thought he would fulfill that legacy. Big government was not only dead but he was going to bury its body.  If anything, his lack of leadership and political missteps insured that there would be new resources pumped into the federal government to help restructure a new paradigm by the next administration. The general public no longer believes that the free market will take care of all its problems.  It has seen business cutting the edges, breaking the law and bending ethics to make a dollar at the expense of the average citizen.  They demand a new type of government that regulates industry but doesn't stifle its growth.  One that protects consumers and citizens more so than the corporate big shots that can ruin a company and its employees only to be given a big golden parachute.  The mishandling of Katrina and the intelligence that lead to war, opened the eyes to the average citizen that you needed a well funded but competent Federal government to protect the best interest of the country.  I predict that Obama will introduce and have passed within his first 100 days, an economic bailout package that will be the largest in our nation's history.  I thought Bill Clinton told us that "Big Government" is dead but little did I know that George W. Bush would resurrect it and make it bigger then ever before.

I am sure when the historians write about the legacy of George W. Bush, they will focus on the negative but as my Mom once told me, we should focus on the positive.  A new day is before us with a new President, a new congress and a new sense of hope.  I wish my new president well on a difficult journey that stands before our country.  I know he will be up to the challenge and I hope that, as citizens, we will be up to answer the call that he will lay at our feet tomorrow.  A call to service, a call for renewal and a call for sacrifice.  It is what is needed to restore the dignity and stature of the country we love so dearly.