I Offer You My Reasons for Placing Bush 43 in the Position of Second-Worst President in History

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

Everyone in the world knows who the worst president in our nation’s history was and is. No one will ever take that title away from him.

I am offering you my reasons why George W. Bush lost that “honor,” but will remain the second worst of all time.

THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL PRESIDENT IN HISTORY

In November of 2000 there was an election which would choose our 43^rd president. Bill Clinton served eight successful years, and Republicans were desperate to retake the White House.

They nominated the former Governor of Texas, and son of our 41^st President, George H. W. Bush.

George W. Bush was a controversial candidate from the beginning. He was a former alcoholic, drug abuser, and had failed miserably in the private sector. As the Governor of Texas, his only recognizable accomplishment was executing more prisoners than anyone else in history.

His opponent was President Clinton’s Vice-President, Al Gore. He wasn’t exciting, and somewhat the opposite of Clinton: he was not charismatic.

However, he was very qualified and promised to continue the fiscal policies of his mentor. Clinton was the most successful president in modern history when the subject is economics.

As predicted, the election was extremely close. A recount was ordered in the largest district in Florida. However, in a violation of their powers, the Supreme Court ordered an end to the recount, allowing Bush to become the 43^rd President of the United States. Bush 43 became the first illegitimate president in history.

9/11, UNWINNABLE WARS, AND ECONOMIC DISASTER

Although I cannot explain or defend his decision, Bush and Vice-President, Dick Cheney, decided to take a vacation during the first months of their first year in office. They had been warned by several of our country’s security agencies when intelligence confirmed that an attack on U.S. soil was imminent. We will never know if the tragic events of 9/11 could have been prevented.

Late in 2001, Bush learned where the architect of 9/11, Osama bin Laden, was hiding. He was in Tora Bora, a number of caves in the mountains above Afghanistan. Although his location was confirmed, the area was in Pakistan. Bush ordered our military to “stand down.”

However, he decided to leave our military in Afghanistan and the war between America and the Taliban began.

In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of another sovereign nation, Iraq. He directed his administration to lie to the United Nations, Congress, and the American people, claiming that the leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was “harboring weapons of mass destruction for Al Qaeda,” the group which executed the three attacks on September 11, 2001.

Two unwinnable wars, removing oversight from Wall Street, and the failed economic policy known as “trickle-down economics, placed our nation in the Great Recession in 2007.

BUSH REPEALS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND OTHER BAD DECISIONS

By their own actions since 1981, Republicans revealed the fact that they are incapable of governing our country.

After the horrific attacks on 9/11, Bush signed two bills. They were not deliberated by Congress, and would prove to cause great harm to our nation’s future.

One bill created what has become America’s “Gestapo:” we call it ICE. It was unnecessary. The U.S. Border Patrol was established in 1924. However, it was understaffed and underfunded. Members of ICE, all thugs and villains, have become domestic terrorists, and the enemies of all true Americans. The entire organization is poorly trained and shares no resemblance to any legitimate law enforcement agency.

The other bill is irrefutably the worst piece of legislation ever passed into law. It was given a misleading title, “The Patriot Act.”

Let me offer a simple and truthful definition of how it fails our people and violates the Constitution.

Any alleged illegal action attached to the word “terrorist,” removes all protections guaranteed by the First, Fourth, Fifth, and 14^th Amendments.

For example, if you are pulled over by the police, and accused of speeding, if any amount of cash, jewelry, or other valuables are in plain sight, you can be arrested for “suspicion of terrorist activities.” Your automobile and whatever is inside will be confiscated. In some situations, these items are not returned.

One more: if a neighbor reports what they perceive to be “suspicious activity” in your home. If the words, “expected of terrorist activity,” are applied, authorities are allowed to search your home without a warrant describing the purpose of their invasion. Once again, they are allowed to steal your computers and anything else which might contain information about your life and your lifestyle.

This is Bush’s greatest crime. He revealed disdain for some very important parts of the Law of the Land.

History will prove my claim that Bush 43 is the second worst president in history. He accomplished nothing in eight years while causing enormous and irreparable harm to our nation’s future.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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Sources: latimes.com: Remember when we thought George W. Bush was the worst president ever?

uvm.edu: The Worst US President Ever?