Give Bush his day
George W. Bush, the self-proclaimed war president, officially begins his second term today amid all the pomp, circumstance and excesses of a peacetime president. At this moment four years ago, our country was deeply divided between those who believed Bush the rightful winner of the office and those who believed that through his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, he stole the 2000 election. There are those who remain stuck in that moment, only to now swap laments of Florida chads for Ohio disenfranchisement. Who knows, there may be some validity to claims that votes were rigged, but it does not change the outcome. President Bush will be sworn in today.
Four years ago we looked to Bush to heal the rift. Today, we know better.
Much has changed since he first swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Some say he’s run roughshod over it with John Ashcroft as his first-term attorney general and with Alberto Gonzales ready to step into those boots.
Bush’s finest moments came during this nation’s worst tragedy. He portrayed strength when our enemies, homicidal terrorists, tried to weaken our country. His resolve carried Americans through the tears. Few failed to believe Bush. The faith was so abiding that few vocalized concerns when he shifted the focus from the hunt for Osama bin Laden to demanding the head of Saddam Hussein. We were among the few skeptics – labeled un-American by some readers – who questioned the proof for weapons of mass destruction. That we were proven right is of absolutely no comfort when more than 1,230 Americans and many times that number of Iraqis are dead from a unilateral war launched at the insistence of President Bush. Terrorism hasn’t abated and is said to be flourishing now in Iraq.
So, while the president is entitled to the gaiety and congratulatory galas tied to his re-election victory, we will pray for sobriety once the confetti is swept away. We hope that the president approaches his second term in humble awe of what he has wrought rather than the drunken arrogance that has flowed from the White House, especially since Election Day.