Grasping for a Legacy
In his final State of the Union address, Bush lays out a modest agenda—and wants it on his own terms
This is where George W. Bush started his presidency, with an address to a joint session of Congress, one month after his inaugural speech in 2001. "The last time I visited the Capitol, I came to take an oath on the steps of this building," he said. "I pledged to honor our Constitution and laws. And I asked you to join me in setting a tone of civility and respect in Washington.
"I hope America is noticing the difference, because we're making progress. Together, we are changing the tone in the nation's capital. And this spirit of respect and cooperation is vital, because, in the end, we will be judged not only by what we say or how we say it, we will be judged by what we're able to accomplish."
President Bush's legacy will be assessed by many measures, most notably the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But by his own standards set at the start of his time in office, the president has failed to live up to either the tone or the results he promised. The tone in the nation's capital is hardly better than it was as impeachment roiled the final years of Bill Clinton's presidency. With the rare exception of the recent economic stimulus package, respect and cooperation is hard to find in the halls of Congress at the end of the Bush era.
That much was obvious in President Bush's final state of the union speech on Monday. He started by seeking to explain just why the political debate has been so acrimonious. "We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens," he said. "These issues call for vigorous debate, and I think it's fair to say we've answered that call. Yet history will record that amid our differences, we acted with purpose. And together, we showed the world the power and resilience of American self-government."
That brief telling of the Bush years—marked by joint purpose and resilience—hardly squares with the facts. Instead, what history may record is the intense partisan warfare over Iraq, tax cuts and domestic spying.
That contentiousness might explain why the president rapidly pivoted to putting pressure on Democrats to fall in line with the modest agenda of his final year in office. "In this election year, let us show our fellow Americans that we recognize our responsibilities and are determined to meet them," he said. "And let us show them that Republicans and Democrats can compete for votes and cooperate for results at the same time."
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Member Comments
Posted By: mohd sheikh @ 03/12/2008 9:08:41 AM
Comment: Mr Richard Wolffe in his article has mentioned that the President Bush has most notably failed to live up by his own standard set at the start of his office to either the tone or the result he promised about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Perhaps he forgot to mention Pakistan where the American Administration has not only failed against war on terrorism but the General Musharraf military dictator who is following MR Bush against the payment of 80 Millions per month have also failed. In Afghanistan Mr. Karzai controls only 30% of land and Pakistani regime could account for only 30% of the dollars obtained from USA.
President Bush in his second term oath taking ceremony promised to introduce, protect and spread democracy all over the world. But he left aside his golden principle for introduction of democracy for Pakistan and for General Musharrf and failed to fulfill the promise he made in his oath taking speech.
General Musharraf abrogate the Constitution though he himself had taken oath to protect it to the best of his ability, he removed 60 judges of the high and Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of Pakistan is still under detention along with other fellow judges. He curbed media arrested lawyers and who opposed his action. He solely trimmed the Constitution just for making himself genuinely elected president of Pakistan, whereas, the Constitution does not permit army General to seek election for any public office.
Pakistan has rejected the worst governance and lawlessness of Musharraf on 18 February 2008 Elections. Neither Musharraf nor his style of governance is acceptable to the people. They want change, peace, food and shelter, remedy of their problems, rule of Law and independent judiciary so they could have access to justice.
M. Saleem Sheikh, Advocate
Pakistan
Posted By: Jaromir31 @ 02/05/2008 4:04:34 AM
Comment: REOPEN 9/11 INVESTIGATION!!! LOCK BUSH AND HIS GANG UP FOR LIFE!!!
Posted By: Jaromir31 @ 02/05/2008 3:55:44 AM
Comment: What happened to the real open 9/11 investigation? How come none of the presidential candidates are mentioning it? They are all afraid, that the truth would come out.
For Bush to make any progress against terrorists at all, he would have to lock himself and his gang up. Him and his gang planned and executed 9/11! Many people know it now. All this bla bla bla about freedom in US. There is no freedom, they are just creating more fear and paranoia. Yeah, and be carefull if you mention the constitution too much, you will be considered a terrorist.
Also his new budget clearly shows that he is more interested in making the walthy even more waelthy and screw the rest.