Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 5:58am

Farewell (and thanks) to President George W. Bush

bush_baby3
George Weigel would like to thank President Bush. “For what, you ask? For many things that ought to count for Catholics”:

I should like to praise him for his steadfast support of the pro-life cause, domestically and internationally. Thanks to President Bush, we have two more Supreme Court justices who likely know that Roe vs. Wade was terrible constitutional judging, and dozens more federal district court and appellate court judges with similar convictions. Thanks to President Bush, the U.S. government drew an important moral line in stem cell research, even as the administration accelerated bioethically sound research strategies that have produced real results. Internationally, the Bush administration stood firm against the Gadarene rush to use international law to declare abortion an international human right and a necessary component of the emancipation of women; as one senior Vatican official put it to me, a year ago, “We know we’re never going to have another American administration as supportive of our core issues as the Bush administration has been.”

I should like to praise the President for his work to rid Africa of the plagues of AIDS and malaria and to relieve the suffering of those afflicted with those awful diseases. George W. Bush may be an object of ridicule in certain U.S. zip codes; he is the subject of veneration among those in the “bottom billion” whose lives his policies have saved or enhanced.

I should like to thank the President for offering Pope Benedict XVI such a warm welcome on the South Lawn of the White House on April 15, 2008 — a welcome that ought to have put paid, once and for all, to the notion that there is something incompatible between robust Catholic faith and a mature gratitude for the political miracle of American democracy.

I should like to thank President Bush for his personal decency, manifest in his (unpublicized) personal attention to our wounded and to the families of the fallen; in his refusal to become bitter in the face of outrageous slander; and in his calm amidst tribulations that most of us can’t imagine. I should like to thank him for his unapologetic confession of Christian faith, and for his testimony to the importance that prayer plays in his life. And I should like to thank him for not giving a hoot about the mockery that such a witness draws from a secularized mass media, from American high culture, from cranks like Michael Moore, and from Euro-secularist snobs who spent eight years sneering at the evangelical cowboy in the White House while their continent was dying from spiritual boredom.

Related

  • President Bush’s Farewell Address to the Nation January 15, 2009.
  • National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009, A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America. January 15, 2009.
  • The blog Wheat & Weeds covers a list of President Bush’s pro-life accomplishments during his two terms. Be sure to read as well her roundup: George Bush and the Least of These:

    I will always love and admire Bush because as the Leader of the Free World he never missed an opportunity to stand with “the least of these.” Can you think of anyone more forgotten and less important in the eyes of our culture than the unborn, African AIDS & malaria patients, Afghan women, Sunni & Shiite Muslims, immigrants, dissidents of tyrannical nations, the wounded and grieving parents of fallen soldiers? Nobody really cares about any of those folks –the media can’t even be bothered to report their plight when it doesn’t suit their own purposes to do so. Not so George Bush. Here’s a little pictorial reminder of the man’s perpetual commitment to the dignity of the human person. …

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Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 6:42pm

” I should like to thank him for his unapologetic confession of Christian faith, and for his testimony to the importance that prayer plays in his life. And I should like to thank him for not giving a hoot about the mockery that such a witness draws from a secularized mass media, from American high culture, from cranks like Michael Moore, and from Euro-secularist snobs who spent eight years sneering at the evangelical cowboy in the White House while their continent was dying from spiritual boredom.”

Amen!

Andrew
Andrew
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 7:12pm

Amen. I suspect a lot of people will miss him when he’s gone. A big key word in his 200 campaign was “dignity”, and he and Laura have certainly lived up to that promise. I pray that Obama’s inevitable “Lewinski moment” will happen in the first term so that people return to their sense and kick him out in 2012. (I’m not implying that his big(gest) blunder will be a sexual sin, but there is bound to be some major mistake that will reveal his weakness and ineptitude.)

Andrew
Andrew
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 7:14pm

“2000 campaign”, I meant.

Also, I shouldn’t say that I pray for Obama to fail and be shamed and ruined. First I pray for his conversion. But I also do hope that if he proves to be as unqualified as I think he is, that he’ll only get one term.

Donna V.
Donna V.
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 8:05pm

While Bush certainly made mistakes (the bailouts steamed me), I believe history will be much kinder to him than his current critics are. If Iraq becomes a stable functioning democracy – it’s too early to tell at this point -the anti-war left will be seen by future generations in the same light as we view the Copperheads of Lincoln’s day. Of course, they realize that too, which is why they have done everything in their power to bring about our failure there.

I don’t regret having voted for Bush in ’00 and ’04. Despite the mistakes he made, he has far more integrity and class than most of his critics.

Matt
Matt
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 8:37pm

His departing speech and particularly the declaration of a national right to life day were fantastic. I wish he had not had so many of the management and public relations errors that caused his popularity to drop so low, I suspect history will judge him more objectively than the latest polls.

God Bless,

Matt

Michael J. Iafrate
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 8:43pm

Good riddance.

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 8:52pm

Yeah…Katrina was definitely just a p.r. and management error, as was Iraq, torture, Valerie Plame, Gitmo., WMDs, ‘Mission Accomplished, the DOJ scandal, the suspension of habeas corpus…

Matt
Matt
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 9:24pm

Mark,

Katrina – pr mostly. The dikes collapsed because the corrupt Louisiana (principally democrat) leadership didn’t use the federally allocated funds to maintain them, but for other politically and personally motivated projects. The evacuation didn’t take place because the democrat mayor and governor failed to act. As Bush pointed out nearly 30,000 were rescued by FEDERAL assets, only after the democrat governor finally agreed to federal intervention. And finally, can you really blame Bush for New Orleans being the greatest festering stinkhole of the entitlement constituency in the country?

Iraq – bad management mostly, but PR too (mission accomplished banner), probably Rumsfield is the main culprit, things were later sorted out under Gates using General Petraeus brilliant strategy.

torture, – no torture occurred under the approval of the administration, but enhanced interrogation techniques approved by the leaders of both parties in congress resulted in saving countless American, Iraqi, Afghan and other lives here and abroad.

Valerie Plame, – pr, this was a nothing issue, her exposure by a Richard Armitage (not particularly close to Bush or Cheney) while despicable was not even a crime.

Gitmo., – non-issue, it’s really much nicer than an Afghan or Iraqi prison, they eat better than most US prisoners.

WMDs, – in Syria. Actually over 800 chemical weapons were found in Iraq, just not the major programs that were expected by THE WHOLE WORLD.

‘Mission Accomplished, – pr. Actually the banner was not erected by the president or his staff, but understandably exuberant navy personnel

the DOJ scandal, – huh?

the suspension of habeas corpus… – non-issue, terrorists should not be protected by laws designed for domestic criminals. In any event the terrorists are treated quite nicely relative to their acts.

God Bless,

Matt

Michael J. Iafrate
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:04pm

Matt you are an utterly sick human being.

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:12pm

Matt,

The sad thing is, as with many writers here, you are not even getting paid to push such ideologically-drenched nonsense.

Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:18pm

Catholic Anarchist why don’t you attempt to respond to Matt’s arguments rather than engaging in a feeble insult? This blog is for debate on ideas and not for back and forth flaming which is monotonous and boring.

Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:19pm

Same thing for you Mr. DeFrancisis. Debate the ideas or find other venues to vent.

Anthony
Anthony
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:21pm

I can’t say I’m a fan after 8 years, and while I’m dreading the Obama Administration I feel a certain sense of freedom defending conservative/classically liberal ideas now with Bush out of office.

The subject of abortion is the one area I was pleased and content with Bush, though to this day I still think the courts can be stripped of authority on the issue.

– Two unjust and undeclared wars and a failure to capture Osama Bin Laden. Inexcusable. War should have been formally declared upon Al-Queda, making it the first formal declaration since WWII. It would have set the mission and defined victory, but unfortunately we had (and still have) a cowardly Congress and an authoritarian view of the presidency.

– A failure to turn the world’s good will after 9/11 into workable solutions with Iran and Middle East. Iran, having two nuclear neighbors could have become an ally as oppose to a source of continued antagonism.

-Torture (or ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’), wire tapping and the suspension of habeas corpus… once again a failure to recognize the long term repercussions of these acts in favor of short term successes.

– The Bailouts. Whats the point of having free market principles if you don’t actually follow them? Bush and the Republicans revealed through bailing out Fannie and Freddie, the banks, the auto industry, etc. that their economic philosophies were merely tools to differentiate themselves to voters. It was a marketing tool to be chucked whenever the going got tough in order to look as if they were ‘acting’ to solve the problem. In good time, we will feel the effects of their inflationary acts, which Obama will only make worse exponentially. I can’t say with confidence the dollar will be around in 20 years.

So while I have an appreciation for Bush’s handling of abortion and his warm welcoming to Catholics, I can’t in good conscience also consider his time in office as successful or even a good example of a moral use for executive power.

Michael J. Iafrate
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:28pm

Don – Matt did not make an argument.

Michael J. Iafrate
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:30pm

Calling a person who defends Gitmo and torture a “sick human being” is an ontological statement, not an “insult.”

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:35pm

Donald,

You choose to allow such stinkwater at your site, which is indicative of the level of all Matt’s posts:

“And finally, can you really blame Bush for New Orleans being the greatest festering stinkhole of the entitlement constituency in the country?”

I am sorry if I cannot restrain myself and call it for what it is.

Matt
Matt
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 10:43pm

Anthony,

Iran, having two nuclear neighbors could have become an ally as oppose to a source of continued antagonism.

Iran? When I was in 3rd grade the current president of that rogue nation invaded sovereign US territory of the embassy, and took American citizens hostage. It’s animosity towards the US doesn’t originate with George Bush, it’s ruling ideology clearly precludes it from becoming an ally.

Some of your other points make sense, especially with regard to the bailout… I might add the amnesty bill.

God Bless,

Matt

Eric Brown
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 11:08pm

Thank God. Goodbye George W. Bush. I will hardly miss him. One horror out of office, a new one in.

– Eric from Washington D.C.

Anthony
Anthony
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 11:15pm

Matt,

Well some would argue that Iran’s taking of the hostages was long overdue ‘blowback’ for the U.S’s interventions of the 1950s. I can’t comment further than that, because…well I wasn’t even alive then.

My comment was made more in terms of a missed opportunity. In the days after 9/11 the world was shocked, including Iran- which at the time had a slightly more moderate head if I recall. That could have been exploited. It was an opportunity for diplomacy, not bullying. Thats my point.

John Henry
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 11:28pm

I think Mark and Michael I. were a little intemperate. But, seriously, Don, did you read Matt’s list of defenses? Do you think this type of partisan nonsense lends itself to discussion:

no torture occurred under the approval of the administration, but enhanced interrogation techniques…resulted in saving countless…lives…

Iraq – bad management mostly, but PR too (mission accomplished banner), probably Rumsfield is the main culprit, things were later sorted out under Gates using General Petraeus brilliant strategy.

They might as well debate Ann Coulter.

Matt
Matt
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 11:29pm

Anthony,

Regardless of any “provocations” of the embassy hostage taking, it still stands that hatred for America by the Iranian government started with the takeover by radical Islam of the once pro-western nation. If you examine the ruling ideology of the Mullah’s who are the real power in Iran, that is islamic-fascism, and a belief in the return of the 13th Imam brought about by global conflict, they may be contained but they can’t be an ally. Don’t forget about their long history of supporting terrorist organizations Hezbelloh and Hamas et al. Remember the Beirut barracks bombing?

God Bless,

Matt

Matt
Matt
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 11:33pm

John Henry,

So you’re saying it’s ok to denigrate a poster if you agree with their position, but if you don’t then you call on them to stop? That’s my only history with you, is ignoring personal attacks by others against me, and then asking me to stop responding? You need to learn a thing or two.

Matt

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Saturday, January 17, AD 2009 11:33pm

‘the suspension of habeas corpus… – non-issue, terrorists should not be protected by laws designed for domestic criminals. In any event the terrorists are treated quite nicely relative to their acts.’

news flash, matt. we have not nearly established that all in this legal category were indeed terrorists. and SC thought otherwise.

“Gitmo., – non-issue, it’s really much nicer than an Afghan or Iraqi prison, they eat better than most US prisoners.”

stunning callousness. what else can i say? if i were with your degree of dullness to basic human rights, i’d wish a relative of yours was declared an enemy combatant…

“Valerie Plame, – pr, this was a nothing issue, her exposure by a Richard Armitage (not particularly close to Bush or Cheney) while despicable was not even a crime.”

no. the Republican special prosecutor ended by saying there is a cloud over the head of Dick Cheney, because of Libby’s perjury and obstruction of justice. let’s see if Bush outright pardons him, after having already commuted his sentence.

“Iraq – bad management mostly, but PR too (mission accomplished banner), probably Rumsfield is the main culprit, things were later sorted out under Gates using General Petraeus brilliant strategy.”

no. unjust war from the start, as Mother Church says, and a disaster for international diplomacy and human life/dignity. and only has inflamed more the situation with Iran.

“Katrina.”

the last part of your comment showed how you really do not respect all of God’s children, you dememted and racist man.

“DOJ scandal ?”

read the newspaper.

John Henry
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 12:11am

“So you’re saying it’s ok to denigrate a poster if you agree with their position, but if you don’t then you call on them to stop? That’s my only history with you, is ignoring personal attacks by others against me, and then asking me to stop responding? You need to learn a thing or two.”

Matt – I am probably in agreement with you more than ‘them’ on issues. In this forum, you are probably going to be defended more than they, so in this case I defended them. I apologize if you feel that I have been unfair. I was very offended by your aggressiveness and general tone of incivility towards Eric in several other threads, and that probably prompted my response here. In any case, I’ll refrain from attempting to referee this particular thread, as Donald and Chris are more than capable of doing so.

Michael J. Iafrate
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 12:24am

partisan nonsense

dememted and racist

These are accurate comments.

crankycon
Admin
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 8:02am

I think Mark and Michael I. were a little intemperate.

Gee, you think.

Matt you are an utterly sick human being.

dememted [sic] and racist man

Yes, certainly anyone who thinks that new Orleans might just be a tad corrupt deserves such denigration.

I think Matt overdid his defense of George Bush, but nothing he wrote justified that.

But I guess if Mark and Michael cease writing here, the comboxes would be a little less interesting.

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 9:53am

“The dikes collapsed because the corrupt Louisiana (principally democrat) leadership didn’t use the federally allocated funds to maintain them, but for other politically and personally motivated projects.”

Now you are just making things up. The federal monies were not sufficiently there…

“Yes, certainly anyone who thinks that new Orleans might just be a tad corrupt deserves such denigration. ”

Matt said for more than that, and you (should) know it.

Do pro-life people really hang out here? And you wonder why your cause has been so ineffective.

Matt
Matt
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 1:21pm

Christopher,

Curiously, Matt’s defense of Abu Ghraib stands (reminiscent of Rush Limbaugh) stands in sharp contrast to President Bush himself, who condemned it as “a shameful moment when we saw on our TV screens that soldiers took it upon themselves to humiliate Iraqi prisoners — because it doesn’t reflect the nature of the American people, or the nature of the men and women in our uniform.”

With regard to the Abu Ghraib case where American soldiers humiliated themselves and Iraqi prisoners I wholeheartedly agree with you and President Bush. That is not the same scenario at Guantanamo Bay, where, while certainly periodic excesses occured, as they do in all incarceration systems, there was no widespread abuse (except of the truth by liberals parroting the Michael Moore talking points).

You raise some good points, but it would bolster your case to provide more substantial arguments. The brevity and snideness of your replies make it all to easy to dismiss them as ‘partisan nonsense.’

A fair point, but when I get a broadside of one word liberal talking points, such as “justice department scandal”, it’s hard to even know precisely the basis for criticism let alone a well thought out response for each one.

Thanks for illuminating some of my responses with cold hard facts, I probably should have made more substantive responses as you did.

God Bless,

Matt

Matt
Matt
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 1:26pm

ps. to clarify my huh, on DOJ scandal, I was trying to figure out if this is the case where a substantial portion of the US attorneys were dismissed by Bush after several years under him when he became dissatisfied with their priorities, in contrast with Bill Clinton who had not spent a single night in the White House when he dismissed all of them.

How long do you think Bush’s appointees will last under the One? Aside from Fitzgerald who has made himself bulletproof.

God Bless,

Matt

Michael J. Iafrate
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 2:43pm

Everybody: by all means disagree with each other, but please engage each other like adults and conduct yourself with civility.

I never have and never will take this blog seriously enough.

Jeremy
Jeremy
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 3:42pm

Calling a person who defends Gitmo and torture a “sick human being” is an ontological statement, not an “insult.”

Really? Please explain, how that is an ontological statement.

Donald R. McClarey
Admin
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 5:03pm

“Everybody: by all means disagree with each other, but please engage each other like adults and conduct yourself with civility.”

Bravo!

Michael J. Iafrate
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 9:11pm

I will keep this in mind as I respond to your self-admitted trolling in the future.

Do so. And I will similarly keep in mind your ongoing association with this disgusting, racist, nationalist blog when you post elsewhere.

Really? Please explain, how that is an ontological statement.

Torture is intrinsically evil.

Matt
Matt
Sunday, January 18, AD 2009 10:05pm

Michael,

Torture is intrinsically evil.

While that may be your personal opinion, and it is not without some support, it is not in any sense definitive, I am free to disagree with your conclusion in good conscience. Secondly, the very definition of torture is at question as well, and there is certainly no magisterial authority which definitively declares the practice of waterboarding (as authorized by Pres. Bush) is torture as such.

Even if waterboarding is torture, this particular application (to extract information in order to prevent further acts of terrorism) is not listed in the catechism or any other authoritative document:

CCC 2297:
Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity.

Since the catechism qualifies it’s condemnation of torture, it seems that you are stretching to insist that it is “intrinsically evil”, and anyone who dissents from this position is a “sick human being”.

As offensive as some of these interrogation methods may be, bear in mind that the Church does permit the state incredible leeway to defend itself against unjust aggressors. The use of blades, bullets, and bombs can cause incredibly horrific suffering, grotesque wounds, and ultimately death. These weapons can be used legitimately against enemy soldiers who bear no moral culpability for their own actions. The Church teaches that these same weapons, subject to the principles of double effect, can be used even where innocent civilians would be injured or killed.

Fr. Brian Harrison, professor at the Pontifical University of Puerto Rico as published an excellent and detailed article regarding this question in the Roman Forum.

Part I
Part II

God Bless,

Matt

Michael J. Iafrate
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 11:05am

Matt – The Church teaches that torture is intrinsically evil. Authoritative Church teaching exists outside of your Catechism. You should explore a little bit.

Matt
Matt
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 11:16am

Michael,

can you respond to the arguments I made, or no? It might help you to explore a bit, perhaps give Fr. Harrison’s article a read.

God Bless,

Matt

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 11:29am

Matt,

Are you a seminarian? Just wondering…

Michael J. Iafrate
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 1:24pm

Which argument? The “it doesn’t say that in the catechism” bit that you said. Do you consider that an “argument”?

Matt
Matt
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 1:32pm

Michael,

“or any other authoritative document”

Jessie
Jessie
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 5:30pm

So Michael, does that mean that every person who says anything in support of abortion rights, like say Pres. – elect Obama, is a “sick human being”? Because what you are saying here is that it is an “ontological statement” to call someone a “sick human being” simply because they say something that could be interpreted as support of an intrinsic evil. Your lack of charity towards those you disagree with politically will win no converts. Perhaps you should spend less time talking ontology and more time reading about the virtues we are expected, as Catholics, to be developing in our personal lives in order to grow in holiness and reach our home in heaven.

Michael J. Iafrate
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 6:45pm

Matt – You (wrongly) will dismiss any document I produce as “non-authoritative,” so what is the point?

Jessie – I wish for one minute that you people could consider the willful murder of human beings without always needing to compare those deaths with the murder of the unborn. It shows that you really refuse to take them seriously as human persons, and use them merely as comparison points for your own pet issues. But do I think “every” person who says “anything” about abortion rights is a sick human being? Probably not every person, but certainly many of them are. I would want to look at specific cases and arguments. Just as I would not say “every” person who says “anything” positive about the united states, its imperialistic tendencies, its warmaking practices, etc is a sick person. What I have done is to look at Matt’s particular “arguments” (er, statements really — they ain’t arguments) which intentionally refuse to take seriously non-american human lives and to — rightly, I think — call him a sick person.

crankycon
Admin
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 6:56pm

I wish for one minute that you people

t shows that you really refuse to take them seriously as human persons

Indeed.

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 7:00pm

With the way certain people write here, I think Michael I. is being merely frank.

Tito Edwards
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 7:09pm

“you people”?

Who you calling “you people”?

Huhhh.

Matt
Matt
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 7:22pm

[Deleted due to inflammatory remarks]

Michael J. Iafrate
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 7:24pm

Tito – Don’t worry. You are most certainly included when I refer to “you people.”

Matt
Matt
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 7:30pm

Michael I,

In light of your blatantly false witness regarding my concern for “non-Americans” it might be pertinent for me to point out that I am in fact a Canadian, as is my whole family, except for my wife.

jh
jh
Monday, January 19, AD 2009 9:10pm

“Now you are just making things up. The federal monies were not sufficiently there…”

Speaking as a Louisiana Resident it appears to me Bush is still fairly popular here which shows what many people thought about putting Katrina on all his shoulders. In the end if it happend under Clinton (which he cam eclose to doing but for a last minute turn and a Republican Governor at the time it would have been the same thing.

Blame where there is blame goes out into a thousand different election including the American people that are ingnoring the root problem. I hoe and pray those lessons are recalled but I am doubtful

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