I am occasionally reminded that I kind of feel sorry for George W. Bush. I know he’s been a terrible President, possibly the worst in American history. Despite that, I’ve always considered him a decent guy; once he got over the booze and coke he turned into a decent family man and a good father, to the best of my knowledge. I also don’t doubt that his intentions were good, even though he’s been inept in many respects.
The last eight years have been hard on him. I’m sure the last two have been even harder; he can’t get much done with a Democratic congress and he’s now the most despised President in US history, and knows it. It’s easy to blame him for the many follies of his administration, for the economic collapse and the failed War on Terror, but the truth is that he implemented conservative ideas to a far greater extent than any recent Republican president, including Ronald Reagan, and it is those principles which account for the spectacular failure of his administration far more than his personal failings.
Conservatism doesn’t work. It’s been shown not to work, time and again – the same economics that led to the Great Depression are what’s put America’s economy in the tank today. Deregulation doesn’t work. Abstinence-only sex education doesn’t work. Teaching kinds mythology in science classes doesn’t work. You can shine that up all you want, but the fundamental tenets of what we call ‘conservatism’ are flawed, not becuase they are merely wrong (objectively and, I would argue, ethically) but because it is an ideology concerned more with loyalty than with facts. The Bush presidency failed not because Bush is a bumbler, but because he chose his advisors and cabinet on the basis of their loyalty to conservative ideology rather than their ability, as the ideology itself demands a leader do, and governed the nation by its invalid principles.
Do not, therefore be misled that Bush’s ineptitude led the country to this precarious place, as both right and left are doing. Blame the political philosophy that caused Bush to govern as he did.
