President Bush,
Your tenure as wartime President was difficult and filled with obstacles from the Democrats and their media hacks. But as you pointed out, you did not tailor decisions based on popularity.
A critique:
On foreign policy:
You showed true grit and courage by ridding the planet of at least two terrorist safe-havens and the Islamofascist malignancy that held power. You picked up the gauntlet thrown by Islamic thugs in Iraq and Afghanistan and shoved it up their asses, but overall, you were too restrained.
I wish to hell you had fought back just as hard against all of the acrid, foul-mouthed liberals who denied (READ: ignored) the reasons as to why we’re in Iraq and Afghanistan. You could have pointed out all the news reports of the discovered WMDs (including the yellowcake Hussein supposedly never had) , and his support of terrorist groups. You should have rammed the al Qadea and Taliban presence in both those countries down the Dem’s throats, and told them point blank, the war on Islamofascism starts there.
You should have extended that approach to the effetes in Europe who accomodate Islamic extremists within their own borders, and jeer from the sidelines rather than pitch in for the survival of Western civilization.
Long after our re-deployment, the cesspool that is the Middle East will continue to spawn the kind of excrement that viciously attacked America on 9/11.
Just as the unfinished business in Desert Storm resulted in our return, so too will leaving the rest of the terrorist nation-states in the Middle East unscathed.
I’d have leveled several Middle Eastern countries on 12 September, 2001. That is how you fight a jihad. But I’m a former Soldier, not a politician.
On domestic issues:
What disgusted me was your lax attitude on border security. You did not push hard enough for a crackdown on illegal aliens and a border fortress. Instead, you pandered to Felipe Calderon and his predecessor, Vincente Fox.
Your decision to allow your ‘dear friend’ Johnny Sutton to maliciously prosecute two Border Agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean for doing their jobs, is a travesty. (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/13/a-dear-friends-justice/)
I was also sickened by your acquiescence to the union/auto industry/banking/Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae bailout crowd.
I wish you had rallied the Republican party by showing more support and returning to the tenets of the conservative base, and that of the constituents.
Having said that, John McCain lost the election even among Republicans, for those very reasons.
Bottom line: I will defend you for all of the good things you accomplished and level criticism for the things you left unfinished.
Good luck, President Bush. I wish you and your family a healthy, happy life.