Watching George W. Bush take part in the ceremonial event to open the new presidential library built in his honor sure made me miss the guy.
W. certainly made mistakes during his time as commander-in-chief. Big ones. He misjudged and mismanaged, and has taken blame from both the left and the right for years. But what person, watching him moved to tears after delivering his speech given with the essence of sincerity, didn’t feel fondness for the 43rd president, and a little longing?
Bush never intentionally did anything to damage the country. Who knows what Obama’s intentions are, but he hasn’t done anything yet to prove that he isn’t trying to run the U.S. into the ground.
The Washington Times reports that I’m not alone in my nostalgia:
Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who’d covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she’d had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on.
We reminisced about all the places we’d been, all the crazy days and wild nights, all the history we’d seen — first hand. Just before we said our goodbyes, I asked her if she’d miss covering President Obama.
“Not at all. He’s an inch deep. Bush is a bottomless chasm, a deep, mysterious, emotional, profound man. Obama is all surface — shallow, obvious, robotic, and, frankly, not nearly as smart as he thinks. Bush was the one.”
Her words, so succinct, have stuck with me ever since. By the way, she’s a hardcore Democrat.
What a contrast Obama was standing there, smug and arrogant, next to the fun-loving, masculine Texan and all his boyish charm. Bush just seems like he’d be the best guest at a barbecue cookout. B.O. stinks more than ever.