Ten Things Bush did right?

Over on CK's blog, he has listed the 'Ten Things Bush Did Right.'

I find myself unable to agree with more than one of them.

CK claims (and I respond):

1. He stood against global warming. Which has proven to be a prudent decision. Standing against a popular theory because of conflicting evidence is heroic. Standing against a popular theory because you're knee deep in shenanigans with the oil industry and Saudi Arabia is merely self serving and crooked. While some have claimed that 2008 is the year 'Global Warming was Disproved', I don't think that had anything to do with Bush's 'stand.'
   
2. He enhanced interrogation of terrorists. He condoned torture. How anybody could possibly claim that this was a 'good' thing is beyond me. Civilized societies don't perform torture. A society that condones torture to 'protect' itself isn't a society worth protecting. At least John McCain (the only Republican who's actually BEEN tortured) had the guts to stand up and attack this absolutely indefensible precedent.
   
3. Rebuilt presidential authority. For a start, the reins of power in the Bush administration were held by Dick Cheney. An incumbent President who defers to his Vice President isn't exactly wielding much authority. But consider other actions Bush condoned - helping cover up the conspiracy to 'out' CIA agent Valerie Plame, dismissing US attorneys for political gain, misleading the public into a costly foreign war and leading the country into the worst economic crisis for a generation. His was a presidency of cronyism, deceit, fraud and disrespect towards the American people and the beliefs outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
   
4. Unswerving support for Israel. I will admit, my sympathies are generally towards Israel - I have Israeli friends and I can understand that they can't exactly sit on their hands when Hamas or Hezbollah are firing rockets at civilians. However, as far as the diplomatic situation in the Middle East goes, this 'unswerving support' for Israel is one of the major sticking points that has left America open to terrorism. Unswerving support isn't what Israel needs. It needs support dependent entirely on responsible behavior.
   
5. No Child Left Behind. While No Child Left Behind has seen test scores improve, Bush let the side down by supporting billions of dollars for totally ineffective abstinence-only sex education, which left many teenagers with children of their own! In addition, he allowed the religious right to force their propaganda into the curriculum across the country, teaching a generation of kids Biblical fairy tales as if they were fact. In addition to vetoing the health care extension for children, Bush actually left many, many kids behind in the interests of courting the religious right.
   
6. Promoted democracy. Bush won his first term through the Supreme Court, rather than the electorate. He promoted unilateral military action in opposition to the democratic principles of the UN. The Patriot Act, amid other legislation, undermined all American's constitutional rights. Bush's presidency was marked with a sharp departure from responsible, transparent government which has made some of America's actions overseas appear deeply hypocritical.
   
7. Medicare prescription drug benefits. Finally, George does something right... Kind of. This expansion actually led to the current situation in the United States, in which Americans pay vastly inflated prices for drugs pharmaceutical companies sell cheaper in neighbouring Canada. It's a cash cow for pharma, and a huge waste of money for taxpayers.
   
8. Supreme court appointments, John Roberts and Sam Alito. Conservatives often accuse liberals of using the Supreme Court as a way of 'legislating from the bench.' They would know. Alito and Roberts were appointed to pad the Supreme Court with conservatives in order to support a right-wing agenda that had little to do with the law or the constitution.
   
9. Foreign relations with Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India. Good Lord, I can hardly contain my excitement! I don't wish to undermine Bush's achievements, but foreign relations weren't exactly terrible with these nations in the first place. Had he made headroads with Iran, Syria, Cuba or Venezuela, then I'd be impressed.
   
10. Troop surge. The surge worked, don't get me wrong. However, it's questionable whether Bush can claim to have 'done right' when the surge itself was in response to something he'd 'done wrong.' The war in Iraq is arguably Bush's most damning legacy. The surge was merely a response to that. When somebody breaks a glass full of milk, do they get to claim credit for merely mopping the mess up?
    

McCain wins New Hampshire

The Republicans of New Hampshire have spoken - and they've backed McCain as the man to lead their party to the White House.

Nearly ten points clear of rival Mitt Romney, McCain won the state through the support of independent voters - who were attracted by his moderate policies and strength of character.

For America, this is fantastic news. McCain stands a real chance of getting the Republican nomination and if it's a battle between him and Barack Obama, America is in the blissful situation of being able to 'cherry pick' their 44th President from two excellent candidates.

Why I Back McCain

A few weeks ago, I really came to admire Arizona Senator John McCain.

It was at one of the Republican debates and McCain was in discussion with the 'usual suspects.' Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and, of course, good old Fred Thompson.

Since Republican debates normally sink into discussion of homosexuality, abortion or 'national security,' it was no surprise that the candidates started ranting about how they were going to 'keep America safe' and what they were willing to do in order to achieve that.

And interrogation came up.

Specifically, what President Bush and the CIA euphemistically call 'enhanced interrogation techniques.' In other words, water boarding and other questioning techniques that are tantamount to torture.

Man for man, each of the Republican candidates stood firmly behind these 'enhanced interrogation techniques' and declared how important they were in keeping America safe.

“If I didn't use intensive questioning," Rudy Giuliani boasted, "there would be a lot of Mafia guys running around New York right now, and crime would be a lot higher in New York than it is.”

There was a lot of posturing, a lot of machismo and the scent of testosterone was heavy in the air. Until, that is, the question was handed to the white-haired senator from Arizona.

He flat out refused to consider 'enhanced interrogation techniques.' There was no beating around the bush. No political fluffery. Just a straight up, honest no.

"The United States is not like the terrorists," McCain explained. "What we are is a nation that upholds values and standards of behavior and treatment of all people, no matter how evil or bad they are."

For the right-wing conservatives sitting at home, the senator might have seemed to have wimped out - but as I saw it, he'd made every single Republican candidate in that debate look like a loud, bawling baby.

John McCain won my (Republican) support during that debate.

McCain in the Know

What did Senator McCain bring to that debate that none of the other candidates had? And what gave his condemnation of torture such impressive weight?

The fact that John McCain was the only one of those politicians who'd ever had first-hand experience of what they were boasting about. In August 1968, as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain had been brutally tortured over the course of four long days.

Torture Garden

In July of 1968, McCain had already been a prisoner of the Viet Cong for almost a year. He was a skinny, sickly shadow of the dashing pilot who'd been behind the joystick of an A-4 Skyhawk when it was shot down during an attack on Hanoi's thermal power plant.

But he was strong willed and determined, despite long months in solitary confinement.

In fact, McCain was only selected for 'special treatment' by his captors when his father, Admiral Jack McCain Jnr, was made Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command.

As a good-will gesture, the Viet Cong offered to return the commander's son to American soil - but the young John McCain refused to go until every single one of the Viet Cong's prisoners captured before him were released as well.

"First in," McCain explained, repeating the Code of Conduct of the US Fighting Forces, "last out."

Angry at the defiant young airman, the Viet Cong began what would John McCain's introduction into the effects of torture.

He was tightly bound with rope - squeezing his limbs and joints into unnatural positions for days at a time. Twice hourly, guards would come into his cell and beat him with their fists and lengths of bamboo. His bones were deliberately broken. His teeth were beaten and cracked from his jaw.

John McCain always recounts that the Vietnamese were successful in breaking his spirit - but even when McCain was brutally coerced to give the names of his squadron members, he cynically gave the Viet Cong the names of the Green Bay Packer's offensive line instead.

In all, John McCain spent nearly six years as a Prisoner of War and during those years, he probably learned more about the 'art' of torture than any man should in several lifetimes.

So forty years later, it was probably with a great deal of disgust that he witnessed American politicians - possibly amongst them the man who would become the 44th President of the United States, discussing and advocating the disgusting techniques he'd so brutally experienced at the hands of the Viet Cong.

There are many other reasons why John McCain stands head and shoulders above any of the other Republican nominees - but it was his determination and strength-of-character in that debate than won him over for me.