The Curious Case of George Dub-ya

One of my awesome readers (my sister), had brought up an event that took place in my home town the other day. George W. Bush, the most recent former President of the United States; visited Calgary. So she asked for my opinion on the whole thing. Well, I'm not about to turn down a chance to do that. So in the words of Heath Ledger's "Joker"... Here.. we.. go..!

Now I know we all have our opinions of the man, and he is someone that inspires very polarizing opinions. This is evident by the 200+ protesters that showed up outside the convention center where he was giving his speech. To give you some background, this was his first official speech since leaving the White House. It was a private, invitation only event that included many business people, Media celebs, and former and current political officers. It was an hour long speech where he spoke of his 8 years in office. Anyone wanting to read in depth about the visit can check out http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/03/17/cgy-bush-speech-calgary.html As a side note, please don't comment here about conspiracy theories of the US government blowing up the WTC, pentagon etc. I've been through them all, and find it all to be unfounded and untrue. Thanks.

Anyhow, back to my opinion. Yes, Bush was not the greatest President to come out of the lower 48. He's not a hero. I personally was not a big fan of his 2nd term in particular. But is he a war criminal like some are labeling him? NO. Is he an evil tyrant? No. Is he single handidly responsible for the economic down turn of the U.S.A. because of his policies? Not completely. I fell that George W. Bush has become that outlet for a frustrated people. And I think a portion of the criticism he faces is not entirely warranted. The fact of the matter is, he was unfortunately the President during one of the most difficult times in our generation. America found itself under attack by foreign terrorists, and the people demanded immediate action. He had to make tough decisions. Could they have been done another way? Absolutely, but folks, hindsight is 20/20. The only way people learn is by trial and error. And we've learned through Bush's mistakes for sure. But let's cut the guy some slack in the fact that he had to make a decision, and he did the best he could at the time. Also take into account the fact that in reality, there are a whole team of people running the country. Bush does not make every decision for the country, it's more like he is a manager in a corporation. He monitors things, makes executive decisions etc, but the majority of the work is done by his staff. Now here again, bush fell down by having a few characters in his staff who were less than glowing. All in all people, I guess what I'm trying to say is, that although i don't agree with everything he did, or how his term ended, I certainly don't think he was the anti-Christ. I don't think he's an evil, tyrant, torturer. I think he did the best he could with what he had, and it is what it is. I certainly don't think he was the worst president of the U.S.A. i think in our day and age of technology and over zealous media, he was over characterized. I wouldn't want him running my country, but you won't see me tossing foot wear at him anytime soon. I'd rather like to just see him ride off into the big Texas sunset and slip into mediocrity like a majority of the other 43 presidents. Just my thoughts.