Bush Thankathon Rolls On

Bloggers remember as we count down the last days of a great presidency and a good man!

President George W. Bush strides to Marine One Friday, Jan. 16, 2009, as he prepares to depart the White House for Camp David from the South Lawn. White House photo by Chris Greenberg

All this week we have celebrated the presidency of George W. Bush and the very loving nature of this good man and his family. In the closing days bloggers from all over the country continue to share their memories, impressions and thoughts.

Cajun Tiger, who has been to Iraq twice, offers this:

History will be the judge and if Obama doesn't reverse all the progress made over the last year by removing troops too quickly, Bush's decision to invade Iraq and stick with it to the end, especially with the surge, will be a very defining moment in the region that will continue to produce positive results.

Gayle at Dragon Lady's Den offers a personal welcome home from one Texan to another.

President Bush will soon be coming home to Texas, and I'm not only thanking him for what he has done in keeping us safe, showing us that he truly is a man of compassion, and not being afraid to mention God - but as Texas is my adopted home state - I'm also welcoming him home.

This week, many of us have focused on the moving and heartfelt farewell address that President Bush delivered from the East Room at the White House on Thursday night. Both The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth and The Further Adventures of Indigo Red posted the address in total. Yours truly posted excerpts with photos from that night.

Photographs from the Bush years have been one of the best ways to communicate the full heart and soul of this good man as well as the history he has made. I'll be posting a pictorial wrap up as the grand finale of our thankathon.

Right Think with Rivka has been on fire all week showing her appreciation for this great and good man:

Thanks Mr. Bush for bringing integrity back into the White House and for keeping us safe. You had to do a lot of unpopular things to keep us safe and you were willing to risk your 'legacy' to do what was right which is unheard of in politics these days. Thanks!

Timothy at His Own Private Possession shares with us his story of meeting Mr. Bush in 1992 and covering his visit as a report for the Wichita Falls Times Record News:

I wasn't a sports writer, but for some reason, the editors did not want me writing on what he said about his dad, so they sent me to ask questions about the Rangers. George probably figured that one out long before I did, but he was gracious nonetheless.

His response to my first question: "The same thing they have always needed, good pitching." We probably talked for another 20 minutes or so and he was extremely pleasant to interview. I'm really glad because I was quite nervous at the time. I thought interviewing him was a bit above my pay grade, and writing a sports story, at that time, was way out of my area of expertise.

I'm grateful he was nice about it. Because that really helped me at the time.

It will be sad when he leaves office. He and his family really are a class act. It's too bad that many in the country will never see it that way. I'm glad that I do.

Timothy: millions and millions of us see it exactly the same way you do.

Dee at Conservatism with Heart was the originator of the idea for the Thankathon and she's done some great work on the topic all week. Dee captured the essence of the Bush presidency with these few words from Winston Churchill:

"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."--Sir Winston Churchill

Our goal has been to not only share our thoughts on the Bush presidency but to highlight that of fellow bloggers as well. Dee does that with two great posts by the Anchoress.

First: "The Essential President Bush:"

How you receive a good has a lot to do with whether any more “good” comes your way. The Conservatives got a “good” in 2000 and 2004; they’re receiving it very badly, indeed. I think the throwing-under-the-bus-of-George-W-Bush by “the base” is one of the most shameful things I have ever witnessed in all my years of watching politics, from both sides of the political spectrum. How do you receive a good?

The second is an extraordinary list of the things President Bush got right. It's from a 2007 post by the Anchoress but rings stronger with each passing year. Here is just a sample:

--Has he inspired the Iraqi people to finally believe enough in freedom to fight AlQaeda with us? YES!
--Has he figured out that a free and engaged Middle East makes America safer? Yes.
--Has he kept you safe since 9/11? So safe that you’ve almost forgotten to fear? Yes.
--Did he protect us from the reach & province of the International Criminal Court? Yes.
--Did he keep us from the Kyoto mess that is currently tying up Europe? Yes.
--Did he inspire Libya to surrender it’s WMD without firing a shot? Yes.
--Did he appoint excellent SCOTUS and Federal Judges to the bench? Yes.
--Did he implement the NSA terrorist eavesdropping program? Yes.
--Has he handled himself with enormous courage, dignity and grace in the face of world/media/hate?

At Flopping Aces Mata Harley excerpts from the always excellent Thomas Sowell who wisely said:

Whatever history’s verdict on the Bush administration might be, it is likely to be very different from what we hear from the talking heads on television or read from the know-it-alls on editorial pages.
...
That a President of the United States protected us from deadly enemies may not seem like much of an accomplishment to some. But it may be more fully appreciated when we get a President who eases up on that protection, in order to curry favor at home and abroad.

Wordsmith at Sparks from the Anvil has two contrasting posts. The top post examines Bush's deliberate mispronunciation of the word "nuclear." Clearly the man isn't' stupid but also doesn't mind poking fun at himself.

Wordsmith also goes into detail on one of President Bush's greatest accomplishments that has all but been ignored: his efforts to help the peoples and nations of Africa. No President has done more for Africa and Africans than President Bush and yet he is pilloried for supposedly hating black people because of the mess a black mayor Nagin of New Orleans made of that cities evacuation before Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

This second post at Flopping Aces goes beyond the statistics showing that because of President Bush's policy the US already donates a quarter of all foreign assistance to Africa. Wordsmith relates what that means in the lives of ordinary Africans who might otherwise be scarred by poverty or disease:

Three-year-old Faith Mang’ehe, whose mother is HIV positive, attends a roundtable session with her mother on AIDS relief with U.S. President George W. Bush at Amana District Hospital in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.

Tatu Msangi, a single Tanzanian mother, took the story of the success of PEPFAR to Congress during a State of the Union address last month.

She is a living testimony of just how, through PEPFAR, the Bush administration has saved a life deep in a remote African village.

Msangi testified how despite living with HIV, she received the necessary counseling and Nevirapine (medication) during her pregnancy, and subsequently delivered a bouncing HIV-free baby girl. Now, her daughter Faith Mang’ehe has a future, and Msangi hope, thanks to Bush’s Emergency Plan.

Yours truly has been busy all week keeping up with President Bush as he sprints to the finish of his eight year run in the White House. Aside from the excerpt and photos of the President's Farewell Address, I also posted:

• Closing Moments at the Bush White House: President Bush awards the Medal of Freedom to Tony Blair, hosts his last cabinet meeting and the Bush homeland security team takes the unprecedented step to conduct an orientation event for the incoming Obama team.
• The Monument to the Bush Presidency: are the thousands of American lives that have been spared the horror of another September 11th attack due to the decisive action by President Bush. A list of foiled attacks is presented to remind those who think Bush is so awful that they and their family members are alive today because of him.
• Comforter in Chief relates some key moments when President Bush showed the caring and loving side of his nature so many of us came to admire.

More to come as we count down the final days of a great presidency!