2 puzzling questions
In his limited public appearances since leaving office George W. Bush has basked in the role of respected elder statesman. But had it not been for Donald Trump’s disastrous four years in the White House, George W. would probably own the title of the worst American president in modern times.
Bush left office in 2009 with a voter approval rating in the low 20s, the lowest of any president in the 20th century. His much-improved ratings today (40-50) do not reflect an improved public opinion of his performance as much as his exemplary behavior since leaving office.
He has wisely avoided the limelight and comments on presidential politics. Although he continues to advocate immigration reform, he mostly concentrates on private concerns, including his fight against AIDS in Africa. But little should have changed in the public mind concerning George W.’s foreign and domestic policies while president and he has certainly never apologized for anything.
For starters George W. Bush was the only U.S. president to have ever cut taxes and started a war in the same year. And his 2002 decision to invade Iraq was among the worst foreign policy choices ever made by a U.S. president. Equally short-sighted was his removal of Saddam Hussein from power with absolutely no plans to govern Iraq once the shooting stopped. This upset the fragile MiddleEastern balance of power and rekindled long-existing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen and elsewhere. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!
As I have emphasized previously, the British were once able to control Middle East, a mostly tribal society, by strategically playing a balance-of-power game. But they observed one cardinal rule: they would support the various Arab powers with financing and naval and air power, but they never committed their own ground forces in appreciable numbers; no “boots on the ground.” George W. Bush apparently learned nothing from this, and we are no closer today to a settlement there than we were 20 years ago.
In 2009 Barack Obama inherited the worst economy of any U.S. president since the Great Depression. The Bush 43 Administration, with some previous help from Bill Clinton, I might add, removed many of the protective provisions of the 1933 Glass-steagall Banking Act, including restrictions on the sale of over-the-counter derivatives and credit default swaps. These rather careless policies allowed many people to obtain real estate mortgages who were not even minimally qualified to take on such debt. The result? The home-loan market began to disintegrate. As things worsened economically the balance sheets of major corporations, including General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, also began to head south. And more trouble loomed ahead.
On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed his Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law and kicked off the longest period of continuous economic growth in American history. Beginning in September 2009 American economic growth has been steadily positive every quarter since. But, no surprise, Donald Trump has taken full credit for the growth that began over four years before he was elected.
Two questions that still puzzle me: How could the United States, with only 4% of the word’s population, have over 20% of the world’s coronavirus cases? From a possible lack of presidential leadership? And since the presidential election Trump hasn’t made one move or issued one statement to combat the further spread of the coronavirus. How did this bird come so close to being reelected?