"W" Stands For "Why hate him?"

President George W. Bush will be treated far kinder in the history books than he is today; I think even liberals would have to agree with that. He has done his job extremely well, and again even liberals can't argue against the fact he has restored a strong sense of respect and morality to the Oval Office, which his predecessor surrendered. But the polls strongly say they disapprove of his job performance, and clearly Democratic congressional leaders say and do anything to minimize him--even at the detriment of our country (in my opinion, anyway). So why is he hated so? Because of his policies? Because his speech isn't so eloquent? Because "the buck stops here" with the President? I think the answer is simple: His faith.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:22, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." Our President understands the importance of having the Almighty a part of every decision he makes, because the impacts can affect so many. By some he is known as the "praying President", and for that we should be thankful. Is George W. Bush fallible? Certainly. With God as an integral part of his life, though, we can trust that the impact of his mistakes will be minimized.

So you say, "What about Iraq?" Well, what about it? Before we took out Saddam Hussein, even the Democrats supported removing him from power, and "regime change" was a policy set forth by the Clinton administration. The United Nations proved itself spineless and was going to do nothing to enforce resolutions, so the US under President Bush's guidance did the enforcement they should have. After 9/11, we went to war with Al Qaeda almost a decade after they declared "jihad" on us. President Bush's doctrine called for "preemption", which in this war to me is simply going on the offensive: go after terrorists and any country that harbors them. Evidence shows that Iraq hosted Al Qaeda training camps; further, over 500 metric tons of yellow cake, used to produce weapons-grade uranium, was recovered. All of this going on during the 1990s while the US expended the life of its tactical fighter force drilling holes in the sky over the Iraq "no fly zones." Yet with these slivers of evidence, and certainly more to come, he's hated and accused of taking on an "illegal war". It's not about the war, it's about his faith. Show me one Christian that spews this kind of hate, and I'll show you a living oxymoron.

I even heard for a while a few evangelists giving the President a hard time for his decisions, but then they quited down. One spoke openly about how he realized he shouldn't question what God was doing with the President. Maybe that was contagious. We all see through "peep holes", God has the big picture. If our President is seeking the Lord for guidance, and is surrounding himself with people who do the same, we should know our place behind that peep hole and have faith God will guide the hand and decisions of our President.

Little, if anything, has been said about the legacy of George W. Bush. I got so sick of hearing about what Clinton's legacy would be eight years ago. I believe the war on terror is Clinton's legacy, because he literally had his entire two terms (after the WTC attack of 1993) to take care of business. I would say, beyond the wisdom he left with us, Reagan's legacy was the prosperity of the 1990s. Reagan never took his coat off in the Oval Office, he revered the Presidency so much. I do not believe God will let our current President have an empty legacy, but a fruitful one. While the situation is not inclined to it now, I believe America's best days will be seen in the next ten years. The United States will (finally) experience energy independence, and tell Saudi Arabia and Venezuela where they can stick their oil. Federal spending will be reeled in and the debt reduced. Why do I say these things? Because while George W. Bush was hated, he stood firm. And I have faith that God's Word does not return void.