Day By Day

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Good President [continued]

Steven Thomma, writing for the McClatchy Newspaper Group, asks:

WASHINGTON — Is George W. Bush about to start a political comeback?

Written off as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history when he left office, the 63-year-old Bush has been keeping a low profile, fading from view as the country turned its attention to his successor, President Barack Obama .

Now, some events might be turning in Bush's favor just as he and his family emerge to tell their side of the story, first with the release this week of Laura Bush's memoir, "Spoken From the Heart," then in November with the release of his book, "Decision Points."

"The rehab's well under way," said Mark McKinnon , a Bush confidant who still bikes with the former president in Texas .

Read it here.

I certainly hope so. The image of President Bush, promoted by the Democrats and assiduously spread by major news organizations, was largely false. A well-educated and intellectually formidable man was portrayed as a dunce; a man of integrity was portrayed as a liar and a schemer; a comparatively efficient and effective war effort was portrayed as a fiasco; blunders by State and local officials were portrayed as failures on the part of the Bush administration; the list goes on and on. Usually it takes several decades for such nonsense to be corrected. In this case I think it is only appropriate that the effort begin now, while the principals are still alive.

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