Kyle Gebhart

Things I Like About George W.

In the past months I’ve been reading up on the Iraq war a lot, and they have plenty to say about W…and almost none of it good. Although Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, and Wolfowitz take many punches as well; the buck stops in the Oval Office, and Bush takes a pounding from the liberals as well as the old guard conservatives.

With Bush’s approval rating showing no liklihood of improving - I thought it would be nice to take a few moments to give a list of the things I actually appreciate about his unique brand of leadership.

• Decisiveness: Whether you believe in his policies or not - you have to appreciate the fact that when the man makes a decision, it is clear he’d made a decision. There is little waffling, posturing, or maneuvering to avoid making the call.

• Idealism: In some ways (according to his critics) one of his greatest weaknesses as well - he sets his mind on ideas and forms policy around those ideas - vs. a “Colin Powell” style pragmatism that can become paralyzing.

• Down-to-earth: He holds international meetings at his ranch, and invites the leaders or Arab nations to jump in his 4×4 for a spin around the property while he gets to know them. You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the boy. Bush’s folksy charm is one of his most winning qualities.

• Sincerity: Goes hand-in-hand with his idealism. I believe our president really means well when he speaks of spreading democratic ideals like seeds throughout the Middle East - he has a strong belief in the ’spirit’ of America (we won’t get into theology on that one…today).

So, for all you political cynics out there, chew on that for awhile.

“Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.”
President George Bush,
January 10, 2007

One of my friends indicated that Bush admitted making a mistake in Iraq.

Honestly, I was hoping for more than the above quote.

Where have mistakes been made - what lessons were learned and applied?

When Clinton failed morally - we (meaning the church) endlessly berated and criticised. Yes, it was an abominable abuse of authority and a profound failure. “The Right” was dead-set on impeaching him.

Were the mistakes leading up to Iraq greater, lesser, or is it a matter of comparing apples to oranges? I’m not sure of any satisfactory answer - but I just was hoping for more from our President.

I truly enjoy our President, and appreciate his efforts to keep us safe, but I continue to pray and hope that the entire Republican ’system’ can move more in the direction of personal accountability, humility, and away from political posturing. Especially those who declare Christ and reflect upon Him in their decisions.

Admitting you’ve made mistakes is difficult - but the source of great spiritual maturity when done without defending yourself - it cleanses the soul.