Congratulations, Mr. Bush

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Congratulations, Mr. Bush - Now I Own You
by J. Edward Tremlett, Columnist

November 19, 2004

"Down On the rANT Farm"

J. Edward Tremlett Dear Mr. President:

So you've won the election. I send you my congratulations, which are in order, even if the electoral vote was a pretty slim thing towards the end. After all, this time you did win the popular vote, even if it was also pretty slim, all things considered (2%, or so they say).

Now, I won't lie to you: I didn't vote for you the second time around. I felt that, based on your lackluster performance of the last four years, you did not deserve reelection. I said that I thought you just didn't get it, and I meant it.

I was not 100% convinced that John Kerry was the best person to replace you, no. But as he was the only candidate with a fireball's chance in Hel of winning, I voted for him. So did a lot of other people, too, but not enough - not nearly enough.

So you have won, and - again - I give you my congratulations. But the question remains as to whether America won on the 3rd of November. The answer to the question will take another four years to fully realize, but how you start off your second, and final, term is going to be a strong indicator.

I will put it to you straight, sir: if you really want to make this term better than the last one, and capitalize on your "historic" victory, then you need to change how you have done business. Unlike your opponent, I'm not willing to concede that we all "won" just because we woke up as Americans the morning after. Tell that to anyone who suffered under eight years of Bill Clinton.

And that's something you should really take to heart, Mr. President. Otherwise, you are in strong danger of becoming the Bill Clinton of the Republican Party (minus the sex scandals, one would hope) - a "successful" President who only ever squeaked into office, and spent his time polarizing the country and souring the national discourse.

Bill Clinton may still be beloved by the party faithful, but he did a lot of damage to the Oval Office, and what it stands for. Ronald Reagan was also divisive and controversial, but at the end of the day he is recognized as having done a lot for his country. Clinton, however, is much like his erstwhile - and ironic - mentor, Richard M. Nixon: doomed to be remembered as "that President," rather than "the President."

In your victory speech, you said "To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."

That may or may not have been a throwaway line, but I'm going to hope you meant it. Because in the spirit of that promise, I'm going to make some suggestions by which you can earn my support and deserve my trust.

I don't expect you to follow all of them, and since you don't read papers - much less the internet - I suspect you might not even see them. All the same, I will give them to you, in the hopes that you take heed.

1) Win The War on Terror

I realize this is something of a no-brainer, but the way it's being handled is leading me to believe that brains are not being used in the process. Three years into the debacle we have two wars we're still fighting, a major adversary still at large and taunting us on television, borders that are not secure (unless you're a harmless musician) and two members of the so-called "Axis of Evil" with more secure positions than ever before. If this is a war, it's being handled about as well as the War on Drugs and the War on Poverty - badly.

Spare no expense and no resource to find Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice, along with every single twit who tries to fill his shoes thereafter. Stop short-changing law enforcement and give them the respect they deserve. Make certain we are equipped and prepared for another 9/11. Get Iran to stop its nuclear program and get North Korea back under control. Put real pressure on states that still sponsor terrorism, and do whatever it takes to get a real international coalition together to do it multilaterally.

And while you're at it...

2) Fire Donald Rumsfeld

I can't think of a more poisonous individual to have in your group of "trusted people." This man has turned our nation's military into a technology-blinded echo of its former self, and has to bear primary responsibility for the debacle Iraq has become. His tenure has been a joke, and the only thing he really brings to your table is his ability to handle the DC Press Corps.

Either kick him out publicly or talk him into taking an early vacation from public life - do whatever you have to do to save face, if you think you need to. But get Rumsfeld out of there and get someone else in there who will treat the job with something approaching sanity.

3) Stop The Leaking of Jobs Overseas

John Kerry was willing to look people in the eye and say that, even as President, he couldn't do it. But he could have, if he had to, and you can, too.

And here's a hint: it does not involve sending the recently unemployed to community college. It will instead involve a lot of those international treaties you don't like to get involved in, and would involve adopting a carrot and stick approach to big business, rather than just letting them forage in the carrot patch, themselves. But you can keep a hand on the global economy enough to slow the bleed to a trickle. Do so. Please.

4) Stop the Flow of Illegal Immigrants

Four a day is understandable. Four thousand a day is a sad joke. And what's this liberal malarkey about giving them jobs when they get over here? I expect that kind of nonsense from people like Kerry, not you.

I have sympathy for people fleeing repressive regimes, like Cuba, because it's either that or they're in front of a firing squad. I have no sympathy for people who march over the southern border from Mexico so they can be exploited by cheap-ass farmers. If their economy is in the dumps, they need to do what they can to reform their society in order to bring it up to speed, not run across our border. And if they want to get a green card and legally work, they have to wait in line like everyone else.

Beef up the border guard as much as you need to in order to have complete surveillance and total fear on the ground. Give them the non-lethal weaponry we've developed for riot control, and tell them to shoot to stun anyone who can't account for being where they are, and then send them right back. Make
knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant a Federal offense, and up the fines from the paltry ones they are now to ones with a lot more bite: why are we fining Howard Stern thousands of dollars while letting immigrant barons walk away with $100 per illegal employee?

5) Stump for REAL Educational Reform

Making kids pass a test that shows how badly their school systems failed them is not a substitute for making those school systems better. Stumping for vouchers so parents can send their kids from failing public schools into private schools does not fix the problem, either. It's time to stop putting band-aids on the wrong parts of their body and give them some real relief.

We need an overhaul of our educational system, and that's going to require you to use the bully pulpit to get it done, and get it done right. But in order to get it done right, you're going to need to ask the people on the frontlines of the problem what they're having to deal with. And that will mean listening to people who are going to tell you things you might not want to hear. Listen to them, anyway.

6) Be Fair in Israel/Palestine

It may be a moot point, as Chairman Arafat seems ready to fall over dead - or finally give into dementia - but as long as we're willing to talk to the Israelis and not the Palestinians, we are not going to get anywhere. We need both people at the table to get something accomplished, and we need that now more than ever with what's happened recently.

So it's all or nothing. If you won't talk to the Palestinians, don't talk to the Israelis. And don't give them a nickel in foreign aid, either. On the other hand, if you want to talk to the Israelis, then invite the Palestinians along, too. You don't have to like their leaders, but you can't talk about their future without having them at the table.

7) Stop this Gay Marriage Amendment Bull

The Federal Government should be subordinate to the States, and not the other way around. And the Constitution of the United States should be about GRANTING freedoms to people, and to states, not restricting them. Seen in that light, a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage is worse than a farce - it's a betrayal of our principles.

Let the states choose the matter for themselves. If Massachusetts wants to allow it, and Ohio, Arkansas, et. al. want to deny it, then so be it. People can vote with their feet, and you don't have to make a jackass of yourself trying to stammer your way through questions you don't dare give an honest answer to.

And finally...

8) Read a Newspaper, Dammit!

You should understand that it is very embarrassing, as an informed citizen, to hear that you won't pick up a newspaper and read what other people have to say. It is not the mark of someone who knows where he's going, or what he's doing: it's the mark of someone who doesn't want to listen to something that's going to make him think, or prove him wrong.

I know you think you are surrounded by good folks who know what they're talking about, but this is not always the case. You need to keep a finger on the pulse of the nation, both as our lawmaker-in-chief and as our delegate to the world. And you need to keep a finger on the pulse of the world as well, since your primary job is to deal with the rest of it.

Might I suggest the Wall Street Journal, at least?

This list isn't all-encompassing, but I don't have the time to sit and rant about every last disappointment, embarrassment and gripe from the last four years, and you don't have the stomach to read it. All I can do is try to hit the main points of contention and hope you take it to heart.

So congratulations, again, and good luck. I'll be pulling for you to succeed, and letting you know when your ideas of success aren't matching mine, or reality.

Yours,

J. Edward Tremlett

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this piece was submitted, PLO Chief Yasser Araft died in a Paris hospital.***

J. Edward Tremlett is a published author, political thinker and self-described "mean-spirited crank." He lives with his wife and two cats in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Photo of J. Edward Tremlett courtesy of staff files
All other images courtesy of the author