The respect that President Bush never got

Bottom line: President George W. Bush was never given a fair chance. Period. Does anyone remember the protests, signs saying "All hail the crackhead" and eggs being thrown at his motorcade in January 2001 during the inaugural parade? This behavior was happening well before he even took office -- before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, before Guantanamo Bay, before the Valerie Plame blame game, before any of the controversies occurred in the Bush Administration.

That display of extreme disrespect followed President Bush throughout his entire eight years in office (and is clearly still being shown today, mostly by certain groups of American citizens, from what I've seen). It's no wonder that people all over the world keep saying he's the "worst president in U.S. history," which, by the way, isn't exactly true.

So his approval rating is currently just under 30 percent. So what? Has anyone heard of President Truman? His approval ratings plummetted to 22 percent during the Korean War, and I don't think he ever quite recovered from that. Meanwhile, LBJ's (remember the Vietnam War?) approval ratings never dipped below 35 percent, despite the mess into which he led our country. And no one seems to remember JFK's involvement in launching the Vietnam War either, and meanwhile he has one of the highest presidential approval ratings still! It seems that history has forgiven the previous "warmonger" presidents, but I wonder if it will be as kind to President Bush?

My personal belief is that the domino effect has taken place regarding the disrespect that President Bush has endured during his time in office. The media focuses on a few groups of people who chant and hold signs that call Bush all sorts of names, and other people are influenced by witnessing these vast displays of discontent with the president. It's hard not to let so much negativity seep into your subconscious -- myself included. The more discontent I see directed towards the president, the lower my approval rating of his performance has been. I freely admit that!

And yet President Bush doesn't get credit for the fact that he's had to face unique challenges that no other president has yet had to face, such as the War on Terror and a struggling economy, neither of which is his fault. People are certainly allowed to voice their opinions and disagree with the Bush Administration, but to my way of thinking, there are proper and respectable ways to do so without all the name calling! Come on, how old are we?

That's today's little rant. Wow, I'm tired! Sure hope this posting is coherent... :)