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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR TERRORISM TODAY ARE… Hindsight is 20/20, which is why most respectable historians acknowledge that no American President can be properly judged until he has been out of office for at least 20 years. Ideas that seem brilliant or idiotic at the time seem the opposite 10 years later and are proven to be opposite yet again within another 10 years, thus the need for at least 20 years of reflection. Harry Truman left office virtually disgraced in 1953 for America's involvement in the Korean War, yet now is hailed as courageous and widely viewed as one of our greatest leaders for his decision to end World War II via the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings. He has also finished no lower than 7th in any of the public popularity opinion polls held annually in the last 20 years (for those of you who attended public school, we've had 43 presidents so far so finishing 7th is darn good). History has been kind to Mr. Truman. Richard Nixon left office with the lowest approval rating of any president in history yet today is remembered in a more positive light than his Watergate dalliances would indicate. He's certainly not one of the top 10, but he's no longer believed to be in the bottom 10 by either historians or the public at large. Bill Clinton left office with the highest approval rating of any exiting president, yet today is widely viewed as a fairly non-descript president in terms of actual accomplishments and may yet go down in history as one of the worst ever once the truth is written about the terrorism movement of today. It is a long standing truth in public America that the current president is the worst in history. Many forget or lie about the fact that FDR, Reagan, and Clinton were all referred to that way a myriad of times while in office. Current goofball-in-chief George W. Bush is constantly cited as the worst, most dangerous president in our history yet alone modern times, which brings us to this week's column (finally, right)? I am tired, tired, tired of hearing that George W. Bush has in any was caused or incited terrorism. I am equally sickened that such claims force me into a position to defend this idiot, but I am fair and truthful first. Of all the U.S. Presidents of the past 30 years, Bush is the least responsible for our current terrorist threat. The argument that Iraq has been turned into a terrorist haven is an asinine one on a variety of levels, most notably because terrorists are like ants; you can fumigate your home on Tuesday and the ants will simply travel to your neighbor's house until Friday. Some will stay at your neighbor's and set up new hills, others will come back, either way the total number of ants is virtually unchanged. Additionally, the idea that Iraq or any of Bush's policies are "angering" the terrorists and encouraging them to attack us begs the question "what were they angry about on 9/11 when we weren't in Iraq?" More on that later. There is a reason that being the leader of the free world is described as the most powerful position on Earth. It comes with a variety of privileges and responsibilities, most notably the obligation to protect and defend the greatest nation on Earth by not only confronting the threats of today, but by also defusing the threats of tomorrow. Great leadership is defined by seeing things before they happen and solving problems before they exist, while at the same time, adapting to and overcoming those circumstances for which you were neither briefed on nor prepared for. JFK demonstrated great leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Reagan did the same in brining down the Soviet Union. Others, however, when faced with the burgeoning threat of Islamic terrorism looked the other way and hid, hoping their legacies would be preserved by later presidents' actions, or simply naively believing that the radical Islamists weren't really that dangerous. The naiveté of some leaders brings us back to the question about why we were attacked on 9/11. The answer is simple; because evil people exist and want to kill us. The continuing attempts to explain others countries' and cultures' hatred of us and ours is tiring and nauseating. It is irrelevant if they are jealous, poor, or feel victimized by the "imperialistic" United States. Trying to rationalize terrorism by pointing to past American decisions is equivalent to not prosecuting child molesters because the molester was raped by his father. It's ill-conceived apologetic crap whose time has come and gone. Without further adieu, I present to you in descending order (that means we start with the most responsible and work downward) the American presidents most responsible for today's terrorist threat facing the free world:
Perhaps the absolute worst president in American history, he can now proudly wear the sash of the man that allowed Islamic terrorism to begin in its infancy and did nothing to stop it. Imagine the Muslim world's reaction when the United States allowed its own citizens to be taken and held hostage for more than a year with no military response. America had become soft and vulnerable and they knew it. Had carter taken bold military action immediately (wiping out the radicals at their start), and then initiated a program similar to post-WWII Japan to build up pro-American sentiment our entire history could have been dramatically altered.
#2 Bill Clinton On the other end of the spectrum from Carter is Clinton, who cannot claim naiveté as Carter can, who thought he could "talk" his way out of the Iranian hostage crisis. By the time Clinton was president the terrorist threat was real and palpable and needed to be dealt with. Unfortunately, Clinton was too busy riding high on our ignorant belief that we as a nation were in "peace time." He did nothing in response to the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. He made us look the fool and weak in Mogadishu (further emboldening the world to believe that America runs) and he turned down an offer from Sudan to take Usama Bin Laden into custody pre- 9/11. Way to go Bill.
#3 George H. W. Bush Bush's daddy blew it with the Persian Gulf War. In order to get his over-hyped international coalition, Bush had to agree that the mission was to simply remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, not from power. By doing so, he allowed more festering of America's weak image and left in place a known supporter of America hating terrorists. There is no proof that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11, but there is plenty of proof that he had plenty to do with Al Qaeda. Do the math.
#4 Ronald Reagan The greatest president since JFK did make a major blunder in relation to radical Islam. He failed to react to the Beirut killings of more than 200 U.S. Marines (again emboldening the terrorists that America was weak) and he supported Usama Bin Laden's army in Afghanistan to defeat the Soviet Union, thus creating a monster. Reagan gets a pass on most of this because he made these decisions while choosing to fight the evil of the time, communism. He still must take his share of the responsibility.
#5 George W. Bush His supporters herald his "courage," and the fact that he "says what he means." Fine, great good. He's a bumbling fool who may or may not have stumbled upon the secret to peace in the Middle East; democratize nations one at a time. We won't know for decades whether Bush has done more harm or good, despite what his detractors say right now, but what we do know is that he is not responsible for terrorism today. Some will argue that he is perpetuating and continuing the failed policies of America, which may be a viable position, but still is not one of fault origin. Bush has, at worst, done nothing to stop the terrorists and has simply "spread the ants" to new locales. At best, he's shown that America is no longer a nation of pansies and runners. Either way, the ideologues who try to pin new terrorist attacks on him are lame, sad and transparent, making them wholly irrelevant.
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