W's legacy: He kept us safe

The changing of the guard in America will occur in January and we have already seen a major terrorist attack in India, as promised by al-Qaida when they warned of attacks before inauguration day.

No matter how anyone feels about President George W. Bush, the truth of his presidency is clear: he kept us safe. He responded to the terrorism attacks of 9/11/01 and vowed to the American people that he would protect us ... and he has.

Few acknowledge gratitude, due largely to the mainstream media that successfully squashed the good this president did and, instead, concentrated on the negatives.

But the bottom line remains: President George W. Bush kept us safe. We were able to continue our lives without interruption even as our military men and women fought in Afghanistan and Iraq ... we were able to shop in our malls, watch our children's soccer games, continue with our political process, enjoy a strong economy even in the face of possible financial tanking by major airlines and financial institutions in the days and weeks after 9/11.

Ronald Kessler has a great article in the December 2008 News Max magazine that praises our 43rd President, saying:

I count as a plus Bush's taking down a man who killed 300,000 people, a man who convinced his own generals that he had weapons of mass destruction that they were supposed to use. But despite warnings from some quarters, Bush did not ensure that the war was prosecuted correctly after the invasion. He then had the courage to turn things around with the surge in Iraq.

Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act helped to reintroduce the successful program of phonics — sounding out letters — to reading instruction. Now tests are reporting significant improvement in reading scores throughout the nation. In some areas, the achievement gap between black and white students has been cut in half.

Granted, the economy has taken a tremendous dive, and the stock market is scary, but the truth is, Bush did not have a lot to do with the combination of factors that came together to make the economy implode.

Almost since taking office, Bush did warn about the need to bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under control. He introduced legislation to do so. Each time, Democrats and Republicans in Congress rejected the measures. Ultimately, he took bold action to help fix the financial meltdown.

Mr. Kessler goes more into the achievements of this President but, mostly, reminds us all that we have been safe since 9/11:

As FBI Director Robert Mueller has told me, al-Qaida’s goal is to wipe us out with nuclear weapons. The media and liberal politicians will tell you it’s an accident or a matter of luck that we have not experienced a terrorist attack since 9/11.

They are dead wrong.

On Thanksgiving, we [enjoyed] our turkey and cranberry sauce in safety thanks to the sweeping changes Bush instigated in the intelligence community and the work of the FBI, the CIA, and our military under Bush’s direction.

Will we see acts of terrorism rise under President Barack Obama's watch? All indications are ... yes.