FAREWELL TO PRESIDENT BUSH

Mike Mecca -201-852-1067                                                              

Mike Ramaglia 201-697-7699 

The following statement has been issued by GOP Strong Co-Chairs Michael Ramaglia, Michael Mecca, Robert Fass and Ann Marie Pusterla.  

Bush will continue to be a controversial and polarizing figure for decades to come. But he served his country with devotion. He believed that America was and is a special place and he fought to keep it that way. He did not do everything right, but he does not deserve the cheap shots that have been taken at him for years. 

President Bush did his best to protect us from terrorists by taking the fight to them. Afghanistan and Iraq, like all wars did not go according to script. There were successes and failures --- but we had too many arm-chair generals telling us what was best from 8,000 miles away and too many people believing them. Thank God there were no 24 hour news channels and  internet bloggers during the Revolutionary War  – for surely the doomsayers would have persuaded Congress to abandon The War For  Independence after the first few skirmishes went badly for George Washington.  

A generation of liberal newscasters, reporters and activist raised on Sesame Street can’t quite fathom that there are people who hate America and the good things we stand for. They despise our freedom and our success. No amount of hand holding or capitulation will make them hate us less. There is nothing to negotiate with people who strap bombs to children and send them into crowded market places to kill innocent people.  

The  president was unfairly tarred with the disaster of Katrina, even though the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana are largely to blame for exacerbating a natural disaster.  Hurricanes in  Florida and flooding along the Mississippi River failed to generate  either the same amount of carnage or the news industry angst as Katrina. Why is that?  

President Bush is being blamed for the economic collapse, even though the seeds for that crisis were planted by liberal lawmakers who encouraged banks to make risky loans to people who clearly should have never been granted mortgages. Yet, somehow Bill Clinton escaped any blame for the  beginning of the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac downfall or the late 1990’s tech-stock bubble that wiped away billions of dollars in stock value and people’s savings. 

President Bush made his share of mistakes. We acknowledge them. But the disrespect shown this president is beyond the pale.  Venom is oozing from the keyboard of every liberal columnist and the mouths of nearly all the  talking hairdos on CNN or MSNBC. The age of sober , respectful  reflection on national issues has been replaced by the age of smart-alecky broadcasters who blame Bush for the unpardonable 21^st Century sins of  being inarticulate and boring. 

The biggest indictment that the talking heads level against Bush is that he has refused to make America like the rest of the world.  We think he did a good thing. America’s left wants the U.S. to adopt the income redistribution  scheme of Sweden or the socialized medicine of Canada or Great Britain.  No thanks.

America is great because it is NOT like the rest of the world. It is a different place. That’s’ why people want to come here. 

The Republican Party would do well to fight to keep America unique: to limit government intervention; to maintain a strong military; to encourage innovation; to maintain respect for the individual and the Bill of Rights and not to succumb to the collective mediocrity that accompanies socialism. Thank you President Bush. Good Luck President Obama   GOP STRONG