The media marathon surrounding the Democratic contenders for the upcoming presidential election and their stances on major American issues has all but eclipsed news on President Bush and his stance on the issues. For the last few months, modern-day Bush has been relegated in large part to the back burner of the news (Vietnam-era Bush is another story), as each facet of the Democratic hopefuls has been parsed, parodied and praised on every cable news network.
In the interest of fairness, since each major Democratic nominee has had ample opportunity to have their policies and personalities broadcast, it would be fair to give the same scrutiny to Bush. To be sure, the Bush Administration has had its share of successes and failures, and a scorecard has been provided to keep some perspective during the coming campaign madness. Although this list is not exhaustive, it is a first step in bringing about fair and balanced analysis of the last four years. It is of utmost importance to educate oneself and defend one's position before the spin cycle starts ramping up, as whatever outcome this November is sure to have major repercussions.
Domestic Policy
The Good: Pre-Sept. 11, the Bush Administration earnestly tried bilateral immigration reform with Mexican President Vicente Fox. Post-Sept. 11, Bush has pushed for the much-needed streamlining and reorganization of government agencies, and the tax cuts have been seen by some as a good measure to reduce the impacts of the ongoing recession.
The Bad: Despite good intentions, Americorps and the No Child Left Behind Act have become infamous examples of the short attention span of the Bush Administration. Also, when it comes to anything from stem cells to gay marriage, the religious right leads, Bush follows.
The Ugly: Despite projections, the budget surplus has been replaced by the biggest budget deficit in American history, and 2.2 million jobs got axed. Of course, Enron and Halliburton are easy fodder for arguments about the incestuous ties between the Bush Administration and big business.
Foreign Policy
The Good: The Taliban exists now only in history books, Bush got Saddam out of the picture after years of hand-wringing, useless sanctions and half-measures and both Libya and Iran are apparently providing more transparency to their weapons of mass destruction programs.
The Bad: Israel-Palestine is a deadlocked mess, relations with China froze after the young Bush Administration had to apologize for their spying activities in order to get downed soldiers back, only to then escalate tensions with the mainland over Taiwan in order to save face, and Russia is not thrilled Bush is pursuing missile defense the rebuilding of America's nuclear armament.
The Ugly: We have replaced monstrous regimes with guerilla anarchy in large portions of both Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Bush administration lost a lot of goodwill from sympathetic nations after Sept. 11 with pre-emptive unilateralism. The WMD/foreign intelligence debacle goes without saying, and the outing of a covert agent by \senior administration officials"" for political reasons was monstrous.
National Security
The Good: After Sept. 11, we have had no terrorist attacks on American soil, which makes it hard to argue with results.
The Bad: Due to the expansion of secretive and discretionary powers granted to investigative and intelligence agencies, there is little if any accountability to the public over how the War on Terror is waged. The only time a senior administration official spoke negatively of America's progress (hint: Rumsfeld's ""hard slog""), an angry and immediate denial and redefinition followed.
The Ugly: The Pentagon tried to set up: a propaganda machine that would distort or create news items for the sake of a positive PR campaign, the Total Awareness System, which would monitor, store and red-flag personal habits and information about American citizens and ""a stock market"" that elites and terrorists could play in order to guide foreign policy and to cash in on major calamitous events. Additionally, the treatment of terror suspects has raised thorny constitutional questions, and the words ""Patriot Act"" make both moderates and liberals shudder.
