Wednesday, March 22, 2006
"We have a culture of corruption, we have cronyism, we have incompetence. I predict to you that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever governed our country."
So spoke the junior, and I mean junior, senator from New York. The one who couldn't wait till 2004 to try her hand at winning a senate seat in her homestate of Illinois. The one who wants to be Queen. Leaving aside the fact that both Carter and Clinton are at least in the running for worst administration ever, and despite the reverence the great historian Hillary Clinton commands among media elites, the Pendragon feels the need for some correction.
How do I judge the Bush administration? He has made errors of judgment. Something needs to be done about illegal Mexican immigration and he has done nothing but offer amnesty by another name. He has allowed Ted Kennedy to dictate to America the state of our education system. He has allowed the McCain-Feingold assault on free speech to stand as law. And he has done nothing to curb reckless government spending.
Nevertheless, he took a shattered nation after a devastating terrorist attack and toppled two governments with ties to the terrorists. While nation-building is hard and slow work, it is progressing rather well, given the subject matter he has to work with. He has remained committed to making sure that Americans, and not the government, get to spend some of their own money. He has worked hard to promote a culture of conservatism: one that values all life, even that of the unborn, that respects traditional institutions (like that of marriage), that is based on the timeless ideals of justice and liberty. He has prevented another terrorist attack, following the Clinton-inspired 9/11 disaster. He has rebuilt America's military, following the laughable showing it made in Kosovo. He has put America first and our allies second. Yet by putting America first he has also ensured safety for our allies, and for the world in general.
So where does Bush rank among the presidents? It is too early to tell. But since he sems to be on the same track as FDR and Lincoln and Harry Truman, I expect he shall rank high. Every year historians rank the Presidents, and since I have not yet this year, I too shall do it. I leave out William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor because they were not president long enough to know. Grover Cleveland also counts twice.
1. George Washington
2. James Monroe
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. Andrew Jackson
5. John Adams
6. James Madison
7. Theodore Roosevelt
8. Ronald Reagan
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Thomas Jefferson
11. Harry Truman
12. George W. Bush
13. Dwight D. Eisenhower
14. John F. Kennedy
15. James K. Polk
16. William McKinley
17. Franklin D. Roosevelt
18. Ulysses S. Grant
19. Grover Cleveland
20. Richard Nixon
21. George H.W. Bush
22. Martin Van Buren
23. Calvin Coolidge
24. John Quincy Adams
25. Rutherford B. Hayes
26. Gerald Ford
27. Herbert Hoover
28. James Garfield
29. John Tyler
30. Andrew Johnson
31. Chester A. Arthur
32. William Howard Taft
33. Lyndon B. Johnson
34. Franklin Pierce
35. Benjamin Harrison
36. Millard Fillmore
37. Bill Clinton
38. Warren G. Harding
39. James Buchanan
40. Jimmy Carter
So spoke the junior, and I mean junior, senator from New York. The one who couldn't wait till 2004 to try her hand at winning a senate seat in her homestate of Illinois. The one who wants to be Queen. Leaving aside the fact that both Carter and Clinton are at least in the running for worst administration ever, and despite the reverence the great historian Hillary Clinton commands among media elites, the Pendragon feels the need for some correction.
How do I judge the Bush administration? He has made errors of judgment. Something needs to be done about illegal Mexican immigration and he has done nothing but offer amnesty by another name. He has allowed Ted Kennedy to dictate to America the state of our education system. He has allowed the McCain-Feingold assault on free speech to stand as law. And he has done nothing to curb reckless government spending.
Nevertheless, he took a shattered nation after a devastating terrorist attack and toppled two governments with ties to the terrorists. While nation-building is hard and slow work, it is progressing rather well, given the subject matter he has to work with. He has remained committed to making sure that Americans, and not the government, get to spend some of their own money. He has worked hard to promote a culture of conservatism: one that values all life, even that of the unborn, that respects traditional institutions (like that of marriage), that is based on the timeless ideals of justice and liberty. He has prevented another terrorist attack, following the Clinton-inspired 9/11 disaster. He has rebuilt America's military, following the laughable showing it made in Kosovo. He has put America first and our allies second. Yet by putting America first he has also ensured safety for our allies, and for the world in general.
So where does Bush rank among the presidents? It is too early to tell. But since he sems to be on the same track as FDR and Lincoln and Harry Truman, I expect he shall rank high. Every year historians rank the Presidents, and since I have not yet this year, I too shall do it. I leave out William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor because they were not president long enough to know. Grover Cleveland also counts twice.
1. George Washington
2. James Monroe
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. Andrew Jackson
5. John Adams
6. James Madison
7. Theodore Roosevelt
8. Ronald Reagan
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Thomas Jefferson
11. Harry Truman
12. George W. Bush
13. Dwight D. Eisenhower
14. John F. Kennedy
15. James K. Polk
16. William McKinley
17. Franklin D. Roosevelt
18. Ulysses S. Grant
19. Grover Cleveland
20. Richard Nixon
21. George H.W. Bush
22. Martin Van Buren
23. Calvin Coolidge
24. John Quincy Adams
25. Rutherford B. Hayes
26. Gerald Ford
27. Herbert Hoover
28. James Garfield
29. John Tyler
30. Andrew Johnson
31. Chester A. Arthur
32. William Howard Taft
33. Lyndon B. Johnson
34. Franklin Pierce
35. Benjamin Harrison
36. Millard Fillmore
37. Bill Clinton
38. Warren G. Harding
39. James Buchanan
40. Jimmy Carter
// posted by The Pendragon @ 7:56 AM 
