Bush's Legacy: He kept America safe?

Really? Forget about being in charge when he repeatedly ignored warnings about al-Qaeda and memos about Bin Laden striking inside the US, just how did he keep America safe?



Ignore the anthrax attack. Ignore the incompetent or deliberate bungling of the aftermath of Katrina, Gustav and Ike.



Ignore the Washington sniper horror.

Ignore the widening of the rich/poor divide, the loss of the middle class, and the economic collapse. Ignore the vanity war in Iraq and the obvious lies that propelled us there. Ignore the attempt to act by ideology rather than facts.



Ignore the breaking of treaties, the mockery of ex-allies, the scorning of diplomacy, the cowboy mentality that ran roughshod over the world community. Ignore the horror of Abu Ghraib and Gitmo which became a huge recruiting tool of the Taliban and al-Qaeda and a multitude of splinter groups.



Ignore the destruction of Habeas Corpus and the disappearing of American citizens. Ignore the ham-handed ICE raids on businesses that swept up undocumented workers and left their American born children literally wandering the streets.



Ignore warrantless wiretapping so as to mock the phone sex of military officials and for ability to spy on innocent Americans. Ignore the useless terrorist no-fly list that mentions peace protesters and Quakers because they dared resist the death penalty and the Iraq war.

Ignore the incompetence of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. Ignore the moronic terror color chart stuck permanently on orange. Ignore the dangerous strengthening of private Praetorian-style armies like Blackwater.

Ignore the fact there is no comprehensive and coordinated plan to protect the United States. With the National Guard gutted to serve in Iraq, who is here to protect America? Are our coasts protected? Are our ports checking all the cargo containers that pile up on our docks and are shipped unopened across the continent? Long inefficient lines at airports do not mean efficiency in security. One inept wall will not plug our porous borders as any country who has tried to build one will attest. Do we have a plan for the inevitable biological attack except attempting to entomb ourselves in plastic sheeting and duct tape? Do we have a plan for the inevitable nuclear attack or dirty bomb except to flee with nothing but our radioactive clothes on our backs?

Do we feel safe when a president lies to us? Starts wars he can't finish? Disrespects the rule of law? Despises the very government he was hired to run?



Did Bush keep us safe?



He didn't even try.



All yours, George.