A disastrous presidency (Courier Journal)

[struggle4progress]

President Bush leaves more than the Oval Office to Barack Obama on Tuesday. He leaves a virtual train wreck.

The nation is in the most severe recession since the 1930s. It is mired in two wars, one of which was unnecessary and both of which have been mishandled. New Orleans is still shattered after the failed federal response to Hurricane Katrina ...

It is true that there have not been terrorist attacks within the nation's borders since 9/11. But it is also true that the Bush administration, though warned of Osama bin Laden's intention to strike the United States, did not act forcefully to try to prevent the 9/11 atrocities themselves. Moreover, there is no public evidence that al-Qaida, whose resources are limited, has been thwarted in any fresh plots on American soil ...

It is sobering to remember that Mr. Bush took office with a $237 billion budget surplus, amid talk of eliminating the national debt by this year. That debt now exceeds $10 trillion, massive deficits are no longer seriously discussed, the country is heavily mortgaged to China and the Bush administration did nothing to ease the fiscal crises of Social Security, Medicare and health care ...

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090118/OPINION01/901180438