An Open Letter To My Friends In Europe

Last summer some friends of mine flew to Europe to visit friends there. One of those friends is a prominent person who is constantly observed by the press. This person asked my visiting friends to please not talk to the press, and above all, "do not mention that you voted for George Bush."

Wow. Do they really feel that way? What have they been told by their own press?

Let me say as emphatically as I can, that I did, indeed vote for George W. Bush, twice, and I think he has been an incredible president. Has he always done the correct thing? Hell, I don't know, and neither do you. What I do know is that he has an unshakeable love for America. He is an honest and a decent man. He did his job as best as he knew how to do it. What more could we ever ask?

Did he always act in the best interest of Europe? Don't know that, either... but that was not what we elected him to do.

I like to tell the story of Harry Truman who, after he left office, was once asked by a reporter if he had made any "wrong" decisions as president. He said absolutely not. At the time each decision was made, the evidence for making that decision was overwhelming. He did add words to the effect that future events may have changed things, but they did not apply at the time the decision was made.

Harry Truman, was a small time politician in Jackson County, Missouri, before he went to the Senate and later the presidency. I was born and raised in Jackson County, Missouri, a place that had seen considerable corruption in politics. I did not like Harry Truman when he became president. It took me about 60 years to come around to appreciating him.

Under Beorge Bush's presidency, America suffered one major attack from terrorists. Other nations have sustained repeated attacks, but there have been no more attacks in America.

Some 50 million Iraqis and Afghans have been liberated from murderous dictators and fledgling democracies are growing. Are they "there" yet? Of course not. But look at our democracy, the oldest on earth. It took us a long time to get it "right"... we even killed 364,512 of our own citizens in a bloody civil war (who thought up that name, anyway?), some 80 years after we started.

America has given more money to Africa during Mr. Bush's presidency than has any other nation, including our own, at any time or under any other president.

I could go on listing Mr. Bush's accomplishments, but the Bush haters would continue hating him. And, by the way, they are not all in Europe... we have plenty here at home. Maybe in 60 years, as with Harry Truman, people will come around to appreciating all that George W. Bush has done.

President Bush held his last news conference as president today. I am so proud of this president. So proud that I supported him. I wish every success for our new president, but I will miss George W. Bush!

Goodbye, Mr. President. Thank you.