By By Chandler Myers
Let us not forget the past eight years and all of the historic things our country has been through.
In 2001, terrorists attempted to shower hatred on our way of life, but they were not able to.They bruised our hearts and took the lives of innocent people, but we as Americans still live and breathe free air in our democracy.
The War in Iraq began in 2003 and that saw the fall of Saddam Hussein, whose evil had terrorized his own country for more than 20 years.
A horrific natural disaster changed the whole landscape and mindset of an entire city as Hurricane Katrina devastated and almost destroyed New Orleans and several areas around it.
The sad thing about New Orleans is that is still nowhere near a full recovery. In my trip to the Sugar Bowl, I witnessed several sights that broke my heart as I saw buildings and houses that still have holes in their roofs.
Last year saw another hurricane create havoc as Hurricane Ike hit the coast of Texas and obliterated the City of Galveston leaving one or two houses still standing.
From 2001 to 2008 several events took place and some are not mentioned here.
One man led us through these challenging times and while he might not have always done it how you like or even how I liked, he still did the best he could.
President George W. Bush saw this country through terrible times that could only be rivaled by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Give him credit for having the guts to make tough calls.
He swore to stop terrorism and to protect our borders from another attack and he succeeded.
He began a War in Iraq and while maybe it should not still be going on it has seen its fair share of success. Saddam Hussein is no more than an afterthought today and Bush is the man that stopped him.
Hurricane Katrina cannot and should not be blamed on him because it’s a natural disaster. Those levees were put in place before he took office and warnings of evacuation were issued more than 72 hours in advance.
The point is that he has guided this country through tough times.
The economy is in bad shape right now, but that falls onto more than just the 43rd President’s shoulders.
There is a U.S. Congress up there in Washington, D.C. as well and they have not made things any easier by fighting with each other. That’s not helping our economy, just like spending $170 million on an inaugaration isn’t helping.
So, let us not forget that President Bush did do great things for this country, and instead of booing the man when you hear his name try and remember that the job he did was probably tougher than anything we will ever have to attempt.
Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or by e-mail at sports@atmoreadvance.com