By Jake Nussbaum

BUSINESS MANAGER

With the George W. Bush conference about to commence, it’s difficult not to wonder why the former president himself isn’t attending. Every living president has attended a similar event at this university, so what gives?

Obviously, as a former president he has a busy schedule. However, my guess is that his refusal to attend has more to do with wanting to stay out of the limelight than anything else. And who can blame him? He’s the most heavily criticized president since Jimmy Carter, yet he hasn’t received any of the post-presidency admiration that Carter did and has.

Both Bush and Carter took to championing humanitarian causes after their presidencies, and both stayed out of the headlines and tried to avoid criticizing their successors. Yet for some reason, Carter’s popularity increased, but Bush’s has remained relatively anemic. The question is why?

The big difference is that for some reason, Carter is seen as a victim. He’s a victim of his own liberal convictions, his own compassion and his own fear of armed conflict. Meanwhile, Bush 43 is seen as some kind of demonic aggressor who was too dumb to get out of his own way.

The last four years of Bush’s presidency were filled with people telling us that he was a moron who didn’t care about the poor and manipulated us into entering Iraq.

Despite what John Stewart and the liberal media would have you believe, George W. Bush is no moron nor is he bereft of sympathy for the less fortunate. He’s a man who backed policies that didn’t work, but he certainly isn’t the first. So, why can’t Americans get over this deep-seated hatred?

It’s not like we are now that much better off than we were when Bush 43 left office. No matter what party you support, you can’t deny that the situation in the Middle East is no better than it was eight years ago. We may not still be in Iraq, but we are still in Afghanistan, and one could argue that the situation in Iraq is worse than it was when Bush left.

Iran is still spewing hateful rhetoric while supporting terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Hezbolla, Hamas and probably many others we haven’t even heard of. And domestically, we are seeing a slight recovery in the unemployment rate, but wages have remained stagnant and the middle class is still struggling.

So, why such hate for Bush 43? The blame lies heavily with the media and the current administration’s refusal to take responsibility for any policy that doesn’t work.

No matter what bad thing happens domestically or internationally, you can bet that Obama and his staff will find a way to blame it on Bush. And that’s not to say some of it isn’t his fault. It certainly is. But at what point do we stop blaming a president that left office eight years ago?

It’s time to stop the incessant criticism of Bush 43, and that starts with the current president, but the sad truth is that this is unlikely. You can bet that if Jeb Bush wins the Republican nomination, millions of dollars will be spent negatively comparing him to his brother – as if we all have the same opinions and personality as our siblings.

The same goes for if Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination. She should be challenged based on her own credentials, not her husband’s.

Let’s start taking responsibility for ourselves, and stop blaming others for everything that goes wrong. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can continue to prosper as a nation and begin a new American Century.

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