Thank You, President Bush

My father's friend, who is a pastor, sent this out this morning...

This week The United States will inaugurate it’s 44^th President, Barak Obama. The mainstream media has been quick to overlook faults in Obama and has given him seemingly every benefit of every doubt! The reasoning is complex but can ultimately be summed up in the fact that Obama, by and large, shares their same worldview. In that we also see why such utter contempt has been leveled against President Bush for the past eight years. The mainstream media and President Bush do not share the same worldview. History may vindicate President Bush, but it may not. Ultimately it will depend on the worldview of those who write the books and also on what happens in decades to come. There is a strong possibility that even in the near future it will become clear, even to the star struck media elites that the “good old boy” from Texas was not so bad after all!

I thought it appropriate at this moment in history to simply say a word of thanks to our Commander and Chief so…thank you Mr. President for your painstaking efforts to keep America safe after the horrendous attacks on 911. Thank you for measures and policies you put into place to keep terrorists plots from being carried out on our soil. Thank you for your unapologetic efforts to destroy the Taliban, and destroy terrorist training camps. Thank you for making the tough decisions to send enlisted men and women into harms way for the good and safety of our nation. Thank you for taking the fight to our enemies rather than letting them continue bringing it to us.

Thank you for being unapologetic in your resolve that enough is enough where Saddam Hussein was concerned. He was an evil man the likes of Hitler and Mussolini and you never backed down until he was caught and put on trial then executed. Thank you that you went against opinion polls and much of congress and followed the advice of military leaders on the ground and sent a troop surge which turned the tide of the war, even though the media hated you all the more for it.

Thank you that you and your administration had the wisdom to see years ago that America was headed for financial crisis. While Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, Nancy Polosi, and Harry Reed were fighting you off as being an alarmist, you and your administration saw this coming. When crisis was near you stepped out to urge action on the part of the congress.

Thank you for cutting taxes and letting us keep more of our own money. We appreciate the stimulus checks and your doing your best after the bubble created by the last administration. When a donkey has been in the barn for eight years it takes a while to get it all cleaned out!

Most of all Mr. President we thank you for your personal moral character. After an administration of moral repugnance, you restored order and decency to the office of president. You modeled a strong marriage; strong family values where your daughters were concerned and always were paying homage and tribute to your mother and father and the values and work ethic they instilled in you.

Thank you for being unapologetically Christian. You were candid about earlier points in life where you struggled with substance abuse but demonstrated again and again how a person can overcome obstacles in life through a reliance upon Jesus Christ as Savior. Thank you for being so open about your daily practice of prayer and reading from the Bible. What a challenge to us all!

Thank you for your professional character. Even when the media came after you like ravenous wolves, you never took the bait. Instead you smiled and disarmed them with your class and Texas charm. Mr. President, it has been said that a true gentleman considers it enough to know in his own heart that he is right even if all others are convinced he is wrong. Sir you have never lacked the courage of your convictions!

Thank you for your service to this great nation. The American Presidency is almost certainly the most thankless and loneliest jobs in the world. Some have noted that only a glutton for punishment would aspire to the office. Your motives get questioned, your loyalty gets questioned, and even your concern for your own country gets questioned. Most of what you do is never known. We know you have done far more than we even know about to preserve us and protect us. Sir, you give us pride in the nation that we love!

We are thankful God gave us a president with your wisdom, tenacity, character, love of country, valor, conviction, metal, determination, grounding in scripture and prayer, and willingness to serve. As you move into the next phase of life, which is one of the greatest American success stories in history, we wish you Godspeed Sir. Thank you President Bush, our Commander and Chief!

In Christ,

Pastor Allen Raynor

First Baptist Church, Broomfield, CO