Bush’s ‘united country’ might divide after his first policy changes

When the final verdict was delivered and Americans were told George W. Bush would be their 43rd president, anybody could easily see I was more than a little disappointed. In fact, I thought moving out of the country would be a wise decision.

But my temper eventually lowered, and the time came to accept the fact that my beloved country had elected a man I considered to be a scoundrel.

Our duty as citizens (no matter how difficult it may be) is to support our president for the good of the country. Because of this, I have recently made a considerable effort toward learning to respect President Bush.

Doing this, however, is easier said than done.

Bush’s favorite tagline during his transition into the presidential office was the importance of uniting our divided country. He was known for bringing together democrats and republicans as the governor of Texas, and he claimed he will do the same during the next four years.

So why has he done exactly the opposite of this within his first week as president?

Almost every time I have turned on CNN this past week, there has been talk about how Bush is making changes to two of the most controversial policies debated about during the presidential election — abortion laws and school vouchers.

Are these not the issues over which democrats and republicans fight the most? Since when is tackling these policies in the first week a good way to unite the Democratic and Republican Parties?

The fact is, Bush is already making bad decisions.

Even though some think banning abortion aid to foreign groups is a great idea, and many say school vouchers will be the best things since sliced bread, they cannot claim Bush is still helping out the country when he is only making the democrats hate him more.

Yes, Bush is in office to pass legislation he thinks will be best for America and his party. We elected a conservative leader so he may run the country conservatively. That is completely understandable and sensible.

What is confusing is Bush said his first priority would be to unite the country, when now he seems to have thrown that plan down the drain. He has never been praised for his extreme intellect, but you would think Bush would have more sense than to do something like this.

Most democrats love the fact that Bush wants education reform. Nobody can say this country is not in dire need for some changes in the education system. But when Bush slipped in the idea of giving students “a choice” in which school they wish to attend, democrats turned their heads in shock.

Surely abortion rights advocates did a little more than get mad when they found out Bush reinstated the overseas abortion aid policy. Even for those democrats who do not support abortion, I am sure the shock of his abruptness in making such a choice was less than desirable.

If Bush is hoping to make his time in office run as smoothly as possible, he sure is not getting off to a great start. Perhaps Bush can ask John Ashcroft for some advice in this matter ... but that probably isn’t a good idea either.

Emily Ward is a junior math and news-editorial journalism major from Springfield.
She can be reached at (e.e.ward@student.tcu.edu)

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