IT'S A PRETTY SHORT LIST, BUT...:

Regrets? Bush has too few to mention (ALEXANDER BURNS, 12/23/08, Politico)

Faced with a faltering economy and a precarious national security position, President George W. Bush made the best of a bad situation and sought to unite the country in spite of Washington’s toxic political culture.

That’s how Bush views his tenure in office, according to a recent round of exit interviews he and Vice President Dick Cheney have done as part of an effort to wind up their administration on a positive note.

Here are a few regrets he should have:

(1) Signing CFR, which places unconstitutional restraints on the only form of non-religious speech that is protected, political.

(2) Not exploiting the patriotic surge of September 11th to shift from income to gas taxes, thereby crippling the worst regime of the Middle East.

(3) Turning down Iran's offer of a post-911 rapproachment.

(4) Leaving occupation troops in Iraq past the Summer of 2003 rather than installing a transitional government.

(5) The failure to regime change Syria.

(6) Refusal to work with popular Islamist governments in Palestine, Somalia and Hezbollahstan.

(7) Failure to adequately replace Ari Fleischer, which--combined with the consistently inarticulate economics team--left the Administration without any effective spokesmen outside the President himself.

(8) Not replacing Dick Cheney with Condi Rice, which would have made her the party's nominee in '08.

(9) Not issuing a blanket amnesty for illegal aliens upon the House GOP's refusal to consider reform.

Overall, he has rather fewer scabs to pick at in retirement than anyone but the Gipper and Ike.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 23, 2008 8:34 AM