On the Record Now, Even If With Few Others

Yes, it has been 6 years since Sept. 11, 2001. Little did I know that the words of FDR about Pearl Harbor that I memorized for a high school forensic competition would turn out to be so apt in the future: this is certainly a date that "will live in infamy."

What is amazing to me is that we have not been attacked again in 6 years. In my view, that is a signal and amazing achievement of President George W. Bush. He takes a lot of blame and criticism--just as Lincoln and Reagan did--so he should also get the credit. I will also take this opportunity to state for the record that, in my opinion, history will judge George W. Bush to have been one of our best Presidents. I do that knowing that many of the Monday morning quarterbacks and backseat drivers that litter the landscape will cringe at that statement. Let them cringe. I am entitled to express my own view. That's why my parents immigrated to a free country from a Communist dictatorship. We didn't yield our freedom to a crazed dictator in Cuba. I certainly won't yield it now to mass opinion or water cooler talk.

And in my positive evaluation, I include the overthrow of the genocidal dictator in Iraq and the crusade to build a democracy in the heart of the Moslem Middle East. My own theory--everyone has theories, so I can too--is that being on the offensive in Iraq is why we have not been attacked again in six years. I hear that others have stated the same view. The best defense is a good offense--a cliche that is a cliche because it is so well proven in experience. Many do not see or do not want to see the connection now. My bet is that historians with mature judgment will see it in the future. Lincoln went from vilified to adored. Reagan went from mocked to being missed. George W. Bush will go from being scorned to being admired and respected as the unflagging President who kept us safe for 6 years. That already is a remarkable achievement and benchmark for comparison. I hope and pray that he can add the rest of his term to this record of protection. Thank you, Mr. President.