Thanks to George W. Bush

I am writing this on the last night of President Bush's presidency. It seems that most of my peers as well as the media are glad to see him go after eight years in office. Tonight, I have found a couple of articles by individuals that are surprisingly kind to the President. That's refreshing for me, since I happen to respect the man.

Eight years ago, George W. Bush promised in his inauguration speech to "restore the honor and dignity to the office to which he was elected". I believe he has done that. You can call him a lot of things and be right about a few of them, but in my humble opinion, the man did a good job.
Less than a year after making that statement at his first inauguration, his presidency and his life - along with ours - were changed forever. September 11, 2001 radically altered the way he looked at his own time in office. Bush took the position that any further threats to the country must be taken seriously. I sincerely believe that is why our soldiers were sent to Iraq. Bush didn't want to take any chances that another madman in the Middle East would be able to strike our homeland. I don't buy the idea that Bush had some big evil scheme up his sleeve to dupe Congress into killing the man that tried to assassinate his father. Maybe it sounds good, especially if you are a Democrat still aching from two electoral defeats at Bush's hand. But it seems difficult to believe that he could have pulled off such a feat by convincing Congress to go in the first place. He wasn't the only one that believed Iraq had WMD's. There were plenty of senators and representatives that thought the same thing.

I don't agree with every decision he made. I'm not a blind follower. I think the "No Child Left Behind Act" was a bad move. I don't like the fact that Bush allowed any federal funding for stem cell research that involves the destruction of human embryos. I also would like to have seen better preparation for handling Iraq after we removed Saddam. But when all is said and done, his legacy will be a positive one. Iraq is now succeeding and has appearances that it will continue to succeed. We need a democracy in the Middle East as a foundation for future efforts to bring greater stability to that part of the world.

I guess the reason I'm writing this is to on record as being grateful to George W. Bush for the past eight years. I appreciate his work and his efforts to keep America safe from those who want to destroy us and our way of life. Mr. Bush, thank you and God bless you in all your future endeavors.

Flag Football and the Manly Way

Today I played flag football with some guys from church. It was a lot of fun, but as I reflect on the afternoon, I see it now for what it really was: an opportunity for manliness. This was an especially important epiphane, since I have long embraced my own geekiness. Not that geeks aren't or can't be manly, it just usually doesn't happen in flag football (anything with "football" in it can be challenging tests of manliness for those who openly acknowledge their own geekiness). But I digress.

First, this was a pretty good bunch of guys. They were apparently more athletic than me, at least for flag football. Since at least two of them were former high school or college athletes, the manly factor was automatically higher. In spite of stereotype manly men, these guys were good Christian sportsmen, which adds to the manly atmosphere exponentially.

Second, there were only six of us, but we were all giving it the required 110%. Anything less just wouldn't meet the manly protocol.

Third, it was cool seeing a couple of the guys interact with their sons, who tagged along. I don't know these guys that well, but they seemed like good dads. Being a good dad is definitely manly.
Finally, we were not without casualties in the field of battle. That's another requirement for any manly activity. For my part, I shed blood. Yeah, blood! I scraped my knee at some point in the afternoon. I guess I shed a whole two drops of the precious red. Heh heh. Nobody can say I don't have what it takes, because I kept right on playing. Yes sir. Another guy injured his back and one of the kids took a ball to the schnoz. Way to go, guys!

All in all, it was definitely a manly experience. I will no doubt try it again. The more frequently I expose myself to manly men doing manly things, the more manly I will become. My wife digs manliness, so I have the extra motivation. But for right now, I think I need some Tylenol.