Remember when George W. Bush was highly criticized and ended up leaving office with an abysmal approval rating?

On the day he took office, some folks were running around, wringing their hands and wailing about how we’d elected possibly the worst president in history.  

The list of his fumbles and poor choices, in the eyes of many, goes on and on. He was anti-choice. He chose conservatives to fill many positions. There’s Iraq, Katrina and the way some said he reacted to 9/11. Some opponents even say “W” paved the way for Donald Trump to be elected.

That in itself is incredibly unforgivable in the eyes of many.

As I said, the list goes on and on. Furthermore, if you read the negative articles or listen to interviews trashing him while he was in office, it seems George W. Bush would disappear from public life and hopefully we wouldn’t hear from him again. The folks who trashed him constantly were ready to see him go.

I don’t know about you, but it looks to me like there is a deliberate campaign going on, albeit somewhat subtle, to forgive George W. Bush. Every now and then you hear from him.  Every now and then you see something positive about him. 

I am amazed that the dishonest and fact-withholding media is actually allowing there to be such wonderful, glowing reports about anyone in the Bush family.  

What happened? Could it be that W is being compared to other recent presidents and some of the people wringing their hands now think he’s a good guy?  

I watched a segment with George and Laura Bush on CBS Sunday Morning. If you don’t already know, W has become a painter during his retirement and is putting out some beautiful work. Equally beautiful is a book he’s put together, celebrating famous and not-famous immigrants who have come to our country. It really looks like a wonderful book and I’m planning on picking it up when I get a chance.

So, now that W is doing things that some folks like, it seems he has redeemed himself. He’s saying great things about immigrants.  He’s hanging out with Ellen Degeneres. He’s using salty language on CBS and appearing to be just another good ‘ol guy. He’s shared Altoids and hugs with the Obamas and it’s been widely publicized.

Most importantly in the eyes of many, he’s said things against President Trump.

If you look very closely, you will see there isn’t much of a difference between our political parties.  Many believe there is a behind-the-scenes campaign to distract the public from some of the bumbling, inadequate, and incapable mess that is our government. There was so much talk about cleaning up after the past administration, but again, if you look closely, you will see there was plenty of good stuff that didn’t need to be cleaned up, and much of the stuff going on right now is not that great.

People want to keep pointing out what a schmuck the last chief executive was. Maybe he was. He wasn’t that nice all the time. Most of us wished he’d stop with the self-centered talk. But, if you look at the facts that are never reported, there were a lot of good things that happened. Look past the personality and focus on the good work.  

Numerous folks, even those in high positions, are shaking their heads and saying the current administration doesn’t know what it’s doing. I’m thinking I might agree.

In order to distract the public, let’s show everyone how we have forgiven George W. Bush – even though we used to hate him.  Let’s see if publicly forgiving him will make up for the fact we don’t know what we are doing right now.

As I type my opinion on this page, I can see a faceless crowd getting all bent out of shape about what I’m saying. Please remember, this is my opinion, and if you don’t agree or think I’m an imbecile for my thoughts, you go right ahead.  

I’d  been thinking about all of this a lot as Memorial Day approached.  I’ve also been wondering what those men and women who we honor would think about the state of our country.

What would our country be like if we all decided, two or three times a day at a scheduled time, to hit our knees and pray? For our country, our leaders, our citizens, our homes, our immigrants, our political parties. Corporate prayer.  Everyone! As a nation.

Roll your eyes if you want, but we have a lot to pray about.  

And I believe it would make a big difference.