It’s sometimes hard to see past all the deceit, fabrications or any of the other numerous propaganda techniques that have gone on during this current presidency. I know at least 69 percent of America will be counting the days until the end for President Bush, but what about the 30-plus percentile who view Bush favorably? If I were one of them how could I manage to look at the glass half full? So I decided to do just that, void myself of exasperated contempt and in its place fill my mind with happy thoughts, yellow brick roads, talking lions, flying monkeys and all that other good stuff that goes along with a fairy tale.

Surprisingly enough, it worked, and with a vexing gulp I confide to myself and now to you that there were some good things that did come from the Bush Administration. Yes, good. When you take the time to think about it, they’re undeniable and because we humans are forgiving by nature, why not see our president out on a positive note? So lets remember some of his fonder moments and thank George W. Bush for the words, phrases and accomplishments that he has given us. Words: Strategery: n. Closely related to the word strategic 1) A subtext strategy to go after a past adversary with military action and mislead the rest of the world that you are going after the current number one adversary.

Thump’in: v. Closely related to thumping and not to be confused for a talking rabbit in Bambi 1) The loss of the majority party in either the U.S. Senate, Assembly, or both, to the opposing party. Phrases: Terror Alert: A color-coordinated paradigm intended to let people know when they were most likely to be attacked and coincidently when to make compulsive, conspicuously consumptive expenditures.

Axis of Evil: A term taken from World War II and refers to the countries of N. Korea, Iran and Iraq. Close seconds go to Venezuela, Pakistan and China. Honorable mentions include Reality TV, Donald Trump and the Spice Girls.

Mission Accomplished: A term, when said in the present tense, actually means that it will be completed in eight to 15 years down the road. Accomplishments: General Petraeus: After installing numerous Generals that abided to a “yes, president Bush” mantra but were unable to provide any positive results in Iraq, General Petraeus was given the lead. By installing a “surge” of U.S. troops into Iraq, he helped reduce the violence in Baghdad to the “more manageable” levels of two years before.

Four percent economic growth in 2007: Wages for middle and lower class Americans remained stagnant while home values went down and the value of the dollar decreased. Large U.S. corporations made up most of the economic growth.2008 Economic Stimulus plan: Intended to give the U.S. an economic boost but also a way to say to the U.S. citizens, “Here’s some free money. No hard feelings about the last eight years, right?”

A reason for the youth to vote: He may not be the worst president and I can’t help to chuckle when I think about putting best, president and Bush in the same sentence, but he did leave an impression. Minds are racing, people are getting active and politics are being spoken about with great fervor and passion. What a difference a particular administration can make.

Victor Nieto can be reached at [email protected]