-- Update 11/8/08 - In addition, see Jim Towey, "Why I'll Miss President Bush" - "The president's true character rendered his media image pure caricature."
-- Hugh Hewitt praises Neil Cavuto, a Fox anchor man. Cavuto, in turn, praises Bush as follows:
CAVUTO
: Well, he was classy, magnanimous, a gentlemen. . . The president made a very classy gesture,
offering only good words for the man who repudiated his run at the
white house, but going one better, inviting Barack and Michelle Obama
to the white house to see the place, talk about the place, and the
pressures of the place, in private. These were not empty words. The
president put a transition team in place months ago so that a smooth
transfer of power could take place. President bush didn't have the same
offer when he
came into office. Lots of hurtful words since then. He
wasn't even running this year, but it seemed everyone, including his
own party's nominee was running against him all year. If he minded, he
really didn't show it. I remember talking to the president on the White
House south lawn about it. "Does it all bug you?" I asked him. "Nah,"
he said, shrugging his shoulders and adding simply, "I understand." A
man of the people and the nation seemingly at war with him, some for
good reason, and others apparently lacking any reason. He did nothing
personally, always handled himself with dignity, not by what he said
but precisely what he did not. I have read that the president is as
kind to the elevator operator at White House as he is to a
visiting [head of] state to the White House. Every time I see him, he
sticks around and personally shakes the hand of each member of my crew.
That is each member of my crew for one of our interviews, every single
one of them, every single picture. Now, I know [these are] little
things, but to me these are big things, that speak of a man far bigger
than the petty things I see in the press or I hear in a harsh campaign.
That ended today with a quiet gesture today, from a president who would
be in his right to wag a certain finger, but instead simply [offered]
something else: his hand. Not a popular thing to say, is it? But it
was, it is, and he's a good fellow.
Update: See Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace. Excerpt:
The treatment President Bush has received from this
country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against
him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little
character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all
these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has
tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very
difficult time.
Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us
has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how
disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty — a shameful
display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long
after Mr. Bush has left the White House.