Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition
in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside
sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example
of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president.
![[Commentary]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CP836_oj_unc_D_20081104191433.jpg)
APAccording to recent Gallup polls,
the president's average approval rating is below 30% -- down from his
90% approval in the wake of 9/11. Mr. Bush has endured relentless
attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.
This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both
Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the
president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry,
and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my
opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your
support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve
your trust."
Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.
The president's original Supreme Court choice of Harriet Miers
alarmed Republicans, while his final nomination of Samuel Alito angered
Democrats. His solutions to reform the immigration system alienated
traditional conservatives, while his refusal to retreat in Iraq has
enraged liberals who have unrealistic expectations about the challenges
we face there.
It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for
everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously
disappointing the right.
Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current
problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or
are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive,
and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on
some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of
solving them.
Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one
country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we
come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of
America.
To
be sure, Mr. Bush is not completely alone. His low approval ratings put
him in the good company of former Democratic President Harry S. Truman,
whose own approval rating sank to 22% shortly before he left office.
Despite Mr. Truman's low numbers, a 2005 Wall Street Journal poll found
that he was ranked the seventh most popular president in history.
Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging
Truman's presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will
recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years --
and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the
wake of the September 11 attacks.
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.
Mr. Shapiro is an investigative reporter and lawyer who
previously interned with John F. Kerry's legal team during the
presidential election in 2004. | 
