News Cut: December 26, 2008 Archive

No time for reflection

Posted at 12:13 PM on December 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It was quite a shock to someone who hadn't had his morning coffee today when I opened the New York Times and saw this staring back at me from the front page.

Expansion Of Clinics Shapes Bush Legacy

The story details an expansion of community health clinics...

With federal encouragement, the centers have made a major push this decade to expand dental and mental health services, open on-site pharmacies, extend hours to nights and weekends and accommodate recent immigrants -- legal and otherwise -- by employing bilingual staff. More than a third of patients are now Hispanic, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.

... while being sure to note that the number of uninsured Americans has increased dramatically during the Bush administration. Still, it was an unusual admission for the Times to acknowledge an apparently successful initiative under his watch.

The Times front-page article ushers in the period of reflection -- the one-month before the end of a presidency when columnists try to put a bow on the last 8 years.

A Canadian Press article today notes that Bush is considered "a hero" by many in Africa...

In Africa, Bush is a full-fledged hero after quietly tripling aid to the continent during his presidency, spending billions on AIDS treatment and prevention programs and a major malaria abatement initiative.

His policies are estimated to have saved 10 million lives, and stand in stark contrast to those of his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who paid little attention to Africa during two terms in office.

But a poll this afternoon suggests Americans aren't quite ready to do much more than say "good riddance." Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey today said they're the end of the Bush presidency is at hand.

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