Glad to see him gone

Re “Bush and history,” editorial, Jan. 19

History will reveal that the Bush administration was far worse than we can begin to imagine.

It was so bad that a black man could be elected president in this racist country. It was so bad that the Teflon coating of Ronald Reagan is being shattered. It was so bad that there’s a chance the Republicans won’t be back in power for another half a century.

Joan Meijer

Los Angeles

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I get a little tired of hearing that one of Bush’s “successes” was his pressing for the increased funding for AIDS.

Preventing a disease is preferable to treating it after it occurs, and condoms have proved the single best preventive measure we have to date. Bush steadfastly and consistently barred anyone getting U.S. funds from mentioning -- let alone distributing -- condoms.

Arthur Fleisher II MD

Northridge

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Re “What Bush leaves behind,” Opinion, Jan. 18

President Bush requested that he “be judged on just one question:

Much of Bush’s alleged accomplishment is based on the fact that there have been no successful terrorist attacks on the U.S. since 9/11. It’s also true that there have been no elephant tramplings in Washington during that time, but that’s because of a lack of wild elephants and not anything that Bush did.

To be fair, there have been some clumsy attempts at terrorism, but the evidence suggests that Bush’s excesses had nothing to do with stopping them. Would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid, for example, was apprehended by fellow passengers, not CIA torture. Meanwhile, Bush followed precisely the course one would choose if one were trying to radicalize the Iraqi people and create a terrorist breeding ground. By all reports, he was wildly successful at that task.

Did Bush make Americans safer? Absolutely not.

Geoff Kuenning

Claremont