Opinion: Why I Miss George W. Bush

(Aug. 16) -- The phrase "I miss George W. Bush" is a sentiment I never thought I'd have reason to express. But as America slowly descends into a vicious spiral of bigotry and fear over the fact that Muslim citizens want to exercise their religious freedom a few blocks from ground zero -- well, I kind of miss the guy.

Now to be clear I don't really miss the George Bush who "won" the 2000 election; who plunged our country into the worst foreign policy disaster in American history in Iraq; who sanctioned the use of torture and other rule-of-law abuses; who believed in intelligent design but not the science behind climate change; and who largely fiddled while the U.S. economy burned. Him, I don't miss all that much. But the George Bush I do miss is the one who said this only a few weeks after Sept. 11.

"Our nation must be mindful that there are thousands of Arab-Americans who live in New York City, who love their flag just as much as [we] do. And we must be mindful that as we seek to win the war, that we treat Arab-Americans and Muslims with the respect they deserve ... the attitude of this government [is] we should not hold one who is a Muslim responsible for an act of terror. We will hold those who are responsible for the terrorist acts accountable and those who harbor them "

For all of Bush's faults; one of the good things he did as president was to ensure that the country did not engage in a witch hunt against American Muslims, simply because it was a radical Islamic group that attacked America on 9/11. As president, Bush spoke consistently and effectively about the importance of respecting religious differences in American society and not turning hatred of al-Qaida into a broad-based attack against all Muslims. And for the most part, other Republicans begrudgingly followed his lead.

Just a few days ago when President Barack Obama spoke up in support of the basic notion that religious freedom for Muslim-Americans is an unimpeachable American ideal he was, ironically, following in post-9/11 rhetorical footsteps first trod by Bush.

If only we had a Republican Party today that could live up to the example set by Bush. There is literally no one in a position of power within the GOP willing to stand up for the ideal of religious freedom in America and against the naked bigotry that defines the opposition to the ground zero mosque.

Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, says the mosque "stabs at the heart"; Newt Gingrich says no mosque in lower Manhattan until there are churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia (apparently he believes America should use Saudi Arabia as a model when it comes to religious tolerance). John McCain claims the mosque is "insensitive." Republican Rick Lazio, who wants to be governor of New York, thinks that he and his opponent, Andrew Cuomo, should spend an entire hour debating the issue.

Indeed, it seems the only prominent Republicans willing to defend the idea that the government should not prevent Muslims from the right to pray wherever they choose are former Bush aides like Michael Gerson.

With Bush gone from the scene, Republicans have seemingly allowed their inner anti-Muslim voice to spring free. The reasons are not difficult to figure out. First, it's hardly surprising that a party increasingly dominated by evangelical Christians would have a skeptical view of Islam.

But the second and most obvious reason is politics. Nearly 70 percent of the country opposes the ground zero mosque and many Americans remain deeply distrustful of Islam, in general. So the political benefits of using Muslims as a new political bogeyman should be obvious. The fact that Republicans can conflate the mosque project with images of 9/11 and supposed Democratic weakness in confronting the "Islamic threat" -- a recurrent GOP talking point throughout much of the Obama presidency -- only adds to their advantage.

In fact, conservative efforts to portray Democrats as defenders of Islam (a la the Red baiting of Democrats during the Cold War, which continues today) is at pace with the far right meme that emerged during the 2008 campaign claiming that President Obama is actually a Muslim.

Without the steadying hand of a leader like Bush to hold back the floodgates of anti-Islamic rhetoric, Republicans have descended into the sort of political scapegoating of Islam that the country has largely avoided for the past nine years.

As a lifelong Democrat, there is something deeply counterintuitive about describing George W. Bush as the voice of reason and tolerance in the Republican party. And yet here we are. It seems that things just aren't the same in America without him.