Dubya’s regrets include immigration

In a televised interview last night George W. Bush expressed numerous regrets that he has had over his two terms in the presidency. He cited that his biggest regret was “the intelligence failure in Iraq” though he waffled when asked if he would take back the decision to invade the Middle Eastern country.
In addition, Bush expressed how “sorry” he felt over the current financial crisis as well as his regrets over a lack of immigration reform:

The failure to enact immigration reform was another disappointment, Bush said.

"I firmly believe that the immigration debate really didn't show the true nature of America as a welcoming society. I fully understand we need to enforce law and enforce borders," Bush told ABC News. "But the debate took on a tone that undermined the true greatness of America, which is that we welcome people who want to work hard and support their families."

Pity that part of the reason that the debate took on such an ugly tone was through his lack of being an effective party leader. The GOP’s hard-line stance on immigration was a key factor in the Latino vote shying away from John McCain’s presidential bid, for example. When strong leadership was needed to enact meaningful reform Bush turned his back and tacitly permitted a deeply flawed system to continue. He had the chance to do something great on immigration yet he permitted the opportunity slip out of his hands.

During the interview Bush declared that he “will leave the presidency with my head held high.” Yet he may be weighed down with the burden of his numerous fallacies while in office like his dropping the ball on immigration. Such is the stigma he must live with.

Image- AFP
Sources- The Latin Americanist, UPI, Guardian UK, Reuters, Bloomberg