I think President Bush has made countless mistakes, errors in judgment, gaffes, blunders, and brain farts. I think he passes the buck. I think he gives soundbites of information - just enough to say he said something but not enough to keep him from arguably being able to go back and explain what he meant. Not quite double talk, not quite a lie, but definitely not the truth.
I think the situation in Iraq is as stable now as it's going to get. I think that by staying much longer we risk becoming occupiers as opposed to liberators. Our presence, in my opinion, is forestalling a civil war, not preventing it. It also is burdening our military more than they want to admit - reserves on their fourth or fifth tour over in Iraq, retention down, recruiting down, hindering the hunt for Bin Laden...
I think "Mission Accomplished" was stupid, foolhardy, unnecessary, and completely wrong.
I think that the president and his staff like to try to discredit those who criticize them rather than substantively answer the challenges those critics pose (e.g. Kerry and Murtha).
I think the Media can be annoying, but the reporting they do must be reported, lest another No Gun Ri happen.
I think a lot of the disaster that is now known as Hurricane Katrina could have been avoided. I think plenty of blame is to be shared, but president Bush was informed of possible overtopping and took NO steps to err on the side of life, as he stressed was of paramount importance with Terri Schiavo.
I think a president who spends 1/5 of his time under oath of office on vacation is wasting taxpayer dollars.
I think the president needs to be more than a rubber stamp.
I think that the President needs to own up to these and so many other errors. I think these are the reasons his approval rating has dropped to a point where little more than lockstep, question nothing he says and correct his errors for him followers continue to support him, and I don't think history will judge him much better than he's being judged now, given his credibility gap.
But in spite of all this, I think he was a better choice than John Kerry.
And that is what frightens me about politics in America.
2 comments:
Your presumptions of President Bush are pretty much in line with my thoughts and I think the new majority of Americans. I honestly enjoy your thoughts and discussions.
Sound bites are good in politics but it never will replace the substance that a true American President should have. He trully says as little as he should have to. That is how he gets by day to day. The days of FDR and JFK or TR mobilizing our nation under one common cause are gone. GW does not have that in him or could nevr dream of it being so.
I have to disagree with you on John Kerry though. He was strong enough of a person to speak his mind when he came back from Vietnam. No matter the cost to him personnally. I'm from Mass and I know who he is and George Bush could never fill John Kerry's shoes. Water and oil do not mix.
Papamoka
Papamoka,
Thank you for the comments! One of the things I find sorely lacking in many of the more political blogs is the inability for people to have a rational discussion with differences of opinion.
My issue with Kerry wasn't that I didn't like where he stood; it was that I didn't know what his position was. My guess is that many of the swing voters who went towards Bush went because they preferred a bad plan to what looked like no plan.
Now, you being from Massachussetts, you have a particular insight that I don't have. You may well be right.
I will say that I misstated in the original post. I should have said that I didn't htink Kerry would have been any better; not that Bush is better than Kerry - mea culpa there...
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