Things are so bad for George Bush that I almost feel a little bit sorry for him. It is becoming clear to even his staunchest supporters that the Presidency of George Bush is a stunning failure. He will most likely leave office with the lowest approval rating of any President in U.S. history.
ECONOMY: Virtually every area of the economy is horrible and getting worse. The surplus he inherited has become the largest deficit in history. Home foreclosures continue at a record pace and home values continue to plummet. Unemployment is increasing and wages are stagnant. Gas prices are approximately 250% higher than when he took office. To top it off, the worst financial crisis in modern history is occurring on his watch only months before he leaves office.
HURRICANE KATRINA: George Bush was AWOL and clueless during one of the worst natural disasters to ever affect the U.S. He cut a few days off of his 5 week vacation and finally one of his staff members had to put together a DVD and show it to him to prompt some action on the crisis. Bush is not one to read the newspapers or watch television news.
SEPT. 11: George Bush acted like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car when told about the attacks while at a Florida school. He thought it was more important to keep reading for 7 minutes while the United States was under attack during an era where nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons are a very real possibility. He then flew around the country hiding out and let Cheney run the show. In the biggest diplomatic failure in American history, George Bush squandered the support of the world by invading Iraq (see Iraq below).
CONSTITUTION: In a blatant violation of the Constitution and U.S. law Bush approved warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens and then lied about for some time before admitting the practice.
TORTURE: First President to approve a policy of torture.
TREASON: Members of his administration at the highest levels (Cheney, Libby, and Rove) and possibly Bush himself were involved in the outing of CIA Agent Valerie Plame. These same people then obstructed justice and blunted the probe of Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald. In an act of arrogance and injustice Bush pardoned Libby who was at the heart of blocking the truth from being revealed about the extent of involvement of Bush, Cheney and Rove.
FOREIGN POLICY:Iraq: The quagmire in Iraq will be left for the next President to solve. Iraq will overshadow everything else in Bush's legacy. After the attacks of 9/11 the U.S. had the support and goodwill of the entire world, including many of our enemies. The bizarre decision to invade Iraq (which had nothing to do with 9/11) alienated most other countries and squandered the once in a lifetime opportunity to take advantage of the goodwill of the entire world. His blunder cost more than 4,000 American lives, billions of dollars, and shifted the focus away from fighting terrorism.
Afghanistan: By shifting resources into Iraq, the job in Afghanistan was never completed and now we are experiencing more casualties there than in Iraq. Generals are calling for more troops, but they are bogged down in Iraq.
Osama Bin Laden: It appears that Bush will leave office without having captured or killed the man responsible for the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. The decision to not take him out in Tora Bora with a large contingent of U.S. forces was a stunning blunder. Bush allowed him to escape that area with only a token effort to find or kill him.
North Korea: North Korea has recently said they are restarting their nuclear program.
APPOINTEES: The list of Bush's incompetent and Constitution burning appointees include Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, Harriet Miers, Michael Mukasey, Michael Brown (FEMA), Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, Michael Chertoff, John Bolton (U.N.), Paul Bremer, Sara Taylor, Karl Rove, etc. etc.
In Conclusion: George W. Bush can ride off into the sunset having screwed up virtually everything he touched. His position as the worst President of the modern era is uncontested and well-deserved. The next time the country thinks about voting for the guy they want to have a beer with, maybe they will remember the failed presidency of George W. Bush and vote for the competent guy instead. Now George Bush can look forward to a permanent vacation where he always seemed more comfortable anyway.
Read more about the man who exposed the Bush Administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping program. Remind me again why Bush wasn't impeached and imprisoned for this clear violation of law and the U.S. Constitution?
