Where Did My Country Go?

FDR was still president when I was born, but I can't say I paid much attention to the office until after Truman won in 1948. From that time until 2000, I have always respected the office and extended that respect to the man holding the office even when disagreeing with certain policies. At no time, was I afraid of my government, until now.

In 2000 we were presented with a man totally unequipped for the office, but heavily backed with money, influence and a built in 30% voting bloc comprised of neo-cons, evangelicals, and hard right voters. Even then I was willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. Men have grown into the job before, and this one might as well. I was wrong.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is the single worst President of my lifetime. He has brought both the office and, more importantly, the country into disrepute to the point of being a feckless laughing stock. For the sake of pride and on truly horrendous advice he has taken us into a war in Iraq that never should have been waged. He is responsible for the Death of over 2,600 of our citizens. There are thousands upon thousands more who have been maimed in body and mind courtesy of Mr. Bush, and that is without counting the thousands of innocents who have died in Iraq. Having done all that he has increased the hatred of the United States with virtually every Muslim country on the planet. All of this has been done while trying to terrify the American public every other day with the latest boogyman in order to maintain power for himself and an economic windfall for his buddies.

Even all of the above might be, if not forgiveable at least understandable, if the country as a whole were better off. It is not. Economically we are a mess. The middle class is being decimated, disaster areas are ignored, and every recommended action for the safety of the country has not been taken. As a nation we are worse off than when Bush swore to protect and defend on the Bible he supposedly cherishes. My only question is do I assume he knows what he is doing, in which case he is evil, or do I assume he is stupid and therefore the responsibility belongs to his keepers. Either way, he will leave a country and an office severely weakened and hated. If he had a conscience, he would resign. As it is, we can only hope that he will not do any more damage before 2008. Unfortunately, just having him in office is reason to be afraid.