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A co-worker brought up the democratic debate with me today, and we tossed about ideas on who we thought to be electable, whose policies stood the best chance of repairing the damage which has been done to America in the last few years. After debating the merits of each candidate, a point was raised which left the both of us utterly dumbfounded. It’s a simple question, but one which left the both of us befuddled. We both hold doctorates; we spend our lives trying to solve problems to minimize the loss of human life. We’re un-used to facing problems for which we can’t find at least develop hypotheses to explain how the problem arose in the first place. The question we addressed, however, was: “how can any rational person support George ‘Dubya’ Bush?”
Mr. Bush has spent whatever goodwill foreign nations may have felt towards America in the wake of 9/11 with his arrogance. He thumbed his nose at the United Nations, and now demands this multi-lateral political body fix his mess on his terms. The most apt description of this approach I have yet to see in the media is that he’s “like a sloppy drunk, expecting his friends to clean up the mess the day after.“Under the administration of Mr. Bush, more American jobs have been lost than at any time since the Hoover era. Yet, Mr. Bush proposes that unemployment is declining and, so, the economy is improving. Unemployment claims are, indeed, on a downswing. This is not, however, because more Americans are being employed, it is because so many Americans have been unemployed for so long, they no longer qualify for unemployment benefits. This man who acts as president has withdrawn from the Kyoto accord, withdrawn from nuclear non-proliferation treaties, proposed to destroy the “headstart” educational program, denied veterans benefits while simultaneously sending the children of this nation into unjust wars, insisted upon perpetuating the myth of trickle-down economics, instituted concentration camps at Guantanamo Bay, and fundamentally lied. The one bone this man has tossed the world in the last 3 years was a promise to commit $15 billion to fighting AIDS in Africa. It looked too good to be true, because it was. These funds are currently held up because Africa ‘lacks the infrastructure’ to make the best use of said funds. The infrastructure must be built first, by American standards. Presumably, this means they have to build Rick Santorum a new corporate office from which he may most effectively combat AIDS. The list of crimes associated with the Bush administration could go on for volumes, and, undoubtedly, will do so, with time. The question, however, remains, “how could any rational person support George ‘Dubya’ Bush?”
Some 40-50% of Americans adamantly support the Bush presidency, even now. Presumably these people do not have children in Iraq or Afghanistan, and so they don’t mind that President Bush has never attended a single funeral for American soldiers lost in the Middle East under his command, not even during his month long vacations herding golf-carts in Texas. He was AWOL when he served, it would be silly to expect his presence now when there is no legal requirement.
So, I’m flummoxed, where does this support for Mr. Bush come from? I have a theory, an inkling of one. Hardline republicans were so traumatized by the successful presidency of Mr. Clinton, by their inability to scandalize him out of office, and by his popularity both in this country and around the world, that the potential for a wartime Republican president in a flight jacket shortcircuits any common sense they may have. The rally cry has been given, and there seem to be those supporting this administration without any thought given to the consequences. Much like in Iraq.
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