[Flying Dutchman]

I appreciate your responses Binky.
I was making my assumptions by how your post was worded. No harm, no foul. I was not trying to imply any bad intentions. If that is how it appeared, my bad.
I agree that perception is key, but at this point any perception is going to be skewed no matter which way it goes. We can ill afford to look weak in any matter right now. We will never get the trust and respect from any Arab country (at least not in public) that is run on religious fundamentalism. There is no secret that Israel is our ally, nor that Israel does some of the things they do because they know we will back them.

It is an impressive list you have posted. I tried to read all the pages associated with them. I did notice that most of the sources were liberal based. Taking that into consideration, I am sure if I looked up some conservative based ones they would say something different. That being said I will try and answer as to my own opinions:

Emergency Relief and Katrina:
Katrina was a total mess. No argument there. It showed one of the biggest flaws Bush has, putting people in charge of programs they have no business being in charge of. I also put a lot of blame on the governor of Louisiana and the mayor. You did not see the problems on such a wide scale in the other areas hit. Again, the buck stops with Bush and he has to take the blame for the feds inaction. That being said, I can not find his administration as incompetent in Emergency Management since after that mess they cleaned up their act. Incompetence means, to me, that you keep doing incompetent acts. There are still areas that need to be fixed, but by and large they are doing a good job now.

Fiscal Management:
Both sides, Repub and Dem, spend money like crazy. Yes, Bush is in charge and must take responsibility but he does not control Congress.

Medicare:
I did not find what the Medicare Drug Program was talking about. Yes the states have stepped in…..but that is what they are supposed to do. The link you posted no longer exists. Medicare and Social Security are a mess period. I know, I work in it everyday. It was a mess before Bush, he just has not done anything to help it. So I will give that one to you.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and North Korea:
Why we left Afghanistan……many different reasons. Mostly because we went there to get rid of the Taliban. Well, we did since they left and went into Pakistan and Syria. We had to turn over the country to those who run it and they suck. Now we get criticized for leaving too soon, but yet people want us to leave Iraq before we are done……go figure.

Iraq is not finished so to call his administration incompetent on that one is a judgment call all the way. Yes it has cost more than was expected, yes it has lasted longer than expected, yes it is not what was expected but I do not agree with it being incompetent. Time will tell on that one.

Iran is, was, and forever will be a shithole. I guess it was Bush’s incompetence that led to the little tyrant to be elected as the leader of Iran. I doubt it.

I also fail to see how it was/is Bush’s incompetence that allowed North Korea to become North Korea. I guess the rest of the world didn’t have anything to say about it.

Social Programs:
Your social programs link is from Feb of 2006. Did the administration cut 40 billion from social programs? I don’t know about you but they do not seem to be suffering here in Dodge City. Do you know how much money goes into social programs? Ever think a good chunk of it is not needed? How many million Americans could not afford insurance BEFORE this report, or before Bush? I do not know either.

Military:
When you can get two former Republican secretary of anything to say something good about Clinton, I will listen to what these two say then. I doubt many in the military would say Bush is incompetent in how it is run.

Trade:
I do not know enough about foreign trade to even remotely guess on this.

Energy:
The energy “crisis”, which is not a crisis but expensive instead, is a many headed monster. I guess when we put in 400 million miles of windmills we can all look back and say “wow, why didn’t we do this earlier.” Of course the fact that we can’t drill our own oil, can’t build more refineries, can’t build or use more nuclear energy but can send the economy into a tailspin by growing corn for ethanol…….ok, he and every president before him is incompetent on the energy issue.

Consumers:
Wow, what we do with our money, or lack thereof, is a sign of a president’s competence………how did I miss that. Damn it, I want my government to make sure I do not over charge my credit!

Human Rights:
I won’t even get into an argument about human rights. When we start beheading our prisoners instead of dunking a few of them in water, we will talk.


So, mostly what you have is opinions on his administration by people who dislike his administration. I agree with Katrina, Afghanistan and the environment. I think Bush’s biggest problem is his choices of administrators and the “good old boy” network. Rummy should have been canned way before he was, the FEMA guy was a total boondoggle, and many others. Time will tell how ineffective, or effective, his administration was.

Do I think McCain can do a better job than BO? Yes I do. I also think Hillary could do a better job than BO. I like BO’s enthusiasm and drive, but his lack of experience IN THE JOB is a major problem. Has he ever led anything? Has he even been the manager of a fast food place? Dreams and hope are nice…..but he does not have the experience to make them come true. You think Bush was treated nasty by the Dems, wait and see how BO would be treated. Nothing will get done because the Repubs will refuse to work with him. He also does not have the needed clout to keep his political rivals at bay. Just my opinions is all.