George W. III

A look at the death toll for coalition soldiers today on Sunday March 11, 2007 is at least 134 British soldiers, 33-Italy, 18-Ukraine, 19-Poland, 13-Bulgaria, 11-Spain, 6-Denmark, 5-El Salvador, 4-Slovakia, 3-Latvia, 2-Estonia, 2-Netherlands, 2-Thailand,1-Australia, 1-Hungary, 1-Kazakhstan, 1-Romania, 3,190-United States, over 35,000 Iraqi civilians—and counting.
Now, I am trying to keep this journal more or less focused on the war in Iraq and I know that I could go on forever on how Bush has ruined this country and worsened the condition of international relationships everywhere…but I will try not to. I do, however, feel it necessary to include here a small blurb of information I read in today’s paper on the issue because after all you can’t talk about this war without at least mentioning President George W. Bush. The article was a survey of 1,001 adults on what people look for in a presidential candidate. It was left open-ended to prevent any misguided answers. The results were that 55% “consider honesty, integrity and other values of character the most important qualities…One-third look first to candidates’ stances on issues…” So far I agree with this. Stances on issues can change but character needs to be the rock of a president. But how did our beloved President Bush get elected? Ah, here we go: “…fewer focus foremost on leadership traits, experience or intelligence.” I suppose those latter qualities were overlooked in the past two elections.
Either way, more people died yesterday as a result of another suicide car bomber killing twenty people, six of which were soldiers. Meanwhile, as the ashes of Donald Rumsfeld’s early retirement begin to cool down, “Scooter” Libby was found guilty on four out of five of the charges in the case against him for leaking the identity of a CIA operative who just so happened to be the wife of a former U.S. ambassador who spoke ill of the Bush Administration. Plus, in the latest of the administration’s scandals, the Department of Justice found that the FBI was illegally using the Patriot Act to spy on American citizens! Oh, my God! Who saw that coming? I am surprised that that anyone is surprised. Even further, I am astonished that anyone thinks that the Patriot Act isn’t illegal in the eyes of the Constitution to begin with. But hey, what do I know—right? I’m just part of the know-nothing do-nothing generation. Yeah, and we’re supposed to be bad for the American image. Nothing like holding up a mirror to yourself, eh?
A recent quote from the president making the rounds on TV is, “This war started on my watch, but it’s going to end on your watch.” If that isn’t the biggest load of crap being dumped on a generation, then I don’t know what is. Bush intentionally lied to the American people and began his democratic crusade before I could even drive a car by myself let alone vote. And now, we’re responsible for cleaning up his mess? But then again, every generation suffers as well as benefits from the previous generation. I still think, though, we got the short end of the stick.
One other gripe: I have a problem with Bush traveling around the world as an ambassador of the American people when the majority of Americans find him to be a man with poor leadership traits, no experience managing a successful oil company let alone a country and…well, the intelligence thing goes without saying. But hey, who’s looking at these qualities when voting for a president anyway?
This should hopefully be the last bitching I do in this journal about Bush and I hope to focus again on the war in Iraq. Perhaps in the next entry I will have something good to say. But I doubt it. “Patriotism comes not without a sense of pessimism.”
—me