Bush The Uniter

The NY Times and the NY Post- One is accused of being a liberal propaganda rag, the other is proudly a conservative propaganda rag. In general, its readers probably differ politically on many major issues. So it's refreshing to see something bring the readers of the two paper togethers... disapproval of President Bush. At last he's uniting us, as promised.

From yesterday's NY Times letters section:

#1-

To the Editor:

Re "Poll Gives Bush Worst Marks Yet on Major Issues" (front page, 10):

As President Bush's approval rating sinks ever lower, I imagine that more and more voters who sought to vote him out of office in 2004 have the following question:

Which of Mr. Bush's failures this term could not have been predicted by his incompetence and arrogance in the first term?

I propose that the answer is none and wonder at the millions who apparently voted for him hoping for what his record all but proved would not happen.

We all knew Mr. Bush well enough from his first term to know that his response to tragedy and adversity would be to promote and flatter the incompetent and ignore the advice of cooler heads.

Those who disapprove now but who voted to re-elect Mr. Bush have gotten what they voted for and should be apologizing to those who knew better when it mattered most, a year and a half ago.

As for those who continue to support the president, at least they are consistent.

David Kagle
Bronx, May 10, 2006

#2-

To the Editor:

It doesn't take elaborate polls to gauge the performance of the Bush administration and President Bush's ratings; just take a stroll around the corner on Main Street and see for yourself how the poll ratings work.

Common folks sweating it out to make ends meet; unaffordable gasoline prices; unaffordable health care; concerns about open-ended war in Iraq; the rising cost of living; the evaporating promise of Social Security; and inequity in the income tax structure — all this adds up to a pathetic mark sheet for the Bush administration's overall job performance.

Atul M. Karnik
Woodside, Queens

From yesterday's NY Post letters page:

#1-

John Podhoretz is wondering why Dubya's polls are sinking now ("Dubya's Dilemma," PostOpinion, May 9)?
Here are the simple truths:

The war in Iraq is a major blunder that most Americans cannot comprehend.

We should have captured and killed Osama bin Laden by now - it's been four years.

Hurricane Katrina was eye-opening, and all Americans should be furious at the handling of this tragedy.

Our standing in the world has greatly and disgracefully diminished under this presidency.

Add the Dubai port debacle, Scooter Libby, Valerie Plame and immigration and homeland-security issues.

I can't imagine anyone being shocked at Dubya's sinking polls.

Podhoretz is right about one thing, though: Most people are deeply disheartened with this administration.

We've had more than enough.

Pamela Rackiewicz
Shelton, Conn.

#2-

Nice spin, Podhoretz.

Americans have woken up from their "guns, gays and God" coma.

They've realized that these issues do nothing to help them afford the price of gas and the costs of health insurance or to recover from the loss of their brave sons and daughters, whose lives have been wasted for a bogus war.

Mission accomplished? Yeah, right.

Kathleen Fontaine
Plainville, Mass.

Semi-related, Digby has a new write-up on the 'uniter v. divider' theme-

He had an historical moment that could have brought the country and the entire world together --- which he decided instead to use as an opportunity to aggressively assert arrogant partisan and American power. Rather than being a "uniter not a divider" as he promised in the campaign, he roared into office with his one vote majority and treated the Democrats like lackeys, behaving as if he had a mandate to enact the most extreme items on the GOP agenda. He used patriotism as a bludgeon to intimidate all dissent against his inexplicable war with Iraq. At every turn he behaved with insolence and hubris and his failure has been manifest. Now he lives in a bubble, wandering around dazed and confused about what is happening to him --- which is not the result of Democratic partisanship, I might add, but rather the assessment of the American people. (The Democrats were paralyzed during most of his term.) Perhaps that's why his fall has been so steady --- the slow realization among the people that being a leader takes more than a manly swagger and a down home accent.

Yup.

Finally, in what comes as no shocker to me, a new poll shows that Americans strongly preferred President Clinton over Bush. It states "Respondents favored Clinton by greater than 2-to-1 margins when asked who did a better job at handling the economy (63 percent Clinton, 26 percent Bush) and solving the problems of ordinary Americans (62 percent Clinton, 25 percent Bush)." The poll also shows that Clinton is favored on every other issue as well- foreign affairs, uniting the country, handling natural disasters, honesty, taxes, and national security. The latter two are supposedly Bush's strong areas too.

Bottom line- competence counts.