OK, I've tried to stay out of this, but feel the need to reply.

I consider myself a moderate. I am not registered as a Republican or Democrat. I have voted since Vote 18 passed in 1968, and have probably voted for an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.

I wanted to vote "NO" for president a number of times, including the last one because I wasn't happy with either candidate.

I won't tell you who I voted for last time, because it isn't germain to this discussion -- and it's none of your business.

These conclusions are ones I've drawn since President Bush has been in office. Not before. They are real issues, not ideology.

They are also OPINIONS with no concrete basis in fact -- so you don't need to try to refute them. I'm not likely to change my mind unless the President's actions change it.

Because of the last sentence, I'm not particularly interested in anything you will say to try to change my thoughts. I'll make up my mind by guaging the actions of the President and the administration. Also, frankly, although I'm not as smart as a lot of you, I have a lot of experience and background to draw from in considering my conclusions.

There are some things that have impressed me about President Bush and his administration, but as you will soon see, they are overshadowed by negatives.

It would be good if something I say would change some of your opinions -- but it won't, and I understand that.

So, here we go:

- In comparison to our previous presidents, this one is not all that bright. He probably got into Yale because he was a legacy with his dad and grandfather being alums.

- He cut taxes, then started a war which is costing Billions of dollars a year. Show me the economic sense there. I'm not an economist, but that simply can't work. Do he Math yourself.

- He and the administration lied to us vis a vis the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction. None has been found and I don't think any will.

- He lied to us vis a vis the operational connection between Hussein and Bin Laden. Even the Army says they can't find any.

- I believe most of the evidence used to try to convince us of the necessity of this war is very thin. Had he simply said, "Heussein is a menace and we need to get rid of him," I would have agreed.

- He spent a lot of taxpayer dollars to fly out to an aircraft carrier to tell us combat in Iraq is over. It's not. GI's are still dying over there.

- By the way, Saddam and Bin Laden are still at large.

- He seems to have no concern whatsoever for the environment when it comes to oil drilling and timber issues. All of his administrations decisions are blatantly pro business.

- He seems to have no concern whatsover about the long term problems of Social Security.

- His administration has taken a budget surplus (at least on paper) and turned it into the biggest deficit in the nations history.

- His tax cuts appear to favor the upper middle class and upper class when really held up to scrutiny.

- No matter what anyone says, while I can understand resonable vacation time, I want my President to be in Washington, DC most of the year -- not playing golf in Texas. I couldn't take a month off within a month of two of starting a new job. Could you?

- The so called Patriot Act is the most serious infringement of our Constitutional Rights in the history of our country. That may worry me more than anything else. There are some real infringements of our personal freedoms there.

- He seems to have little or no interest in speaking directly to the American people or through the media.

- Through a lack of planning, the administation has us in a quagmire in "post-war" Iraq. The quotation marks are because, as I said above, I don't think this "war" is close to over. For those of you who were around, you will recall that I had misgivings about how we were handling this little adventure having lived through the Viet Nam era.

- I see no logical plan to get us free of that quagmire.

I don't see any compassion in this conservatism.

Now, had Gore been elected, I might have had a list for him as well -- probably would have -- but he wasn't, so that's moot.

And the fact is that George W. is the President (capital P out of respect for the office) and I will support him whenever I can.

But unless things change pretty drastically, I won't vote for him next time.

Frankly, he scares me.

In our Democracy, we talk about the "Loyal Opposition" and I consider what I've said above to fall under that banner. If you feel you must take personal shots at me or my beliefs, so be it, but they are my right to have as part of that Loyal Opposition. As it is your right to disagree.

Respectfully,

DeltAlum

Delt Alum, I definitely see all your points. I consider myself moderate as well. I just get angry at people who blame the Pres.(no matter what party the Pres. is) for everything that goes on. He has so many people surrounding him helping him make decisions, and so much that goes on is completely out of his control. You mentioned that Sadaam and Bin Laden are still on the loose...you blame Bush for this? For all we know, they're both dead; in fact, they most likely are, but whether dead or alive, why blame Bush? He wasn't out there fighting.

You mention how he has no concern for the environment cause he wants to drill for oil. Okay, as much as people want to deny it, our country, and most countries now, are completely and totally dependent on oil. Because of this dependency, countries who have it have a lot of power, so we must continually either kiss ass or fight for it. Bush's administration is trying to find other options. We could either find a substitute for oil or drill. So far, no substitute has matched what oil does. So, that is why drilling is being discussed. They haven't drilled yet, they are simply discussing it. It's not like we have that many options.

You mention how he cuts tax for rich people...okay, the more money you make, the more tax you have to pay. People who get these cuts are anyone who makes over the $40,000 a year mark. If you have a degree, you will easily be making that much money 3-5 years out of college. Don't act like the poor are getting screwed; the more you make, the more you get screwed, meaning everyone on these boards with a degree might soon be paying half their salary in taxes. Any cuts to that is a good thing. No matter what your take on these issues, you can't blame one man for your problems. He goes around and makes speeches, but everything else is done by a group of people. If you want to blame these problems on someone, you have to blame them on everyone in the government. They all have a hand in how the country is being ran. So I've said it before, and I'll say it again, stop the Bush bashing! These problems are far too complex to blame one man.

But his desk is where the proverbial buck stops. However, I respect your opinion -- I simply disagree.

One of my HS classmates was a dead ringer for Monica Lewinsky. This was in 1998, so we had our fair share of jokes at her expense.

I'm sure they made the right decesion, but did they make the right decision?

oooooo,

grammatical smack.

the gloves are coming off now.

Kitso
KS 361 perfectly good '361's i've had :D

Wow. I think everything you've said, I've said myself in recent discussions w/ friends/coworkers/family/etc. I just wanted to say 2 things:

1) I agree with the above and think it bears repeating, hence the quoet

2) It bothers me that more citizens don't take the time to think critically about their leader(s).

I realize this wasn't the main part of your post, but I'm a bit of an environmental freak sometimes so I have to say:

The only reason we're dependent on oil is because we (as a collective group of Americans) don't demand other solutions. There are plenty of alternatives for energy. (Read about Iceland's energy sources).

The basic thing is, no one has too much to complain about when it's their guy in charge. (Since you're into environmental things, it's a good point to remind you that we lost more forested land during the Clinton administration than during the Reagan and Bush eras combined, since we would stop every single Republican action to develop the lands, but were more complacent in the 1990s.) We have to be critical of all of our elected officials, whether or not we voted for them. We always have to be on them to do their job better--since they were elected by the people, they should be for the people, and not just the ones who voted for them.

That's the problem.. people like one or two things about a leader, and they quit paying attention.

I haven't been a fan of any recent president. :p

OK, I'll grant you that much. :p

What's strange is that it is possible to win the popular vote and lose in the Electoral College.