President Bush's resume!

[DeltAlum]

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