On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 02:22:21 -0500, Damon Hill wrote:

"ed kyle" wrote in news:1125639325.735232.178980
:

Bob Haller wrote:
What do all of you think of Bush? With Iraq, gas prices, storm response
and everything else....

How do you rate his job performance?

That Truman "Buck Stops Here" sign is going to apply
to the current President, and to his party, no matter
how well things are handled from here. People will
remember the New Orleans fiasco, but even more than
that they will remember who is president every time
they fill their gas tanks. Bush's space exploration
plans may be in as much trouble as his Republican Party.

Nah, they'll blame the liberal Democrats and environmentalists.

And enough people will buy that old party line.
Hey, it's worked for decades.

People are dumb. As sad and depressed as I am about the destruction
and human misery going in New Orleans and so much of the Gulf Coast,
the bands of armed thugs taking advantage of the situation leaves me even
less hopeful. It's not only embarrassing as an American, it's embarrassing
as a human being.

George W. Bush isn't responsible for Katrina. I think he's doing the best
he can. But he was widely regarded as an ineffective President before
9-11. In the wake of that, as well as early on in the War on Iraq, he had
the support of the US people. That's understandable. Even, perhaps,
laudable. We all want our nation to be right, and to succeed. Maybe we've
just grown accustomed to it over the years.

But geez, he refuses to accept the possibility of global warming due to
human activity. His energy policies are based on oil (not surprisingly),
despite the fact that it's a finite resource, and the new demands being
placed on it by China and other developing nations. His answer to terrorism
is not to deal with its roots, but to combat it on its own terms. You point out
"Hey, it's worked for decades." I hope we have that luxury...

Things will have to reach an obvious crisis point before there's a fundamental
change. It used to just take a defeat in war, as when Italians strung Mussolini
up. I fear the stakes are higher now. As with the Gulf communities, I hope
we'll all be able to recover if/when the big one hits.

That being said, I think Haller is a complete douchebag for raising this at
this time. Plonk.

Dale