Editor,
Mr Bush (the current) is not an "evil genus". He is a mediocrity like Mr. Clinton, his immediate predecessor. I heard Clinton's wife Mrs Hillary Clinton speak here, and have little comment except that she is pretty and seemed devoted to her husband. I also saw Bush's father here on the campaign trail the time he lost to Mr. Clinton.
I guess they all made a good impression on me, as they should, because they are practiced crowd pleasers - is that what democracy means, and will a rock star be president some day? But some of the candidates' concerns were too recondite for me (or a rock star). Nevertheless, these are the very people who have let the American dream burst asunder and bleed.
Bush's new Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, just envisioned a permanent presence of 5O,OOO U.S. troops in Iraq and several permanent bases. Even if the people of Iraq don't want it - and they don't. Bush today also holds suspects in prison at Guantanamo without habeas corpus, and with no release day in sight - which is virtual slavery.
AT CTA camps in Europe and elsewhere around the globe, the suspects are interrogated using such terror techniques as "water-boarding", which simulates drowning - and other interrogation and torture techniques specifically prohibited by the Geneva Convention, and of dubious validity in producing information anyway, since someone under torture will make up what he thinks the torturer wants to hear to escape further torture.
The President has shown disregard for the privacy of its own citizens, using the war on terrorism as a bogeyman to replace the former military spending and budget largess enabled by the Cold War. With Vladimir Putin in power, that very Cold War may be reviving. Meanwhile this seems to be the century of China, and to a lesser extent, India. We are regarded as more of a threat to world peace and human rights than China by most nations.
Yet I applaud Bush's pro-life stand and his partial defense of traditional morality, and his (unfulfilled) promise of faith-based initiatives. Still, as stated, he is one in a series of mediocrities elected or appointed by the Supreme Court.
Don't blame Bush. He was breast fed on oil.
Richard Kovac