The Ship Of State Is Sunk

THE SHIP OF STATE IS SUNK

by Mark Kato

If anyone has had any doubts about George W. Bush’s utter lack of leadership, the disaster now visiting New Orleans and Biloxi should provide ample proof that this man who many believe illegally inhabits the White House is unfit to be President of the United States of America. Indeed, George W. Bush is unfit to be dogcatcher, and it would be an insult to the canine world if he held such a modest office. In equal measure, but infinitely more serious, his tenure as president is no less an insult to the American people.

Here is a man playing at being president, the most powerful public position on this planet. And, with the exception of a handful of his business cronies, all Americans are suffering, even his hapless followers and supporters, who are, to put it in the frankest terms possible, just too stupid to know better.

George W. Bush, for reasons that are now all too obvious, has taken this country into a disastrous war in Iraq, shifting away and wasting taxpayer money on it. In unleashing the awesome might of the U.S. military machine, he has brought death and destruction to that defenseless country for reasons that have now crystallized down to one thing - OIL. And, what have the American people gotten for this effort, besides 1,880+ dead soldiers, tens of thousands other soldiers wounded and an astronomical deficit? We have gotten nothing but grieving families, a divided nation and $6 a gallon gasoline in Atlanta. If a man can be called “a natural disaster,” his name is George W. Bush.

Appointed by the Supreme Court to secure his first term in office, and “winning” again by a slim margin under circumstances that called into question the fidelity of Ohio’s Board of Elections, George W. Bush has been an absentee president, having spent 20% of his time “at the helm” of the Ship of State on his “ranch” in Crawford, Texas, cutting brush, driving his pickup truck and riding that infernal bicycle. But, this is the least of his many deficiencies. In fact, if it were not for his equally incompetent administration, who “run things” in his absence, this proficiency at avoiding his workplace in Washington D.C. would be a blessing.

According to a recent FOX News opinion poll of 900 registered voters nationwide, George W. Bush’s overall approval rating has dropped to 45%, his lowest approval rating recorded by this news organization since he was appointed president. This result includes some of his former supporters who apparently no longer have confidence in his ability to lead. This pole is bolstered by a recent Gallop pole, which found that 52% of the American people disapprove of Bush’s overall performance, while similarly only 45% approve. And, in Gallop’s “State of the Country Satisfaction” rating, a full 62% of the American people voiced their dissatisfaction with Bush. By any standard, Bush II has lost a clear majority of the American peoples’ confidence and support.

But, what do we do with him? He still has three and a half years left in his second term, and who knows what further disasters and depredations this man might visit on the country, although it is hard to imagine how things could get even worse than they already are. With the Republican Party in clear control of the Congress, and with a docile and supine Democratic Party as the opposition, constitutional relief in the form of impeachment doesn’t seem likely unless the Democrats retake a majority of seats in Congress, grow a backbone and rid us of this blight called George W. Bush.