Are politicians really handling things well?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know lots of folks who disliked Bush after the close elction and are now full of praise for his handling of the Osama debacle. And he’s done a lot better than I would have thought. But I’ve been a little disappointd by some of his actions. And many Canadians think that with the American media reacting the way it did, honest governmental criticism is difficult to come by.

Bush did a good job of ensuring international support for a strike, not that this was hard to come by. He did a good job of encouraging Americans not to take out there frustrations on local Arabs. He said the right things to Osama.

But his disappearance during the initial events was not worthy of a great leader. Anthrax remains a small threat in terms of danger and is more of a hobgoblin of little minds. Congress should not have closed down while saying the public should not worry about anthrax. They should have showed by example the danger was small and stayed open. They should lambaste the media for allowing Americans to be fearful of this small danger. For there part, the media should worry more about the information they are getting on the Afghan war and less time reporting vague Anthrax stories.

I will be further saddened if this turns into an excuse to build a stronger military rather than better intelligence. I will be saddened if this is used to justify the burnt out Star Wars defense idea. And I remain far from convinced that politicians are acting well. Can’t they do better than try to co-opt the credit for the real heroes in New York by basking in their reflected glory? What sort of example are they setting?

2

The criticisms are valid, but I always ask, “Could I do those jobs better?” Or “Could I make better decisions?” Probably not. This stuff is all new. And in all fairness to the media, many people say we are getting too much about anthrax, and many others say we’re not getting enough.

And Bush never acts alone. He has many advisors.

3

That’s my report card for Bush at the moment. And I’m being generous on the C- right now.

Domestically, I feel he’s using the immediate crisis to try to push through a bunch of things that he just plain wants anyway, that don’t have anything to do with the situation. Drilling in ANWR is no more urgent (or desirable) than it was on September 10. Neither is the acceleration of assorted tax cuts that is the heart of his economic stimulus plan (we’ve discussed the relative impact of tax cuts v. government spending here), or the cap gains tax cut, or the various breaks for businesses.

And the fact that his stimulus seems to be aimed overwhelmingly at corporations and the well-off, and little if any assistance for people who’ve lost their jobs, or spending to create jobs - all you can say is, geez, the guy’s taking care of his own. (If you’ve lost your job and find yourself in the 0% bracket, what good’s a tax cut going to do you?)

It’s time to ask, is he president of the United States, or president of the well-to-do and the corporate interests?

And I understand he did quite a job on Congress with the homeland security stuff, but I’m not quite as up on that. I’m sure others here can fill us in on what Bush did there.