by James Glaser
September 26, 2002

I wrote this article yesterday, Wednesday morning. I read it over a few times and wondered how I could be writing about the President of the United States this way. Sure there is the First Amendment, but this is a real slam on George. Later on in the afternoon I listened to Senator Daschle's remarks about the President and then National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice's remarks about Senator Daschle. What I have figured out is we have a President that likes conflict. I always thought a President was supposed to get the nation to work together and it would be a plus if that went for the rest of the world too. President Bush I think has a real "feel" for power and likes to tell anyone that will listen that he is powerful. It is almost like he is saying to the world, you have to help us or we will crush you. I don't like that. That use of power is not the way I want America to do business and I do believe that tone, begs for more terrorist attacks. I want other nations to help America, not out of fear, but because they want their countries to be more like ours. If we could get back to leading by example, that would be great. I guess that George Bush probably would have liked to be a War Lord back in the 1500s with serfs, vassals, and damsels in distress, but sorry to say this is the 21st century and that story isn't going to happen George.

I don't know about this President, but I live in a Democracy. In my country you don't stop being part of the country after you vote. I have always been told from an early age that I should exercise my Right to vote and I should also exercise my Right to speak out about our Government, good or bad.

I have been getting the feeling from George that he thinks Americans that give voice to their concerns are some sort of traitors. Some how George has gotten this idea that his "RULE" should be autocratic. George didn't even get the majority of the votes cast. He seems to me to be getting pretty uppity.

What is so very strange is that the President keeps telling America and the Congress that we do need a debate about Iraq, while at the same time he is having the Pentagon move troops, B-2 bombers, and carrier groups to the Middle East.

The Bush Administration keeps telling America that this time Saddam's troops will most likely refuse to fight and the People of Iraq will praise America as liberators. Also, this time it has been said, that America won't need 700, 000 men at arms to take on Iraq. "It will be easier this time"

That assumes last time was easy. Yes it is true, less than two hundred American troops died on the battle field, but what Washington fails to tell the American people is that over one hundred and ninety eight thousand veterans have suffered from many strange diseases and thousands have died at an early age. These numbers change the whole perception of that first Gulf War.

These numbers do not deter George in any way. It doesn't matter that Saddam had no connection to September 11th and you know we tried very hard to find one. It doesn't matter that most of the leaders of the first Gulf War are against America taking on Iraq without the UN. It doesn't matter that we have a War going on right now, the War on Terrorism. It doesn't matter that we still haven't found Osama (remember him?) nor Mulla Omar. It doesn't matter that we still only have one small section of Afghanistan under our control and that we have had to hire War Lords to control the rest of the country. War Lords, I bet George likes the sound of that.

What matters is that George Bush wants us to start another war, this time to take some perceived stain off his fathers name. The power to start wars willy nilly is not the only power that this President has taken on. George Bush has decided that he can put American citizens in prison forever with no chance for a lawyer or even have a charge brought against them. Just on the President's word we are putting people away forever. Dungeons might be on the way back in.

Home Land Security, If George Bush does not get the power to hire and fire any of the 170.000 employees in this new government department, then he will veto the whole thing. It doesn't matter that America has Civil Service laws because in the past, administrations from both parties abused those that worked for our government. George Bush wants this power back in his pocket. The desire for more power permeates every action the Bush Administration takes.

Our Democracy is a representational form of government. That means that we elect officials who we feel will represent our values. We do not elect people so they can introduce a whole new set of values and want us to be quiet about it.

George Bush has decided on his own, that America will change our whole way of defending ourselves. No longer will we trust in the fact that we can crush any nation that decides to attack us, no, now with the "Bush Doctrine," America will attack any country we "think" might some day attack us or even countries that decide to develop the same weapons we have, because we won't allow that any more. The flaw in this policy is the fact that terrorist groups (those are the people we are at war with now) have no country that we can attack.

Of course this only pertains to little countries because America only will take on a sure win. China and Russia can do whatever they want to their people and can even step on their neighbors, but if a country is small and they have some natural resources like oil, then they are prime targets of the Bush Doctrine.

George is a "Rich Boy" that has gotten his way his whole life and you can see by the way he is running his Presidency he has that rich boy mentality. America didn't elect George so he could become his life long dream, a "WAR LORD," but it looks like he doesn't care what we think.