by James Glaser
January 20, 2003

No longer satisfied to be the cheer leader, George Bush now wants the fame and adoration that only the quarterback can get. To be that quarterback Bush feels he must be both the spokesman and point man for the United States, not realizing that his actions diminish the reputation of his office

I would hope that George W. Bush could start acting Presidential. I do respect the office of the President, however George is trying that respect and giving that position in our government a bad name.

Continuous daily tirades while ranting and raving on Iraq, North Korea, or the UN weapons inspectors does nothing to garner support for America or the Office of the President. Being the most powerful leader on earth does instill fear in many nations when they have to deal with the President of the United States. Respect for each President is something only that President can earn by his actions. That earned respect gives America the cooperation from other nations we need

Ranting and Raving about other countries or calling them names like "Axis of Evil" may look good in the short run with polling numbers. However the lack of maturity these actions show, hurts not only this President's ability to get needed cooperation from other nations, but also hurts all future Presidents because the "Office" of the President is tarnished.

A prime example of this is shown in the actions of North Korea. After President Bush called North Korea evil and their leader, Kim Jong il a loathsome pygmy, North Korea decided to expel Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and start up their plutonium generating nuclear plant.

To his base, President Bush sounded tough and in charge for a little while, but around the world George Bush sounded like a bully. Bullies garner neither respect nor cooperation and now North Korea is on a path to build more nuclear weapons. That is the exact opposite of what we want in that region of the world. Many countries feel North Korea was pushed in that direction by the actions of President Bush.

Lets look at the Bush Doctrine of first strike and America's new ban on any nation building up their military forces. Sure it allows President Bush to look strong in the eyes of his Washington advisors, but what does the rest of the world see? Every other nation looks at America as an out of control behemoth that dictates to the rest of the world just what America will allow.

Think back to America's attack on Afghanistan. Nothing decisive there. First there were weeks and weeks of strutting and badgering the Taliban government about giving up Osama bin Laden The United States knew that bin Laden was a hero of Afghanistan's defeat of the Soviet Union and there was no way that government could give him up. Next there was the attack in which America backed lawless War Lords against the Taliban while letting Osama bin Laden and his whole command structure escape, because we gave him those weeks of forewarning before we attacked.

Now there is the puppet government set up by America and the real reason for the attack is shown to the whole world with an oil pipe line deal signed by Afghanistan and her neighbors.

The world has heard George Bush admonish every country that if they are not with America they are against America. Now the world knows what George Bush was really saying, if you don't do what America wants, we will make you.

Iraq is another example of Presidential arrogance. President Bush has told the world that our aim was to disarm Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and that America has the absolute proof of those weapons. After weeks of looking by UN weapons inspectors, the only thing found were a dozen empty war heads from 1986. Now the Bush Doctrine on Iraq has changed and no longer will finding weapons of mass destruction be needed to start a war. Now it is enough to say that "Baghdad's withholding of weapons information and its refusal to make scientists freely available should persuade US allies to back the use of force against Saddam Hussein."

First it was a "smoking gun" that America had proof of and now it is suspicion of weapons that will allow a war to start.

In all of the Bush administrations post 9/11 "strong arm" tactics, President Bush has been the lead man. This point man mentality by the American President has damaged his office by allowing the rest of the world to see just what a megalomaniac he really is. Other Presidents have been the same, however they protected their office by the use of the Presidential spokesmen and member of the Cabinet saying what the President wanted. This kept the Office of the President above the fray and gave the President the ability to deny remarks that hurt the United States.

George Bush wants it all. By wanting it all he is hurting America and is becoming a national embarrassment.