Bush Scares Me

President Bush Has no Fear

by David Eidensohn

According to Gallup, President Bush has fallen in the polls. His 47% approval rating today is about half of what it was at his highest approval rating, right after the 9-11 attack, 90%. Although in September 2001, only 6% of American disapproved of President Bush's performance in office, today, 49% disapprove of his performance.

When asked to rate the state of the country, a Gallup poll taken in June 6-8 of 2005 showed 60% of Americans dissatisfied with the "state of the country." Only 38% were satisfied.

Only 35% of Americans gave the president "excellent/good" ratings on the economy. 65% gave him "fair/poor" ratings.

Some are bothered by the Social Security crisis, others by the war in Iraq. Many people oppose the president for various other reasons. To me, the problem is much larger. The problem that I see in President Bush is mainly this: He likes to solve problems. The solutions he brings to problems are very brave and bold, even frightening. In a variety of areas, the great initiatives of our president can land us in very hot water. And he keeps plowing ahead. He will never recognize the valor of fear. He has no fear. That is why I fear him.

A person who is weak is protected by the reality that he is weak. He will flee rather than fight a stronger person. If a weak person is brave, he will be destroyed. Mr. Bush does not know what it is to declare weakness. This is a mortal weakness in anyone, and surely in a president.

President Bush took office in a country brimming with trillions of dollars of surplus. President Bush, despite facing a financial crisis with Social Security of trillions of dollars, took the surplus and gave it away. This was a supremely reckless act. Today, we face up to 50 trillion dollars in debt because of Social Security and related matters. We earn one or two trillion dollars a year. Mr. Bush is not afraid. He gave away the surplus, and he is sure it will just come flying back into the treasury.

Every year we must borrow billions of dollars just to keep up with our expenses. And yet, Mr. Bush just gave away the surplus.

This week, of June 20, the dream of Europe unity collapsed. A meeting held to rescue the vision collapsed into nasty remarks. Therefore, the euro sagged. However, even when it sagged, it was far ahead of the dollar. The dollar, it seems, had even worse news. If our dollar is not respected, we will have to pay huge interest payments on our trillions of dollars in debt, and there is no way we can do this. Is anyone afraid?

Every person who has an income and deals with debts knows that what President Bush is doing with the economy is a disaster. The only one who doesn't know it is him.

Foreign affairs is more of the same. There is no fear in declaring grandiose objectives despite our limited means. Just charge into Iraq, wave the flag, and everyone will become what we want them to be. Right?

As I write these words, Secretary of State Rice has just hurled thunderbolts against Egypt and Saudi Arabia, telling them to change their form of government and become democracies. What would happen then? The populace of Saudi Arabia and Egypt hate America so much that they would back the bombers of 911. Is this what we want? Does this administration know what it wants? It is sure if it just declares its will, the world will just roll over and behave.

America is a poor country. We cannot sustain the medical costs of our elderly. We have no money to pay for social security. We must borrow each year many billions of dollars that we have no way to repay. China is becoming a mighty economic and military power with the money it makes from Americans who cannot buy products in America because they are made in China.

Mr. Bush, it seems, is out to move the Republican Party into the mainstream, away from the Religious Right. He had his wife tell a dirty joke at an important conference. This was the first public dirty joke told by a head of state's wife that I can remember. We see again Mr. Bush doing unusual things that would scare most other people. Can you just kick the Religious Right and family people because you have decided to go to the center of the political spectrum? Have you forgotten that you father lost his bid for a second term because he defied the Religious Right?

Mr. Bush must learn that he has no solutions. There is no way to win the war in Iraq militarily, there is no way to win the hearts of Islamic people politically, there is no way to get people to like America when they hate us, there is no way to build the Republican party by having women tell dirty jokes, and there is no way to sustain the dollar by giving it away. Once that sinks in, and Mr. Bush learns to tear his hair in fear, he will be far along towards solutions.