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October 25, 2004
ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE PAPER REJECTS BUSH
The presidency George W. Bush has been such an utter failure, based on deception and arrogance, that even die-hard conservative newspapers have found themselves with no choice but to reject his failed him. That's no surprise. But when even a paper in Idaho is urging its readers to abandon Bush, that shows you just how extensive Bush's failure has been.
Idaho has gone Republican every election since 1964. It's one of the most Republican states in the nation. And its main newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, has endorsed John Kerry for president.
Its endorsement is less an embrace of Kerry than a rejection of Bush. That's okay. Many voters aren't thrilled with Kerry. But as the Statesman points out, George W. Bush has been so deceptive in office, his policies so disasterous for our nation, and his presidency so destructive... that any alternative is preferable. As a voter, you don't have to like the alternative... so long as you recognize that a change still needs to happen. But don't just take my word for it. Listen to one of the most conservative papers in the United States:
Kerry has not won our confidence. But Bush has lost it.
Bush has made snap decisions. His shoot-from-the-hip style has polarized the nation. He has bulldozed environmental protections and piled up frightening budget deficits. Most critically, he rushed this nation into war in Iraq, costing more than 1,100 U.S. lives and damaging America's image abroad...
Nineteen months ago, we supported Bush's decision to go to war -- not just out of a sense of patriotism, but on the administration's claim that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons. This president oversimplified the most complex decision of his term, and he got it wrong.
He went to war before allowing U.N. inspectors to complete their search for weapons. A recent Senate Intelligence Committee report called it "group think": Administration analysts believed Saddam had weapons and ignored evidence to the contrary. Perhaps. Or perhaps administration officials -- remembering the Iraq we encountered in the first Gulf War -- failed to adjust to changing conditions. Either way, Bush did not put enough critical thought into the war decision.
And now, even with a U.S. arms inspector saying the weapons weren't there, the White House seems to be making it up as it goes along. Instead of simply acknowledging a lapse in U.S. intelligence -- and saying it went to war based on the best information available -- this administration has improvised a new explanation, alleging that Saddam was abusing a U.N. oil-for-food program.
The biggest credibility question about Bush -- and it's significant -- is his famous inability to admit errors. By painting himself as a president who makes no mistakes, Bush seems to act as if he's above questioning...
Somewhere along the way, however, the man who promised to be a "uniter" took a turn away from common ground. He courted conservatives with deep tax cuts, controversial judicial nominees and his support of a superfluous constitutional amendment on gay marriage. Bush has denounced the partisanship on Capitol Hill as if he were a bystander. The record suggests otherwise.
