By Mike Greenfield
Rarely does one get the pleasure of reading a submission as
completely foolish as the one the Daily Bruin recently carried by
Daniel Cote (“President may not be perfect, but he’s
better than the rest of them,” Sept. 21). Why the Bruin felt
it necessary to import the article from the Massachusetts Daily
Collegian (via the University Wire) is completely beyond me.
Still more puzzling is just how Cote managed to arrive at his
astounding and moronic conclusions that “the Saudis are
screwing with our oil,” or better yet, his explanation of
California’s budget crisis: “That’s what happens
when you sell your soul to special interest groups to get yourself
elected.”
I know the Bush administration at times seems greedy, but I
wasn’t aware we had officially declared the oil of the Middle
East to be ours. Furthermore, am I to understand that Cote believes
Bush made it to the White House as a result of a grassroots
campaign? I don’t suppose he sees any connection between
special interests and the war in Iraq, Bush’s tax cuts or the
environmental sellout he has initiated.
In response to Cote’s assertion that “whether you
like Bush or not, you can’t say in good conscience that he
has been a complete failure,” I would like to offer a
qualified agreement. Bush has helped to make the world a much worse
place than he found it. With his asinine macho-cowboy act, he has
managed to destroy foreign diplomacy, weaken any credibility the
United Nations might have had, insult the intelligence of human
beings everywhere, and generally make the world a far more
dangerous place for everyone, particularly Americans.
Bush demanded (and got) an entirely unnecessary (and immoral)
war against Iraq that, aside from undermining the
“integrity” of international diplomacy and the
possibility of any real peace in the Middle East, has also helped
destroy our own economy, not to mention the lives of thousands of
Americans, Iraqis and Afghanis alike.
All of his efforts have yet to turn up Osama bin Laden, Saddam
Hussein, a single weapon of mass destruction or even the slightest
shred of evidence linking Iraq to Sept. 11, 2001 ““ despite
Cote’s assertion that “the weapons of mass destruction
haven’t been found, but every objective, thinking person
knows they exist.” I have to wonder at his definition of an
“objective, thinking person.”
In trying to drum up popular support for these actions,
Bush’s administration has continually relied upon deception
and, when necessary, outright lying. In funding this war, he has
sacrificed both the present (social programs, education, etc.)
through tax cuts and the future through the loans being used to
finance this disgrace.
Bush has continually pushed his agenda of mass cronyism
(allowing it to pervade all levels of our society) and has focused
all his economic, environmental and military planning on the very
special interests of those who funded his “unelected”
ride to the presidency. He has undermined decades of environmental
policy, lowering standards designed to safeguard the health of
Americans and ensure the protection of our natural resources, again
leaving the world less safe for Americans.
George W. Bush will go down as one of the most inept presidents
in the history of our country. As more Americans become aware of
the true nature of his polices, he will continue to watch his
approval ratings slide until the day he is voted out of office.
So yes, I cannot in good conscience say that he has been a
complete failure ““ he is so obviously and remarkably
succeeding at being a complete failure.
Greenfield is a fourth-year geography and environmental
studies student.