News & Politics - Bush's rating below 40% for first time

LaraCroft01 · 09-10-2005, 04:36 PM

And it's about damn time.

from here

Quote:

We will overcome Katrina disaster: Bush

US President George W Bush vowed that Americans will overcome the ordeal presented by Hurricane Katrina, as a weekend of remembrances of September 11, 2001, was overshadowed by the Gulf Coast crisis.

Bush used his weekly radio address to remember the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, saying Americans were pulling together to help Katrina victims just as they did the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

"Today, America is confronting another disaster that has caused destruction and loss of life. This time the devastation resulted not from the malice of evil men, but from the fury of water and wind," Bush said.

"America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it," he said.

In the Katrina crisis, Bush has been unable to recapture the same spirit of bipartisan unity he championed in the weeks and months after the September 11 attacks, a period in which he gained great credit for his leadership and his job approval ratings soared.

"Four years later, Americans remember the fears and uncertainty and confusion of that terrible morning," Bush said. "But above all, we remember the resolve of our nation to defend our freedom, rebuild a wounded city, and care for our neighbours in need."

While Democrats rallied to help him four years ago, this time they have raised pointed questions about the slow federal response to the hurricane, demanded an independent investigation and criticised his handling of the crisis. Many Republicans have joined in criticisms of the response.

The Iraq war, fought over weapons of mass destruction that were never found, and Bush's attempts to link it to the overall war on terrorism, have contributed to a partisan split in Washington.

"As we approach the fourth anniversary of 9/11, President Bush should admit that he wrongly invoked the tragedy of 9/11 to justify war with Iraq. The war has made terrorists even more determined to attack our country, and has made America less safe," Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy said in a statement on Friday.

He added, "Four years after 9/11, as the administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina makes clear, we're obviously not adequately prepared to deal with another devastating attack."

President Bush's job approval has dipped below 40 per cent for the first time in the AP-Ipsos poll, reflecting widespread doubts about his handling of petrol prices and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Nearly four years after Bush's job approval soared into the 80s after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush was at 39 per cent job approval in an AP-Ipsos poll taken this week. That's the lowest since the poll was started in December 2003.

The public's view of the nation's direction has grown increasingly negative as well, with nearly two-thirds now saying the country is heading down the wrong track.

****

I don't even watch Bush speak anymore because I can't stand him and everything he says is all "blab, blab, blab" to me. Everything he says is crap. It's all "blab, blab, 9/11, blab, blab, blab Hurricane Katrina". UGH.

VU&NICO · 09-10-2005, 06:51 PM

Ditto, IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!

Sofa · 09-10-2005, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VU&NICO

Ditto, IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!

Finally.

mattia · 09-10-2005, 09:24 PM

its just too bad that it took this long for so many americans to realize what and who he is....and now its too late...this is what we have until 2008....

so here is a bitter "thanks" to all those people just realizing what I knew this man to be years ago....

and to think he has 2 Justice spots open...

mh67511 · 09-10-2005, 09:30 PM

You know what? I voted for him and now I wish I didn't. Bush has become totally obsessed with the "international war on terror" and I think people are getting sick and tired of it. It's as if he can't talk without interjecting some reference to the war on terror and I'm sick of it. Domestic interests are being sacrified and programs are being cut and I'm just sick of it all.

TokyoNiGHTS · 09-11-2005, 02:12 AM

The only bad part about this is that the polls won't do anything. Yah Americans are now upset and don't agree with the president but its too late to really do anything about it. He's someone we've got to deal with as the leader of our country for the next few years even though most don't seem to be too happy about that idea anymore. Unlike some I don't think he has any evil intentions. I don't think he and his staff responded to Katrina slowly because most of the victims in NO atleast were minorities. My problem is that I really don't think he knows what he's doing. I think he's often overwhelmed by the position he's in and doesn't know what to do which is the reason for all the vacations he takes. I think that's to be expected somewhat, no one is ever going to be completely prepared for some big things happening. But he ran for the presidency of this country and he should atleast be ready for what potentially could happen and what he'd have to do if it did.

Lexis · 09-11-2005, 02:29 AM

We got next year - time to clean house and get rid of Bush's toadies. And then, in 2008, Democrats have the chance to put someone who actually intends of work for the interests of Americans in the White House.

**covington** · 09-11-2005, 03:01 AM

That's just it thought. The democrats aren't much better. They just talk a better game. What scares me is the lack of knowledge concerning the Neo-conservative agenda. These guys need a man like bush--a basic moron they can tell what to do.

The scary thing is that they have just as much power inside democratic circles. Kerry had the chance to win over the american people, but he was just to chicken to stand up and say anything that counted and thats why democrats keep losing. They care more about thier pockets and not rocking the boat than doing and saying what matters to most americans. Whey else do so few people go out to vote. What astonished me about Kerry was his willingness to want to go in deeper when it came to iraq and his unwillingness to call him on the fact that he was cheating during the debates...carl rove was literally talking into his ear. I'm sorry but that was much more than a wrinkled suit.

TokyoNiGHTS · 09-11-2005, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genki

That's just it thought. The democrats aren't much better. They just talk a better game. What scares me is the lack of knowledge concerning the Neo-conservative agenda. These guys need a man like bush--a basic moron they can tell what to do.

Not only does the Democratic party not need a Bush, this country can't handle having another Bush. We're in a big enough hole as it is to not have to go through another president that's similar to this guy in any way. The core of this guys problem is the fact that he has very little ability to admit he did something wrong. And when you're in a position as high as he is, that's not going to do anything but cause trouble.

**covington** · 09-11-2005, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokyoNiGHTS

Not only does the Democratic party not need a Bush, this country can't handle having another Bush. We're in a big enough hole as it is to not have to go through another president that's similar to this guy in any way. The core of this guys problem is the fact that he has very little ability to admit he did something wrong. And when you're in a position as high as he is, that's not going to do anything but cause trouble.

I wasn't arguing that the democrats need another bush. I was just saying that the problems with this administration are not just with the president but the whole system that surrounds him. He is a puppet for a much more dangerous group of people known as neocons which include wolfowitz, rumsfeld, and cheney. There notion of government equates to dictatorship and that is just scary. This is why I think putting people like Kerry who are essentially saying the same thing is bad for the democrats. They need to present strong leaders that will provide a real alternative for voters.

ceilirose · 09-11-2005, 05:21 AM

Bush isn't just beholden to the neo-cons. We've had a whole generation brought up in this country since Reagan who have had the mantra of 'less government is good' ingrained in their senses and equate taxes with the devil. He's a puppet of the neo-cons and ultimately a symbol of the extreme Conservative ideology which runs the Government. All tinged with the radical Christian Right.

Government is there to protect us. We pay taxes and we build and sustain the infrastructure of this country and pay for public services (police, fire, health, schools, military) that hold up the structure of this country.

Right now the people who run this country want to permanently cut the estate tax for the richest of Americans along with the yearly tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of our country.

The Democrats have been quite on the aftermath of Katrina for the most part. Dean said on Friday that someone needs to provide moral leadership in this country. He's right...I hope someone comes forward otherwise Bush & Co. will eventually spin this back to where they were the big saviors.

Did anyone hear Cheney say that the evacuees he met in Austin didn't complain about the federal response? I'm sure they had to sign the usual letter of loyalty to Bush & Co. before they were let in.

Also Kerry is a lot of things but I can't imagine that he would have done half as bad a job as Bush did in this mess. I think Reagan would have done a better job than Bush not to mention Bush 41.

What lost the election for him was that he didn't push back at Bush hard enough. When he took the high road against the Swift Boat Liars and just assumed that the press and public would realize that their claims were idiotic and untrue was when he lost the election.

**covington** · 09-11-2005, 05:55 AM

cellirose you made some excellent points and you are right about kerry. I'm just so sick of the lack of choice. I hate the fact we only have two parties.

ceilirose · 09-11-2005, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genki

cellirose you made some excellent points and you are right about kerry. I'm just so sick of the lack of choice. I hate the fact we only have two parties.

Yeah I wish we had more choices too but realistically this is all we have right now. But Republicans were not always this extreme - that's the crucial thing. They do have some moderates (McCain, Hagel) but even they have to follow orders in order to survive in their party.

To me their idea of 'small' government is what had led partially to the mess in NO.

TokyoNiGHTS · 09-11-2005, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Stardust~

Personally, I believe in the war on terror. I think Bush is going about it the wrong way, but I do believe we need to try to eliminate terrorists. I cannot forget the horrors I watched on 9/11 and the ultimate convincer I came across were the videos of the terrorists beheading people and bragging about it. They saw peoples heads off, SAW. I seriously dare you to watch those videos. You will forever be a changed person. I would put a link here, but it's too disturbing and I know young people come here. If you want one PM me.

But there are beheading vids from all over the world by terrorist and soldiers, not just in Iraq. In Iran they can hang children if they break the law. Yes hang them, as young as 9 years old. In an ideal world yes it would be great to try to change the way other countries operate when it comes to certain issues like how other people are treated. And eliminate terrorist. But are we the ones to be able to do that? Possibly. But we absolutely can't do that when we are alienating other countries the way we are. We need as many countries as we can get if we're going to try to take on something like that. We just don't have it and we didn't take the time to try to get it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Stardust~

We fought a war on 2 fronts in WWII with much fewer resources than we have now. But, we knew how to fight a war back then. Now, we're stuck fighting a politically correct war because people have forgotten what we're fighting for.

That's because what we were originally fighting for didn't exist. Alot of people talk about lowering troop morale, but I don't think anything lowered it more than going over there to defend your country from WMD's only to find out that they weren't there at all. They risked their life for something that didn't exist and they're still fighting over there for a new reason.

Yes the terrorist need to be eliminated, there's no doubt about it. But there's a reality to every situation, and this reality is that doing that is impossible. That's not to say that we let the roam free, but we need to come up with a great way to fight it, and not just by forcing ourself into a country and fighting an endless wave of them without global support and while having countries that did support us drop out as the war went on. It just shows how badly planned this was.

CheerforAU · 09-11-2005, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Stardust~

I call myself an independent because I don't agree with either the Dems or Republicans 100%. I do a lot of crossing party lines. I try to vote for the best candidate but we just haven't had any good choices. To me, it seems like the Democratic party is in complete disarray. I don't know what happened after Clinton left office, but that party has been in a down hill slide ever since. If they don't get their sheit together soon another Republican will be in office again with a Republican controled congress to support him.

So. much. word. If they want to win in 2008, the Democrats better find someone who is stable, well-received, and shows that he (or she) can do better than what we've got. Because they didn't have that in any of their candidates in 2004.

The Republicans are going to keep winning unless the Democrats can find someone better than what they've been coming up with as of late.


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