What I would say first is that I was never more proud of any President than I was of George Bush after 9/11............what he needs to say now, but he won’t ,is money makers be Dammed!!!!

#1 He needs to tell the American people I’m giving your country back to you !
#2 He needs to ,by executive order if possible, outlaw the lobbyist calling them what they are [pocket stuffers] and insist and/or expose the politicians who employs them. Saying the people elected politicians, NOT LOBBYISTS!!!!
#3 Immediately enforce the borders. Both north and south.
#4 Insist the laws of the land be enforced. Starting the with hiring of Illegals..
#5 Immediately impose a 20% import tax on all imports.
#6 Dissolve all patents held by any company that moves offshore. Allow the employees of those companies [with government assistance] to form a new employee owned company using the same patents.
#7 Place a windfall tax on the oil companies for the intended purpose of creating Hydrogen fuel, which they themselves could likely do in three months if they could maintain control.
#8 Above all outlaw the RNC/DNC That controls the elections and keeps the people from the possibility of having any alternatives. Don’t give me the symbolic green party ,independent party, ETC, ETC, as examples, he would say.
#9 Let the Iraq’s know “ loud and clear” we are not going to be here to protect you Indefinitely.
#10 Let it be known that any terrorist attack on this country could result in swift and total inhalation of the host country.



Of course, realistically, none of this is likely to happen.
WHY YOU ASK? NOBODY WANTS TO SHAKE THE MONEY TREE

I dont agree with the premise that he is in Free fall.  I think that is what some would like us to beleive, but he has snookered so many people for so long, as I said on another article, I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So, that was what was wrong with Clinton. He didn't inhale!

*Groan*

Good one!

Would it be accurate to say your position is "Nothing is wrong, therefore nothing needs to be done"?

I think I made my position clear.  He has a plan.  I may be wrong, but I dont think he is in Free fall, and I dont think the withdrawal has anything to do with the CIA Probe.  We will watch and learn.

But I did not say "nothing is wrong".

Purely hypothetically: If you were in Bush's place, what would your plan be?

1. Scooter Libby is not part of Bush's team, he is part of Cheney's, so push that crap over to Cheney and let him do a bunch of Mea Culpas.  Chency is not running, so there is no long term damage.

2. FEMA- He has already done that.  Brown is gone. It will disappear along with the season.

3. Nominate Gonzalez for SCOTUS, and force a showdown with the Democrats.  This is the riskiest part because it does entail the cooperation of the Senate Republicans.  But if he gets his party in line, and the Nuclear option is used, his second term will go down as one of the best in History.

#1 is to get it off the table, 2 is dying, and 3 is the key.  He beats the democrats here, and he will have an easy 3 years.  But he has to nominate a real conservative, not a Store front one.

I have to say I am opposed to term limits, all term limits, but in particular the Presidential one. I do think it automatically sets up a second term President as an ignorable lame duck.

But since "the second term curse" existed long before that little beauty was enacted, it can hardly be faulted. (Darn it.)


Right now Bush's two biggest problems are Iraq and energy.

Iraq won't be decided in his favor or against till long after he's gone -- so his actual legacy and place in history is on hold till then. Short term that works against him because people only care about the here and now, which is discontentful and tired of hearing death statistics.

Energy is a similar no win in that virtually nothing he does is going to help right now. Without that relief, his poll #'s don't significantly improve. Even though his long-term moves may well prove him some kind of energy genius, as with Iraq, it's dim for the immediate future. At least energy prices have a shot at stabilizing before his term is up, but I'd guess the damage will have been done.

(I do think there are things that can be done, but as watchdog commented, it ain't going to happen.)

(Ironically the "scandals" of the past week helped the President by drawing attention away from what should have been the most politically damaging event: 2000 dead American soldiers in Iraq. No amount of diverted media attention is going to get people not to pay attention to their hurting pocketbooks, though.)

So, by my estimation, his two biggest problems don't go away during his Presidency. Popularity/Job Satisfaction stays down. And with those sagging numbers come Bush's real problems.

A) Rats deserting the ship. Nobody likes to back a loser. (See Ms. Meirs.)
Republicans trying to position themselves as decisive leaders for the next presidential election. Method of choice? Saying an unpopular President is full of it and here's how it should be done. (The "1000 planners but no doers" conundrum.)

See, the problem isn't the obstructionist, loud mouthed Left, but the opportunistic, full of itself Right. The ostensible head of the party can't control the party he heads.


What does Bush need to do? A) Cut energy costs. Boost the economy. C) Find a way to address Iraq to the American people's (no matter how begrudging) satisfaction, something all the "stay the course" rhetoric in the world isn't going to accomplish. (I swear this administration is horrendous at propaganda. It's as if they think right makes might -- that being right is all they need. It isn't.)

If he can do that his numbers recover somewhat (he needs them at least in the 50's -- even if only 50) then he can address his party by saying, "You want to be President? You need me. Get on board or you're screwed, numb nuts." Right now he just doesn't have the clout to pull that off.