Bush's cluelessness is more willful ignorance. He's the leader of a powerful nation and yet he goes on record saying he doesn't read newspapers? And that he'll stay the course even if the only ones who support him are his wife and his dog?

It's criminal.

Speaking of people I can't feel an ounce of sympathy for:

I KNOW! I was so very much wanting to find their houses and leave notes "Grow the fuck up and stop wasting your county's resources!"

sheesh...people.

I had unsatisfactory TJ frozen bowl for lunch. It was the chicken w/ spinach & rice one. Totally soupy and bland. bah. And now I am hungry again.

I'd call it wilful ignorance as well; and, even if it weren't on important issues (which it is), I'd put my stompin' boots on about it. Because, speaking as someone whose whole state was a write-off to his party in the 2004 election, it sucks to find out that the people in charge don't give a shit about something important to you.

Like, okay, yes, bombs and dead people and everything, but, it's just rude. I'm sure Clinton didn't give a shit about thousands and thousands of things while he was in office, but he had the tact to smile and nod, you know?

Break international laws, shoot, maybe you had a good reason and I just don't know about it. Break the laws of propriety: my foot in your ass.

It's criminal.

There is that.

He's done half a dozed different things which he could be impeached for, any one of which has done far more damage to this country than a blowjob. And he's literally committed war crimes as defined by the international community.

Connie, I hope you don't feel ganged-up-on. There's nothing wrong with feeling sympathy for an individual.

A great comic strip: [link]

I'm actually comparing to two past presidents with terrible reputations -- Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter. Hoover didn't create the Great Depression, and Carter didn't cause the energy crisis of '79. OK, I'm not going to say they did great jobs of resolving the problems, but the problems weren't of their own making. And not exactly forecast.

I'll agree that the current administration didn't cause 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. But they chose to go into Iraq under largely false pretenses. They created a messed-up FEMA that couldn't respond to Katrina -- and it's a pretty safe bet to predict that at least one hurricane will strike the U.S. mainland in any given year.

It's not merely willfull ignorance, its in the name of greed.

He's happy to look the other way in order to enrich the guys who enriched him and will do so again once he's left office.

I'm actually comparing to two past presidents with terrible reputations -- Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter. Hoover didn't create the Great Depression, and Carter didn't cause the energy crisis of '79. OK, I'm not going to say they did great jobs of resolving the problems, but the problems weren't of their own making. And not exactly forecast.

With no disrespect to Carter, Hoover was an amazing individual in the public and private spheres before being elected. This, from wikipedia, is notable in comparison to GWB:

In the spring of 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 broke the banks and levees of the Mississippi River. The governors of six states along the Mississippi asked for Herbert Hoover in the emergency, so President Coolidge sent Hoover to mobilize state and local authorities, militia, army engineers, Coast Guard, and the American Red Cross. He set up health units, with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, to work in the flooded regions for a year. These workers stamped out malaria, pellagra and typhoid fever from many areas. His work during the flood brought Herbert Hoover to the front page of newspapers almost everywhere.

Connie, I hope you don't feel ganged-up-on. There's nothing wrong with feeling sympathy for an individual.

Hell, no. I keep having to smack down the self-righteous part that wants to feel superior, because I agree with 99% of what all of you are saying. The size of the offense does make sympathy difficult.

Hubby doesn't like Carter, but that's because he agreed to give up the Panama Canal. Hubby agrees that Carter is probably the best damned ex-president that ever was. Watching Carter on TV, as old as he is, with exact dates and figures for whatever he's discussing right to hand, is a joy.