US Diary: citizenry getting gloomy about being Bush-whacked

The Gloom Over This Presidency -- 8 Letters to NY Times editor:

1. To the Editor:

Re "Poll Gives Bush Worst Marks Yet on Major Issues" (front page, 10):

As President Bush's approval rating sinks ever lower, I imagine that more and more voters who sought to vote him out of office in 2004 have the following question:

Which of Mr. Bush's failures this term could not have been predicted by his incompetence and arrogance in the first term?

I propose that the answer is none and wonder at the millions who apparently voted for him hoping for what his record all but proved would not happen.

We all knew Mr. Bush well enough from his first term to know that his response to tragedy and adversity would be to promote and flatter the incompetent and ignore the advice of cooler heads.

Those who disapprove now but who voted to re-elect Mr. Bush have gotten what they voted for and should be apologizing to those who knew better when it mattered most, a year and a half ago.

As for those who continue to support the president, at least they are consistent.
David Kagle
Bronx, May 10, 2006

2. To the Editor:

It is voters like the Missouri woman who said "I just voted for Bush because he's a Republican" who point up the need for an informed electorate in this country — citizens willing and ready to do the "homework" required to pick candidates who are competent to do the job.

It is hard to believe, in this complex day and age, that people still vote along party lines and for no other reason.
Gail Minthorn
Wilton, Conn., May 10, 2006

3. To the Editor:

Given that George W. Bush captured the White House by smearing two opponents ("Ozone Man" Gore and "Swift Boat" Kerry), and concocting phantom non-issues to frighten naïve voters (same-sex marriage, gun control), it is somehow fitting that his presidency has imploded, not because his opponents stooped to Karl Rove slime tactics, but instead because Mr. Bush's own actions (ideology over reality) have done so much harm to Americans and the world.
Arlie Schardt
Washington, May 11, 2006
The writer was Al Gore's national press secretary when he ran for president in 1987-88.

4. To the Editor:

It makes me furious that members of the Bush administration are confident that events in Iraq will improve and therefore help turn around the president's poll numbers in time for the midterm elections.

The bottom line is that if things in Iraq were perfect tomorrow, it still grows more and more evident that this is a war sold to the American people with lies and deceit.

Think of all the lives that have been lost, all those injured and the treasure spent.

Despite what the president says, we are less safe today than before the war started. These are the things that need to be remembered on Election Day. These are the things that should never be forgotten.

Suzanne Victor
Southampton, Pa., May 10, 2006

5. To the Editor:

If only 23 percent of those polled approve of the way Congress is doing its job, how is it that 96 percent of incumbents in the House are re-elected?

We are creatures of habit when it comes to voting for our representatives.

In a year where many Americans are dissatisfied with the handling of the economy, tax reform, health care and the war in Iraq, it may be time to break that habit, with a clean sweep of Congress.

Not only President Bush but Congress as well bears responsibility for the mess that leads people to feel that the country is going in the wrong direction.

A rational approach would be to throw out all incumbents and start over. Even in the face of sometimes exaggerated fears aroused by constant reminders of an unsafe world, I hope that we might summon the courage to do just that. We couldn't do much worse than we're doing now.

Barbara A. Cleary
Dayton, Ohio, May 10, 2006

6. To the Editor:

It doesn't take elaborate polls to gauge the performance of the Bush administration and President Bush's ratings; just take a stroll around the corner on Main Street and see for yourself how the poll ratings work.

Common folks sweating it out to make ends meet; unaffordable gasoline prices; unaffordable health care; concerns about open-ended war in Iraq; the rising cost of living; the evaporating promise of Social Security; and inequity in the income tax structure — all this adds up to a pathetic mark sheet for the Bush administration's overall job performance.

Atul M. Karnik
Woodside, Queens

May 10, 2006

7. To the Editor:

You report that The New York Times/CBS News poll reported that "nearly two-thirds of respondents said the increase in gasoline prices was not beyond the control of a president, but 89 percent said this administration did not have a plan to deal with the problem."

But the administration does have a plan, as defined by Vice President Dick Cheney's super-secret energy task force. What we see now may be the end result.
Ron Magnuson
Austin, Tex., May 10, 2006

8. To the Editor:

What do you call a president who wages war under false pretenses, runs up a record deficit, kowtows to religious conservatives at every turn, ignores global warming and alienates many of America's longstanding allies? Re-elected.

What do you call that same president when he presides over a rise in gas prices to more than $3 a gallon? In a whole lot of trouble.

Niels Aaboe
New York, May 10, 2006