George Bush

[mash]

Why is it that only people outside the US seem to be able to seee what a complete fool George Bush is and how he is harming his own country?

[cmorglass]

Its not just people outside the US who understand what a danger GW is to our country and others.  It drives me crazy that so many of my country-men/women live in this xenophobic little bubble and think that what the rest of the world thinks of us is irrelevant.  I *hate* that he harps on his "war on terror"--something even he admited can't actually be won--in order to scare people into letting him trample our civil liberties to a bloody pulp.  I love my country--I've had family members serve during every major conflict since the American Revolution--but I've had the opportunity to travel all around the world (I'm not rich--I worked for an airline) and even live abroad for a while and I know that we're running ourselves into the ground.

Forget how many average American's don't have passports---how many of you knew that GW didn't have a passport when he was elected president? 

[mmccarthy5]

The fact is there are many of us in the U.S. who do see what a complete fool he is, our embarrassed to be Americans, and are working to ensure that George W. Bush goes back to his ranch after the election for good.  Has it been mentioned here that our foreign policy master dind't have a passport until he was the president.  I imagine it has , and that sparked the debate I see here, but thought it was worth mentioning.

[AngEL5942]

if you're embarassed to be an American go move to iraq or someplace else.  kerry's done worse.

[mash]

Some great stuff and lots of detail from some knowledgeable people. My question was raised through my fear of how GWB has changed perceptions of the US. I travel extensively across the world and I have seen a great increase in negative sentiment against the US in the past 3-4 years. GWB goes on about combatting terrorism (constantly as though nothing else matters) but lets not forget 9-11 and the Iraq invasion (on reasons known to be false) all happened under GWB and OBL is still out there fighting his ugly war, so how does he really claim to be the leader on terror what exactly has he achieved, other than a few botched attempts and plenly of talk. I fear for future global sentiment with another 4 years of GWB I really do!

[cmorglass]

My Angel, what a well-formed retort.

I am not ashamed or embarassed to be American...quite the opposite, actually.  Both of my parents enlisted during the Vietnam conflict...3 of my 4 grandparents fought in WWII...I have letters home from my great-grandfather while he was in the trenches of WWI...in fact, I even have an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution.  I think this is a great country...I'm just mortified that we are being led by a man who is so completely unaware or unwilling to consider the rest of the world.