HeyBub:

And so on. Point is, there are often several ways of looking at the
same set of events. Sadly, those not schooled in history or law often
reach simplistic conclusions. As one Supreme Court justice said: "The
Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact."

Your post was helpful in giving insight to how bush supporters convince
themselves he has not significantly damanged this country over the last
eight years. From a cursory view your arguments almost make sense except
they are simplistic and ignore the reality of bush's effect upon America.

The fact is, bush has driven a huge wedge between ourselves and our
alliances and only the shortsighted would believe that alliances have no
place in modern times. Fact is, the countries you named were the ones who
took strong exception to the claims of WMDs and they were correct. Bush
has used 9-11 to greatly expand the powers of government and the executive
office yet claims to be a Republican. Bush has used those powers to erode
our rights and just because it may have been done in the past, does not
make it right. Many mistakes were made in the past from which we have had
the opportunity to learn, yet Bush has not. Bush has spent more money than
any president in history, yet claims to be a Republican. Bush failed to
secure Iraq - fact. Bush failed to win in Afghanistan - fact. Bush failed
to build support among our allies which would have made securing
Afghanistan signficantly easier. Bush's big mouth has increased tensions
between us and our enemies at a time when he has significanlty weakened
our countries ability to respond to threats both domestic and abroad. Bush
talks loudly but carries broken stick.