He is a human being...

... not a moron. No way:

Tears run from the eyes of U.S. President George W. Bush during a ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor winner Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in the East room of the White House in Washington, January 11, 2007. Cpl. Dunham was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol while serving in Iraq.

You don't think this man has doubts?  You don't think he feels the weight of this presidency?  You don't think that the pressure has aged him?  You don't think that the deaths of our service members weigh heavy on his heart?

Then maybe you just don't think.

Comments

[tom joad]

As well he f**king should.

If he never sleeps again, it'll be too soon. The man should be tortured to the end of his days by the all-out incompetence his administration showed in the conduct of this war.

[MIke R.]

"The man should be tortured to the end of his days by the all-out incompetence his administration showed in the conduct of this war"

You sound like a real Patriot. The man has made mistakes without a doubt... But, I think our government as a whole shares that burden. More energy needs to be spent on solving the problem, not finger pointing and whining.

Try showing a little respect for the office and for the country if you can't respect the man.

[scrapiron]

He is a caring stand up christian man and that why the left hate him. They have no one that with half the class and caring who will stand up for America and is willing to spread freedom to others. The left has the idea that they enjoy freedom so the hell with the rest of the world. Low class slime balls who care for no one but themselves and their welfare check. One of these days this will come back and bite them on the a** really hard. I hope it's sooner rather than later. May they live in the next city to be destroyed is my prayer.

[robert]

Rick,
I believe Bush is a man of great conviction but that he is intellectually lazy and incurious and that is simply not acceptable for the most important job in the world.
He has been the man in charge and has tolerated too much incompetence. I believe he is a bad President at a time when the world can ill afford it. I believe (and fervently hope) the next Presidential campaign will be about competence, not ideology. Enough red/blue for a while, the US and the world needs a deep thinker the role.
"Moron" is unkind and unnecessarily harsh so I take it back but I stand by the notion that he is not smart enough to be President.

[Kevin]

I don't think you are being brutally honest, in my opinion. I think you are being compassionate.

I would say that my article about Bush's emotions is brutally honest (and I hate having to write like this):

It's called sensitive leaders vs. serious leaders...

http://politicaldishonesty.com/blog/2007/01/12/sensitive-leaders-vs-serious-leaders/

I just wanted to share it with you so you could see my point of view. Thank you.

[Patrick Mead]

Allow -- the father of a young Marine -- to respond. For generations my family has served in the military -- first in the United Kingdom and now -- through my son, in the USA. That gives us some right to comment.

Is Bush intelligent? He got better grades than those who decry his intellect. Is he compassionate? Perhaps he is too compassionate and considerate. He tried, from day one, to work with the Democrats, to make sure that the war was fought in a politically correct manner... and the result was disastrous. It wasn't a matter of his intellect, but his desire to work well with others and be liked did him in.

I still support him as a man, a father, and as a believer. I pray for him daily. I oppose the howling chorus from the left that only wishes his downfall. I wish him well.

But I also wish he had fought this war the way we can fight -- to win.

[Morgan K Freeberg]

One unintentional side-effect of the President's speech: We're starting to have a large, high-profile deliberation about the numbers. How many troops we have there, how many have been there, whether this proposal is really a "surge" or "escalation."

I have another query. Since 2003, we have lost just over 3,000 troops in this operation. I'm sure 1 is "too many," especially for those who are directly related to anyone among those 3,000. But if we're going to talk about numbers, let's talk about all the numbers and not just the ones that are politically motivated in one direction. The casualty count is 2% of our total force. Out there. Accumulated over four years. That's 0.5% per year.

I continue to be told about these "mistakes" that "were made" and I'm asked to buy into the idea that a large chunk of the 3,000, perhaps an all-consuming chunk of the 3,000, is directly tied to those mistakes. Let's just go with that (we are almost certain that at least some among the 3,000 were preventable). That would have to mean the "unavoidable" casualties, the unfortunates who had bullets with their names on them from the minute the President decided to go into Iraq, comprise just a tiny portion of that 0.5% per year.

No, I'm not saying the place is a safe spot you might want to take the kids for vacation in lieu of Disneyworld this year. But it seems when you bundle together the much-talked-about "incompetence," with the environmental hazards of the "hell-hole" they're in, this menacing "insurgency" that we'll supposedly never, ever defeat, the "mistakes" that were made, and everything else -- there is at least some element to this "botched invasion" that should be a model for future engagements.

Three thousand is a GROSS. That is all the deaths on our side. Viewed in the context of everything that has produced them, it seems something has gone terribly, terribly...right. And that lives may depend on more people acknowledging that this is the case.

[Zossima]

Uh, yeah, Morgan, things could've been worse, so that must mean that they're actually good. Wow, as usual, you shine the light right on the truth.

[Morgan K Freeberg]

More like the light of centricism. We've been hearing how "NOTHING in Iraq is going right" and, essentially, that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

As usual, it's a position of extremism to say this must be the case, and it's a position of particularly poorly-thought out extremism to say we should think this just because politically-motivated people want us to.

And, as usual, to take the position of moderation -- simply subject this to some question -- is to invite sarcastic sniping. And, as usual, it's from you.

Who'd a-thunk.

[Zossima]

Morgan, you explicitly said that the fact there have only been 3000 and not more deaths is an indication that something is going right. I merely pointed out that such a statement is illogical. The statement A ("things could be worse") does not prove the statement B ("therefore something is going right"). Simple logic. Please give it a try sometime in your posts.

Now, please don't insult my intelligence by claiming that you are taking a "position of moderation". You are a shill, plain and simple.

[Ol Pete]

How bizarre that cultists say others should have respect for the office while the Godless moral filth that he ancd you worship go around the entire world on his personal Jihad.

You'd think somewhere along the line you'd figure out that the massive control of the media, especially images, and the billion or so spent by centcom to conjur up soldier's letters and create experts would tip you off that you are being played.

But no, a guy who laughs at killing innocents somehow cares and is compassionate.

Can't all you communist wannabes take your love of benevolent dictatorship and buy some land in Africa or somewhere rather than destroying America?

I can't believe that there is a single person alive who believes he is a Christian. How bizarre. Once again the complete seperation of Jesus from Christianity is obvious. He doesn't give a damn about Jesus, he isn't a follower of Jesus, and in fact, through his actions is an open enemy of Jesus... but he is a Christian. Great job hypocrites and Pharisees.

And for the stupid drooling sheeple who describe his enemies as "left." Here is a clue. Bush is a rabid, extreme leftist IF you use the classic definition. His opponents are liberals/right wingers if you use the same honest language. If you are a sheeple, then everyone who opposes massive authoritarian world government is a "leftist.' My God this country is going down the rathole thanks to republicans, conservatives and fake Christians.