Given that all of Blumenthal's points are true, Bush isn't running for re-election in the mid-terms and the Democrats are not going to impeach him in any case. Will the electorate take their anger toward Bush and direct it toward Republican candidates on election day? That's the question that matters. Look at the polls - everyone already knows Bush is an idiot. Blumenthal does an incredible job of summarizing the obvious for anyone who has been asleep for 6 years! Unfortunately, those people don't give a @#$% about what Blumenthal writes in Salon.

Blumanthal - Thanks for the RED MEAT!

What I would like to know is how the Democrats plan to win.

First, the reich wing running this country is NOT conservative. They're reactionary or fascist, depending on the light. And they think that money is God, and the world exists for their enrichment and their pleasure. Others- coons, fags, spics, dykes, libbruls, uppity wimmen- are basically servants that are tolerated only if they keep their heads down and keep pickin' that cotton. Do you wear a plaid skirt? Jeez, what a puffball.

The bottom line is that right wing conservatives, almost by definition, have never had their horizons broadened through the enlightening experiences of foreign travel.

Sorry, but that comment itself shows incredible arrogance and ignorance. How could you possibly know the life experiences of conservatives? In truth, you can't. Your statement is akin to saying "All gays are ___" "All blacks are ____" "All Jews are ____" with the blank filled in with whatever particular prejudices and hatreds you happen to hold.

As I said, you're looking dumber by the moment.

BUSHLIE

Robert the Bruce, my point is that a person who sees (certain parts of) the world in the employ of someone else -- the U.S. Army, Exxon-Mobil, the Mormon Church, etc. -- is bound to come away with a different (and, I dare say, more Imperial) perspective than someone traveling on their own dime. I would think this is especially true regarding the developing world, where "Proud Well-Traveled American's" work has left him with the sour view that the entire planet (excepting only Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand) is "worse" than the U.S. I disagree, and none of this contradicts my point that conservatives share the characteristic of being so profoundly ignorant of the world (see: Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.) because they've never really seen any of it, except perhaps while on spring break or on shore leave -- or from the Imperial vantage of corporate/NGO employment.

The bottom line is that right wing conservatives, almost by definition, have never had their horizons broadened through the enlightening experiences of foreign travel. If you have a better explanation for the Bush-Cheney foreign policy fiasco, then please tell us (but first check out Sidney Blumenthal's piece in Salon today on the new book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" -- my god the ignorance of so-called republicans is truly sickening).

Just something to keep in mind;

As far as incompetent cronyism goes, I would rank George W. Bush on par with Ulysses S. Grant, who is of course on the fifty.

As far as his imperial presidency and violation of civil rights goes I would put George W. Bush on par with the genocidal Andrew Jackson, who is of course on the twenty.

There have been many many horrible presidents in American History, many who have with time and history been given noble status by their supporters.

George W. Bush has endured a perfect storm of a presidency, showing all the failures that have existed in our government for decades. Whether he will keep the blame for these failures or if these failures will be forgotten in time will be seen in time.

Um, someone who works with an NGO is, by definition, a private citizen, since the acronym means "Nongovernmental Organisation", meaning he's not an employee of any government.

Boy, do you look stupid.

APWTA: "People have hated America long before 9/11 and George Bush came along. It's based on nothing but blind prejudice and simple jealousy."

This comment is the main thing that hit me when I read your comment 'Proud and Well-travelled'.

It's an idea that the Right in the US promulgate - usually around the general question "Why do they hate the US so?"

It's missing the point. Most people don't hate the US - in fact most surveys show that, given the option, many people would chose to live there. I love the US and visit it two or three times a year.

Let's get this straight - it's Bush and his cronies that we have the problem with - not the country, not the people and not the culture.

It's that reptilian, elitist, anti-democratic cabal who don’t give a shite about other people’s lives (whether the poor in New Orleans on families in Baghdad) who we can't stand. The rest of the US? We love most of you! And don't let the right try to convince you otherwise.

(If you don't think I'm right - just think of the crowds of well-wishers and down-right fans who gathered to see Bill Clinton wherever he travelled when he was in power.)

These failures: a resurgent Taliban, recovering territory formerly controlled by the central government; opium production up significantly; warlord control and the cruel oppression of women beyond downtown Kabul; mob violence against U.S. forces; and by all accounts a despairing populace that is much less optimistic than five years ago. Not to mention the failure to catch Osama bin-forgotten and destroy al-Qaeda -- which continues to attack the West, and was (I seem to remember) the original reason for invading that country.

Shall we talk about Iraq next? Or would you like to make more blanket denunciations of entire continents that are filled with vibrant cities and dignified human beings?

Thanks for admitting your travels have not been as a private citizen, although that was already obvious from your mention of Sudan. I remember reading awhile back that NGO's are now disliked by the people of Kabul, for living well on western salaries while doing virtually nothing to help. Any perspective on that phenonemon you'd care to add?