If he had answered truthfully and admitted that, knowing back then what he knows now, he would have drowned the twerp in a water hazard when he was still a teen, that could would really bum Dubya out. That is if he actually read newspapers.

I get so sick of the Bush/Republican line that he doesn't govern or make decisions by polls or focus groups.

Hey George, why not try governing by using polls? Things could only get better.

Hell, take a poll in a mental asylum and use that for your Iraq policy.

"Dear Pres. George H.W. Bush:

Mr. President, which is worse? Failing to speak out, thereby leaving the status quo and continuing our descent into failure? Or speaking out, in a good faith effort to get the United States back on the right track, even if it causes your son George W. Bush and his followers a little 'anxiety'? ANXIETY???

Take your time -- the answer to this question will help to define the eventual verdict on you in all the history books.

Sincerely,

the American public."

- - - - - - - - -

My God, man, talk about misplaced loyalties! You have more loyalty to your incompetent son than to this great country and all of its citizens? My opinion of you, while still higher than for your son, has gone down several notches. Keep it up and you'll soon be down at his level -- and you'll DESERVE to be.

Things are gonna change, he can feel it.

Do you suppose Sonny Bush will have that lady in Abu Dhabai arrested and sent to Guantanamo? Could H.W.Bush have been afraid to answer her because Sonny might send him to Guantanamo?

Do you suppose, when his term ends, Sonny W. Bush ever will travel to Abu Dhabai or anywhere else outside of the USA? I would guess no, because he would be subject to arrest as a war criminal. This lady is not the only person who fails to respect him. And Abu Dhabai is not the only country.

With all due respect (and as Rich Emery points out, that amount is rapidly dwindling), it's about time that W was given some anxiety over something other than when his next outing to Crawford would be. This is not some patrician debate about whether the Checker or Polka Dot club's polo team is better or whether it's better to invest in Mega Corp or GiantCo. We're talking about REAL LIVES (both American and Iraqi) that have been lost and ruined and will continue to be lost and ruined (how's that for anxiety, GHWB?) until this president begins to feel some heat from those in his inner circle.

That being said, I don't understand Bush pere's reluctance to criticize his son. After all, isn't Bush II a giant F-you to all of Bush I's policies? We know how Bush I would (and did) end in Iraq, and it was a damn sight prettier than where we are now.

Yes, Mr. Bush, we can't 'Cut and run' because that would be admitting error.

Therefore, many more people have to die.

To save your son embarrassment.

But of course.

But how can we hold it against him, against you? He's simply doing what Bushes throughout history have done: spread misery.

Poor, insulated, G.H.W. Or, perhaps he's having some really bad "senior moments" and can't remember the past six years. Or, given the proclivity of more than half of his offspring to screw up repeatedly, perhaps the man is just in big-time denial.

No one is suggesting that the president should make policy decisions based on polls. That's another straw man. What I sugest is that he make policy decisions based on sound and valid evidence and his best judgement. Unfortunatly, this administration, led by the president has ignored evidence in favor of cherry-picked convenient truths. The Bush methodolgy for foreign policy can be summed up in five parts.

1. Determine which constituency/interest group we need to placate.

2. Develop a policy, no matter how disastrous, to meet this groups needs.

3. Invoke God or divine inspiration as the foundation of the policy.

4. Stay the course.

5. History will redeem us.

I never had much respect for George H. W. Bush, but Jesus Christ in a chicken bucket. "Anxiety"? Innocent Iraqis and American soldiers have to die so his son doesn't have anxiety? That's probably the stupidest thing he's said and that's saying a lot considering his record of public service, such as it is.

there's been a certain amount of wistful comment, here and there, that Bush-One was somehow a great president.

He was not. He was a corporate hack-job, and was a terrible president. Clinton had to clean up the mess he left behind when he couldn't decide whether he was slave to his corporate masters, or slave to right-wing zealots.

It sounds to me like Bush-One didn't hear what the woman actually said. She said nothing about "cutting and running" (what is it about that phrase that GOP hacks and toadies love so much? A little projection going on, maybe?)...she said that Bush-two is not respected because "of what he's doing all over the world."

Bush-two has been in over his head from the beginning of his first term in office, I think his father knows that. "cutting and running" has never been the problem: incompetence has.

And it's so blatantly obvious that the reason Bush-two is such a failure as a president, and as a human being, is because of his up-bringing. Coke-head. Drunk. Short attention span. Incapable of seeing anything he tried through to success. Always needed rich friends to bail him out. Pathological liar. Murderous tendencies. Clearly someone fucked up royally in the parenting dept. I wonder if Bush-one and Barb ever discuss that. Probably not. They wouldn't want to soil their beautiful minds.

But, of course, the Bush family never forgets which side the bread is buttered on...they never let a little incompetence--not to say borderline-personality disorder--get in the way of enrichment from the public trough.

god, how that family has been an utter disaster for this country. It seems to embody all the very worst attributes of crony-capitalism and bullying adventurism.

What a bunch of slime-balls. Bush-One *most especially* included.