Opinion
Support Bush for the greater good
November 3, 2006
We, the people of the United States, are making ourselves look weak to the enemy.
I’ve never been a political person, and I understand that most of the country doesn’t agree with President Bush and the way he is running this country, but we need to realize that his people not agreeing with him not only makes him look bad, but it makes us look bad as well. I did not vote for Bush in the 2004 election and I do not think we should be at war with Iraq, but other countries shouldn’t know this.
Our country appears to be divided, with most of us making it clear we don’t approve of Bush and the United States’ involvement in Iraq. To the terrorists, this makes us look weak. It makes them think we are ready to crumble, and probably makes them think that if they took out our president they would win and we would do whatever they say because we didn’t agree with the guy in the first place.
There are also many people who seem to think President Bush himself makes us look weak because he often doesn’t seem very bright. Something a friend of mine brought to my attention is that since Bush is from Texas, his vocabulary is different. Washington, D.C., English is different than Texas English, much like British English is different from American English. Therefore when he gives speeches, it is as if he is speaking a second language. This could be why Bush pauses so much, because he has to make sure he speaks in a way that is “correct” according to the rest of America.
Bush’s approval rating has not always been low. In fact, he holds the record high of more than 85 per- cent approval, which occurred shortly after Sept. 11.
As of Oct. 8, his approval rating was around 37 percent, but there have been presidents before him who had lower scores.
During Jimmy Carter’s presidency his approval rating dropped to 26 percent, and in 1952 Harry S. Truman had a rating of 22 percent.
Being president of the United States isn’t easy. There are advisors to assist with major decisions, but each final decision is made by the president, and he does what he believes is best for the country. No president is able to please everyone. Throughout the six years that Bush has been in office, we may believe he has made some bad decisions that have cost us a lot of money and lives.
Regardless of whether or not going to war with Iraq was a bad idea, what’s done is done. Furthermore, what is in progress is in progress, and at this point if we were to suddenly leave it would make us look even weaker. That would likely cause us more problems, and cost us more money and lives in the future.
Whether we agree with Bush or not, he is in office for another two years. Nothing will change that, so we need to learn to deal with it. Instead of constantly criticizing him and telling the world that we do not agree with him, we need to stand behind him and find ways to be constructive instead of destructive.
Nicole Aune is a student at UW-River Falls.