Getting Out the Word on President Bush

Re “A Blind Man? No, This President Is Clear-Eyed,” Commentary, Jan. 13: Arguing that President Bush routinely makes tough decisions, Max Boot writes, “On every important issue, the president receives conflicting recommendations that he has to sort out.”

Prove it, Mr. Boot. I’m tired of listening to Bush’s spinmeisters tell us how smart and presidential the president can be behind closed doors. I’m tired of looking at pictures that purport to show Bush as a man “engaged.” I’ve seen the president speak off the cuff on many occasions and, by and large, he says stupid or overly simplistic things.

Why would I expect him to say anything smarter in a Cabinet meeting?

Mike Stephens

Palo Alto

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Were there a red neon sign on the White House flashing “failure,” Boot would write about how pretty the light was. As more and more thinkers, including members of the Army War College and high-ranking Republican insiders such as former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, openly reject Bush’s disastrous policies, Boot just finds new ways to spin and rationalize.

More than 2 million jobs lost, record deficits, ignoring intelligence that could have prevented the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, starting an unrelated war in Iraq to eliminate weapons of mass destruction that were never there, quagmire -- what is Boot not understanding?

Roger Rudick

Los Angeles

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I thought I had seen every conceivable opinion in The Times, and then Boot comes along and defends Bush’s intellect.

David Hilts

La Palma

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Re “The Barreling Bushes,” by Kevin Phillips, Opinion, Jan. 11: Who is more qualified than the Bushes to assess the real threat of Middle Eastern terrorism? Thank God we had George W. as president when 9/11 occurred.

If the Democrats hang their hat on the Iraq and terrorism issues to defeat Bush in 2004, they are going to lose.

Otis Page

Arroyo Grande