Is Bush’s Vision a Dangerous Illusion?
On reading the June 5 article regarding President Bush’s new vision to spread democracy throughout the world (“Bush’s Foreign Policy Shifting”), I am torn. The vision of democracy is wonderful. I suggest the president work harder to promote democracy at home before he trumpets his vision to the world.
The spectacle of this administration’s continued manipulation of the public either through fear tactics, “the war on terror” or media corrosion and control does not put the United States in the best position to be the teacher to the world on democracy.
What does your research for this article tell you about the state of democracy in the United States? My own limited reading has indicated a severe erosion of our rights through, among other things, the Patriot Act and the recent limitations on the ability for private citizens to declare bankruptcy. Bush’s new vision smells suspiciously like another smoke-and-mirrors show to further mesmerize the confused American public into believing this administration genuinely cares about freedom for the common man when it really is all about corporate imperialism.
Dianne Walter
Altadena
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Re “He’s Not Walking Like a Lame Duck,” news analysis, June 3: I wish I could respect Bush’s stubborn willingness to plow ahead despite his recent setbacks. But I cannot. His push to change Social Security recklessly, and for a man unsuited for the country’s top diplomatic post at the U.N., is not leadership. It is belligerence. He may still be well regarded for his stance on foreign policy, but the results, in Iraq particularly, look more disastrous every day.
He continues to insist on tax cuts during wartime, he has exploded the national debt, and he has foisted an unworkable, expensive education policy on the nation. He may be stubborn in the defense of his ideas, but all his ideas, simply put, are bad for America. The best thing that could happen for us all is for him to become a lame duck -- and the sooner the better.
John Smart
Los Angeles