Is Bush willfully bringing on Armegedon?

I don't see him as particularly deft in foreign politics. He's managed to alienate a lot of the world (undoing a lot of what Colin Powell did manage to do). He isn't well respected abroad.

I thought poorly of him as our governor (whenever a crisis came up, you could count on Bush to be out campaigning somewhere instead of handling it.) I am afraid that my opinion of him as president is much worse now.

Originally posted by Byrd
I don't see him as particularly deft in foreign politics. He's managed to alienate a lot of the world (undoing a lot of what Colin Powell did manage to do). He isn't well respected abroad.

I thought poorly of him as our governor (whenever a crisis came up, you could count on Bush to be out campaigning somewhere instead of handling it.) I am afraid that my opinion of him as president is much worse now.

I see it as much worse; the world's perception has gone from ill mannered buffoon, to figurative leader with loads of positive perception by way of 9/11, to special interests caterer who squandered that good grace account to where it is now - reviled schoolyard bully on an imperialist bent.
He is extremely adept at making his core following accomodated, rich or both. So yes, IMO he would make choices to facilitate the Rapture.

I have to agree with Byrd and B-T on that one Bush managed to upset.
China/Spy plane.
Russia/Spies deported because American citizen was giving away intelligence.
EU/Steel tariffs.
The entire world/Kyoto and Johanasburg
The entire muslim world/Support for Israel

Bush has no friends abroad.Since I've been alive I've not known a more unpopular US President.It has nothing to do with him being a Republican.

I see you guys' point, however I do remember how he was seen as the village idiot by the press at first, and then when travelling abroad, conducting himself as a proper leader of the nation, shmoozing well with other leaders and even cozying up to Vlad Putin. The stances he has taken with regards to topics such as Kyoto/Johanasburg and Israel I agree with and am glad he has the backbone to stand for us and not against us due to international pressure.
It has seemed to me that the world's governments and the U.N. has stood against us and viewed us as only something to use when needed and revile any other time, and whether or not our leadership stands for the people it represents or not, that view would not change.

On the homefront, he surprised many of us, even those of us who voted for him, by the way he maneuvered the democratic party the last couple of years. He displayed political savvy that I for one did not believe he had.

Again, as far as the rapture is concerned, I can't see any way that the U.S. will have a part in that, except maybe by participating in U.N. actions. As a matter of fact, in order for the events to unfold that will bring us to the point where nations will be able to move against Israel and international turmoil will come about the U.S. will not be able to be a player, either because we do not have a strong leadership that does the right thing regardless of opinion, or we are no longer able to do anything, such as a significant strike against us.

Considering all the world suffering and considering the rapture would be the event that indicates that the time of suffering has a definite set amount of time, it is selfish of me to say that I hope it isn't soon. I enjoy hanging out with you guys alot.

TC,You're saying his biggest domestic claim is that he has demoralised an already demoralised democrat party.So he's a good politician but is he a good President(Reagan)What has he done to improve life for the average American?

His travels abroad were the proof or as Twain put it " Better for all to think you a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt". Calling the former head of one of history's most nefarious secret police 'Pooty Poot', removing his chewing gum on camera prior to a treaty signing with Pooty Poot, making fun of a 'senior moment' in front of a French President 20 years his senior, asking Brazil's president if they have 'blacks too?', getting viciously petty with an American reporter who asked the French president a question in French - thinking that he was being shown up.....I could go on and none of it is due to how anyone in the press paints him, to the contrary, the corporate media downplays or scrubs his numerous gaffs; he has been the only president to my memory, that benefits from proofreading corrections prior to transcripts being posted on media & gov. websites.
Look, the obvious thing, as I see it, would be his order to rush in defending Israel. Israel is now directed by Right Wing Generals who are awash in a blood lust against Arabs. The probability that they would not only incite but invite war in the region is very high. How humble or diplomatic do you really think a general can be when he knows he has the regions strongest military AND the WORLDs strongest military backing him up? We'll be forced to action and then it's all down hill from there.
Fundamentalist, be they Christian-Islamic-Jewish, are the biggest problems we face as a world community.

John, it isn't his job to do anything to improve the average American's life, it is the average American's job to do that. What can he do to help us help ourselves?

Maintain our security as a nation - provide for our common defense.

Lower taxes so that we as citizenry have more to spens and people with the gumption to create business will have money to invest. This will widen the taxbase, bringing in more money for the government.
I don't see the government as something that is suppose to meet all our needs. This can only be done at others' expense. We would either have to conquer other nations and steal from them, or feed off of our own so as to redistribute it to others. Both, to me is unacceptable.

Sorry TC,You said that he quote:
While he has shown unexpected deftness in both domestic as well as international politics,
Now I believe that we have already slain the Foreign diplomatic myth so we are now tackling domestic policy.you said:
Lower taxes so that we as citizenry have more to spend and people with the gumption to create business will have money to invest.
Gumption.It is a bullsh!t word.So I can only assume that the only thing that you can say that is positive about your President is that he has lowered taxes.Why the opposition is in such a bad state I don't know.

Originally posted by John bull 1
Why the opposition is in such a bad state I don't know.

Testicular Fortitude. The messgae was great, but no one delivered it with the piss & vinegar necessary to counter the constant painting of contrary notions on their losing candidacies.
Americans will stomach liars like the majority of Republicans who won, but they won't stomach wussies like the Dems who lost.
Thomas help me out, what is that bible quote about being milk toast - wishy washy? I know it ends with 'being spat out'.

[Edited on 15-11-2002 by Bout Time]

I believe you are searching for the term "lukewarm". Christ is referring to to the churches that will be neither hot nor cold for Him.

As far as liars, don't throw any rocks at the republicans about lying unless you can find better elsewhere, and the democrats seem to have written the book on lying and deceit. As far as democratic issues, they had none. That hurt them more than anything else. Look at the dem leader, Dashel. While he led the democrats with a democratic president for how many years and all they did was fire off a few million dollars worth of cruise missiles and bomb an aspirin factory when indescretions needed covering up, he now has the audacity to ponder on the media whether we are winning the war on terror and whether Bush is doing a good enough job, and why isn't Bin Laden dead yet. Please. They, or should I say him specifically, make me want to throw up.

I still say Alan Keyes for president, or at least have him replace Dash-boy. Unlike either the democrats or the republicans, he has actually read the constitution within the last year.

Did keyes ever run for & win anything? He just gives me the heebeejeebees!
He's got that Mad Professor vibe, you know?
Now I disagree with most things he says, but Pat Buchanan has actually made sense on a few issues.

I'm not surprised that you would disagree with Keyes, he is a constitutionalist type. Most democrats are afraid of that document!

He does have a certain scary appearance, doesn't he?

Pat Buchanan, speaking of scary, can be talking logically and appear as lucid as anyone, and then break out in some kind of wierd stuff and demand the letter M be stricken from the alphabet. He's the type that scares me. What if someone with that type of thinking were to appear lucid long enough to get elected?

Go ahead, say it. Someone like Bush?

Have you seen his sister or daughter, who ever she is? Looks just like him in drag ( but then I've never seen them together! )
He went into great scholarship about the Hitler v Sadaam comparison as a rebuttal to two overeaching officials, that was brilliant. But yeah, I see what you mean.
Bush has always been 'what you see is what you get'. Just mine aren't rose colored like yours, that's all!

I think you've all guessed I don't like Bush but I will say this,I didn't like Reagan at the time and now I admire him for his foreign policy(I can't speak for his domestic policy)Bush will either be one of the greatest Presidents of America or the worst.I hope to God,as a friend and ally,he is the former.
Otherwise TC you and me could be stood back to back covering each others a...s.