Sunday, January 19, 2003

Slip Sliding Away...

The week after 9/11, George Dubya's approval ratings were 82 percent in a Gallop poll.
As of January 16, he has slipped to 56 percent.
His father had an 89 percent approval rating heading into the Persian Gulf War and slipped to 32 percent within a year and a half, marking the end of his abysmal presidency.
Between the economic slump caused by Dubya's ineptitude and/or benign neglect, high unemployment, an economic stimulus package designed to stimulate the already rich, and the growing opposition to his unvarnished lust for war, the shine is wearing off Dubya's halo.
D.C. police reports about the recent Washington anti war protests originally set the crowd at 100,000. They amended that number to 20,000.
As a former reporter who has covered countless rallies, I know from experience the police modify crowd estimates to satisfy their bosses whenever it's required. A quick glance at the vast assortment of AP photos and live televised shots of the crowds show there's no way the crowd was as small as 20,000. They lied to us and expect us to accept it.
Bush is slipping in the major, most credible polls because he's not doing a very good job.
Support for the war in Iraq is diminishing because people believe other options have yet to be exhausted.
White House spin doctors are trying to convince the public that there are fewer people against the war than we think.
As a former public affairs officer for the U.S. government, I know lies are told and facts are skewed. That's one reason I quit.
The little man behind the curtain is starting to wig out. He's not a wizard after all, he's just Dubya, a man who illustrates the Peter Principal to the fullest extent.
It's not un-American to question the leadership of a president. What's un-American is blindly following sub-par leadership in the naive comfort of a waving flag and the rattling of shiny sabers.

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