Most Americans Do Not Trust Bush

If Bush knew what he were doing, he would fire Donald Rumsfeld and either force Cheney to resign or severely cut back what Cheney can do (a vice president only does what a president permits him to do). Many of us have known for a long time now that Bush is incompetent and not particularly honest. Hurricane Katrina finally woke up most Americans to the fact that Bush is basically clueless about how to do his job. Any pretense that Bush knows what he's doing went out once the civil war in Iraq started. But now, to add insult to injury, Bush is now talking down to Americans as if he knew what he was doing. What he's really saying once again is: trust me. I believe we're past that point. CNN has released its latest polls:

Just 35 percent of 1,033 adults polled say they favor the war in Iraq; 61 percent say they oppose it -- the highest opposition noted in any CNN poll since the conflict began more than three years ago.

(snip)

A bare majority (51 percent) say they see Bush as a strong leader, but on most other attributes he gets negative marks. (Interactive: Poll results)

Most Americans (54 percent) don't consider him honest, most (54 percent) don't think he shares their values and most (58 percent) say he does not inspire confidence.

Okay, how long can a leader be considered strong if he's not honest and he doesn't inspire confidence? I suspect Americans are being more generous to Bush than they really feel, but who knows?

I wonder how many people are making the connection between Bush's failed foreign policy and such things as high oil prices? First, Bush's bungled policies have led to a rise in oil prices. Higher oil prices means more money to such nations as Iran which turns around and sends more arms to people like Hezbollah. We, in turn, become more dependent on foreign oil. Bush, in the meantime, doesn't have an energy policy worthy of the name because he likes all that money the oil companies give to the Republican Party. More and more Americans are having trouble figuring out exactly what President Bush has done for our country lately.

Bush says he doesn't pay attention to the polls. I can't think of much that he does pay attention to. Perhaps this fall, in the midterm elections, voters can send Bush a message he does understand.