How can you so blindly believe in leaders (Bush, Delay, etc) who are so blatantly corrupt?
148162
I do not have the "unflinching beleif" in any authority in power today.  The standards have slipped so, in all professions I have been involved with.  Dentist fill teeth that don't need filling, lawyers screw up cases, enron execs steal billions of dollars, etc.  You really have to be on your toes these days NOT to be taken by some scheme.  Whether it is the roofer using the wrong grouting for a tile roof, which later flies apart in wind, to the designers who made hurricane proof windows that leak during Katrina---the list goes on and on.\n\nI have seen enough of this stuff to have 0 faith in "leaders."  They care about themselves and perhaps putting money towards their children's college funds, at any cost to you and me, the average citizen hard at work for the government to pay our taxes. (I mean to say no matter who you work for on paper, every single person in this country really works for the government for a certain number of hours in the day.) \n\nI believe our right to "vote" is merely a show.  Whoever appears in the position does whatever the highest bidders tell them to do.  You could have donald duck in office, and the policies would be set by the unseen power structure in this country. I know it is cynical, and sad, but true.  \n\nI am no sheep, however.  I still try to maintain my personal high standard of ethics, and I fail to take advantage of other people or rip people off.  I am one of those guys who counts his change, and if there is extra, I give it back.
143426
I don't think it's anymore corrupt than any other administration, especially the Clinton administration. People refuse to look back and see what Bush has had to deal with, terrorist attacks, many terrible natural disasters. He's had a lot of lack to pick up. I think you have to remember that when you look at what he's done in office.
388182
The Republicans have brought a culture of corruption to Washington. \nThe DeLay story isn't about one man from Texas. It is about a political movement made up of Republicans and conservatives that lost its way and came to care more about itself than America. DeLay has been the symbol of that fall. But the stubborn refusal by Republicans to abandon DeLay or enact any meaningful reform showed the entire country that the corruption is pervasive. \nGeorge Bush is a disaster. His record of extremism, arrogance, and failure is so toxic, Republican Senate candidates refuse to even be seen with him in public. \nI think, Democrats should win majorities in both bodies of Congress in "06.
806621
Agreed. To elect him once was foolhardy - to elect him twice defies logic. The world and thousands of innocents are reaping the fruits of the American publics stupidity.
374310
The US are regularly doing this. The elect a President who is a right numbskull and exepct the rest of the world to believe that he is the person they really think can rule the US and the rest of the world. Now that is really taking the urine (they even had a Senator called Goldwater!!!!)
29123
Having such hopeless loyalty to a person of authority, even in the event of proven corruption (Bush or not) is just ASKING to be found as a complete idiot.\nThe president, and ANYONE ELSE in an authority type position must EARN their respect. It isn't AUTOMATIC. If someone thinks it is, then how about the respect for tyrants like Saddam? Of course people make excuses why it's different so they can justify their position of needless loyalty.\nWith that logic of supporting the powerholder in any event, we aren't freeing anybody from any tyrants. IF a people are willing to hopelessly 'respect' and not complain about their harmful power-holders, then they don't have a tyrant do they?\nThat would be people's fault. And Bush and Co is loving every minute of the fake-patriots who lay down and submit just because he's in a position. It gives him and his cronies less of a reason to be found as bad as they are, since the public lets them do it.\npathetic!\n\n"The Limits of Tyrants are Proscribed By the Endurance of Those They Oppress"\n-Fredrick Douglas\n\nI'd like to clarify to those who think I might be comparing Bush to Saddam. They are only similar in the way that they are the ones with power of their country, and deserve criticism each respectively.\n\n"All Men Having Power Ought to be Mistrusted" \n- James Madison\n\nI am only trying to point out the fact of BLIND OBEDIENCE is the absolute ENEMY of freedom. People who think they're being patriotic are being anything but patriotic when they say criticism to the president weakens the country. The President (and the administration) is doing that on their own accord. Criticizing and doing something about it is the only choice. It is an act of responsible citizenship. If you love your country, then you love it enough to fight what corrupts it (including the government) no? \n\n\n"That We are to Stand By the President, Right or Wrong, is not Only Unpatriotic and Servile, but is Morally Treasonable to the American Public"\n- Theodore Roosevelt
809267
Nope both parties are equally corrupt and it matters not who is charge.The truth about this will never be fully known although many intelligent people have theorized what happened.
360170
I think they are misled.  Political figures who are high ranking in the democratic party, the media, people like Michael Moore...they keep cramming it down liberals throats that Bush stole the elections. They are sore losers, that's all.  Now they have an agenda, to try and make everything Bush does look like poison.  It's immature, and ridiculous.  The liberals are trying to divide the country, and then blame it on Bush.  They need to grow up, so we can work on real problems...
894661
There's always idiots out there who are willing to blindly follow you, even if you have no plan, no brains and no integrity. Just look at how many voted for Kerry!\n\nIf you lie often enough, people will forget the truth. Just listen to Howard Dean talk.\n\nIf you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bovine excrement. Just watch Dirty Harry Reid.
2630
It seems that the longer they are in office, the more influence they gain, but the more they seem to be seduced by the power they control.  Of course the only way to retain it is to stay in office, and that means money.  The temptation to take help from wealthy special interests is almost too much to resist.  Then, of course, begins the slippery slide down from integrity to political punch line.\n\nThis doesn't mean that all politicians are corrupt; it just means it's pretty hard to tell which ones are honest and which aren't.\n\nThe problem is how to fix it--if it ever is.  The only way is with REAL campaign finance reform that completely changes the way candidates get money.  But such change must be enacted by Congress, and there's just too much self-interest involved to get any real change enacted.  So there you go...
583303
I must be in the minority among liberals. I don't think Bush is stupid. I think he's very average intelligence-wise. He's also very shrewd. He knew after 9/11 that nobody would try to stop him forcing his agenda on the American people, as did the Republican controlled House and Senate. There are no "checks-and-balances" anymore. Anything they want, they get. He's just doing what most corrupt people would do.
558348
yes, hes a dumb ass in disguise , the only president in office on the date of 6/6/6 war for  the money greed is a deadly sin ... mass murder lies .....etc.
510536
yeh, people inherantly bow down to job titles. i used to think clinton was the clearest case of how gullible humans really are. but now theres bush & rumsy, damn. humans are shockingly stupid. no wonder we still fall for religions. no matter what they say, we soak it up as if it were based in some sort of logic. a gracious estimate of those that see somewhat clearly is about 10% of the worlds' population. the rest are so far gone with some kinda b grade movie brainwashing or diminished capacity. its like im living in 'invasion of the body snatchers'. the story was that saddam was a threat to everyone & had no allies. so who'd he sell his weapons to?
532875
you cant because he didn't do it, Bush was the mastermind not bin laden, the link below will opne your eyes to the greed and evil of the right wing.
415015
in south and central america oligarchies ....rule by family lineage and nepotism is rife within the governmental systems....same in the united states,my friend!!!!!!!the bushes and others like them have worked deep behind the scenes,covertly laying the ground work for a dynastic order of clandestine,shady,corruptand self seeking powermongering for over a century....they could not succeed by merit....they could not succeed by popularity....they could not succeed by courage...they could not succeed by intelligence.....but they can succeed by never underestimating the gullibility,ignorance and naivete the the united state citizenry!!!!george bush senior,the ex-president-exdirector of the c.i.a.-texas oilman -donated 4ships to the abortive bay of pigs way before he held any public office at all....a private investor in forbidden political intrigues to usurp a foreign government's sovereignty without sanction,a declaration of war with congressional approval!!!! he states "manuel noriega...never met the man!"and yet as head of the c.i.a. a military junta with manuel noriega at it's head siezed power in panama with u.s. sanction!!!and their are photographs of george bush sr. with his feet up on noriega's coffee table(a santa ria altar with sacrificed chickens in the background and a briefcase with over $250,000 he was delivering to the dictator)allthis when he was the vice president!!!!(whatever credence could be lended to that photo and report)so,bush senior could be considered suspect not only of being involved with anti-castro cuban brigadas which share much suspicion with watergate break-ins,and the kennedy assasinations;but with extra-legal activities ,as with h.l.hunt and others of his ilk in drawing the armed forces of our fair country into pulling their financial fortunes out of the fire here and abroad in the pursuit of their private, personal wealth in pumping oil in third world nations in the middle east and elsewhere!!there is film available showing h.l.hunt offering millions of dollars of bounty on both john and robert kennedy's life ,treasonous felon today now that the kennedys have been successfully killed:but i would be really suprise if george bush senior wasn't at that meeting of texas oilmen ,discussing what was to be done about the kennedy's wanting to end the oil depletion allowance by which texas oilmen were being paid not to pump domestic oil reserves in the ground nationally!!!!lyndon johnson wasn't any to pleased either the same goes for his constituency;but with him as vice-president...if something happened to the kennedys all power would fall into the texans' lap and from h.l.hunt and billy sol estes and their scandalous and self-aggrandising behavior to enron=keeting-and the stolen election in florida we are still in the hands of unsrupulous backroom politicos,agent provocatuers looting america for personal gain without the good taste or breeding to inspire the briefest moment of admiration or pride for any national accomplishment in favor of the people they would rule; but not lead to greatness!!!!heroin,oil,drugs of every description sold and profited in ,osama ben laden's emeralds and 80 billion dollars in patriot act funding....if we ever get these jokers out of office they'll still be bankrolled for the next twelve thousand years,if any part of their schemes comes thru!!!
164925
All governments have some sort of corruption, and I'm not sure it will ever be solved.  It is important to remember that certain people are blamed for being corrupt when they aren't and others aren't blamed when they should be.  It depends on who the media hates that day!  Usually, when one politician blames another for being corrupt, it can usually be revealed that (s)he is corrupt in certain ways as well.  Though it doesn't make our politicians right, compared to other govt's I think we have it pretty good.  We could be like Saddam's old Iraq and worry about being thrown into a tree chipper for dissenting.
380927
Duke Cunningham. Bill Frist. Tom DeLay. Scooter Libby. Michael Chertoff. Michael Brown. Antonin Scalia. Rick Santorum. Karl Rove. Jack Abramhoff's "Roll Call of the Faithless." Pedophiles in "Homeland Security." A prostitute given daily passes to the White House press briefing. Sixteen words to lie to America. Sending Colin Powell to lie to the world. No-bid, cost-plus contracts to cronies and contributors. Voting machine makers that "guarantee" Republican victory. A web of lie upon lie, short-schrifting a necessary war (Afganistan) to start an optional war (Iraq). And, of course, Dick Cheney and George Bush.\n\nYes, the current US government is corrupt. Incompetent too, but undoubtedly corrupt.\n\nThat is the bad news. The good news is that the staggering pattern of corruption can be reversed this November. All you have to do is vote Democrat.