Washinton, we  have a problem. NYT editorial 12-24-05 entitled "Alito's Zeal for Presidential Power",invites a
609339
It all damn well worries me.  I honestly believe if this President could he would declare martial law.  He believes that he is omnipotent and infallible.  Look very closely how the military in encroaching into civilian authority-the CIA and securing the southern border.
873199
i agree with you competely... but complaining doesnt solve anything, we need to blame ourselves, we are the ones that gave them the power to do these things....we should write our congressmen/women and voice our opinion on this subject..
254523
Most of America isn't behind President Bush; because he mislead America into the War. The United Nations should have handled any problems with Iraq regardless what a fresh inexperienced President thought at the time. This was total carelessness with his approach to this or any problem that he has tried to solve. I know that he will be gone, but will the World get over the damage that the Bush administration has lead America into? These questions will only answered in time. I personally think he is insane. Hitler was insane, so was Stalin, and Saddam. I wish we could end all of this soon. Bush was a target, an open target with his politics and views. That has been the problem from the get-go. The World doesn't buy all of that NEO-CONSERVATIVE crap anymore, and they don't want it imposed on them. The Republicans have been invading a World market for some time know and these people don't like the abuse anymore than the American Working Man ever did. Their is to much footage available to access the way the American Labor market has been treated over the last 20 years. It was our labor that built America and made America a great nation. We were then models of society, and other nations wanted to model after us and get the American dream. Where is the dream today? Vote the Tyrants out in November!
1134003
Blame our politicians for both the problem and the lack of taking action.
763477
Thirst for Power!\nReligion, Land, and politics are the fall guys for power mongers.
221387
There is trouble in the World?
339490
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!\n\nwho polices the police? noone.
574230
yes I've noticed this. The U.S.A. wants everything our way. Not so sure we want democracy. the present administration is more concerned with having there way than democracy...hopefully this will change when we get a few of these currently elected officials out of office the American people are gettign wise to there ways and soon maybe the U.S. will be happy to mind its own business again. at the current time it seems we havent done a very good job running our own country doesnt make much sense that we are trying to run everyone elses. Unfortuneately we have a few more years with the current president but perhaps the American people can rein him in a little there are many people in the U.S. that are not aproving of the ways things have been handled too bad we get the blame for what the government is doing.
1115395
We need to wake up ourselves, and we need to get involved with our government. More people need to send letters to their represenatives with their worries and communities need to rally and show their government, OUR government, that we have more important issues in this country than tax cuts and banning gay marriage(which I am against). The people need to get involved. Vote! Rally! Write letters! Show that we're involved and that we need a government for the people, by the people like our Constitution says, not rich senators and represenatives concerned with popularity.
560639
You said we don't have to agree, right?  Well, we seem to agree that Bush is deceitful and foolish, and this is something I have believed since a long time ago.  But I do no longer feel quite as threatened by Bush's tenure as I used to feel.  His first four years in office were atrocious, and it is only now that people are realizing it.  On the other hand, his second administration--save for the tragedy of the Alito nomination to the Supreme Court--has been and is likely to continue to be substantially better (not to say it will be good, ever!).   This second Bush administration is learning to navigate the difficult waters of international diplomacy, and since it is less powerful, it can do less harm.  So I'm not concerned with Bush.  I'm far more concerned with the Republican party, which is--in my humble opinion--orders of magnitude worse than Bush.
429794
well... a U.S. president is simply a "C E O" of the corperation U.S.... My Main Concern is not company's that get their power by putting the little man out of business... my concern would be triing to create a system that is fair for all, without a hirarchy of classes, it makes no differnce in classes to me.... We are all people in a corp. domainated society...."The Beast System"
104530
We should worry about things like this when we have a president with whom it matters.
1084880
Elect new Politicians that do handle the problem
470471
Good idea, I think it is a time for a march on Washington. Congress seems to be getting weak on what they started. Letters and e-mail you congressmen and senators and let them know how you feel.
1177261
You make an excellent point; Bush is often blamed for things that are very clearly out of his control.\n\nUnfortunately, this is a fundamental problem with our two-party political system. Many Republicans do the same type of thing when the Democrats are in power. The problem is that acknowledging that your opposition did something right, increases their popularity, which increases their chances of re-election, and systematically reduces your own party’s power. This gives each party a major incentive to bad mouth the other – whether they have a legitimate criticism or not.\n\nDo you remember when Bill Clinton bombed Iraq after Saddam Hussein kicked all of the U.N. weapons inspectors out? Many Republicans accused him of trying to distract the world from the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Who knows, maybe that was part of his motivation, but I for one tend to give him a little more credit. Bill Clinton had the same ‘intelligence’ that George Bush did, and also determined that bombing Iraq was necessary. Bill Clinton should have been applauded for bombing Iraq, but doing so would make the Democrats look like they were doing something right. It was politically advantageous for Republicans to keep the country’s focus on the Monica Lewinsky scandal.\n\nThis political smear game is clearly damaging the country’s unity. We all need to calm down and start using our brains again. Each of us can make sure that we’re not guilty of this nonsense when the opposition is in control, and hopefully at some point it will stop.\n\n\nResponse to bluejacket8j:\n\nYou seem to be pretty intelligent, and you may well know that George Bush didn’t cause Katrina, but many “Dems and Libs” are actually making this accusation. Robert Kennedy, for example, is an outspoken liberal that is adamant about this. Of course, Robert Kennedy is an alcoholic and a drug abuser, and I’d guess he doesn’t have much credibility with most “Dems and Libs”. However, we can’t understate his influence; he is one of the icons of the extreme left. Moderate “Dems and Libs” tend to be more rational, just as moderate Republicans and Conservatives tend to be more rational. It is the fringe element on both sides that are causing most of the problems.\n\nNow, as to Bush’s handling of Katrina, there is greater room for legitimate criticism. Lives may have been saved if he handled it differently. With that said, before Katrina there was little precedent for the Federal government to be the “first mover” on this kind of issue. Traditionally, the Federal government gives aide only when the governor specifically requests it. The governor is the one who “dropped the ball” first. The request for help came much later than it should of. Had the governor, who has primary responsibility over the affairs of the State, acted in a timely manner, then much of the human suffering that came from the disaster could have been averted.\n\nPerhaps you may feel that Bush should have recognized that the governor was shirking his duty to the people and taken over. But to do that would have required Bush to act without precedent in his actions. Since the disaster, Bush has come out and said that there was a failure of the system, and even acknowledged that he had a share of the blame. Let’s make sure that we don’t overstate his culpability though. It’s always easy to make someone the scapegoat, but that doesn’t really accomplish anything positive. It only gives us a superficial satisfaction that someone was held accountable, even when the consequences were unforeseeable. It is far more important that lessons are learned and that safeguards are put into place so that there isn’t a “repeat” in the future. I’d be willing to bet that if we were faced with another “Katrina”, we would observe radically different behavior from the Mayor’s actions all the way to the President’s. Ultimately, we must judge our success or failure by our ability to learn from ou
1155648
Bad, very bad.  First of all, the impediments mentioned in the editorial are real and persuasive.  Secondly, but more powerfully, the current administration has squandered any good will we received after 9/11 and ruined our reputation world-wide and don't give a rat's ass about that.  And thirdly, the current administration has been hostile to the UN and made many difficulties there, so it is very unlikely that any American would for some time be even mentioned for the job.  And further, such an idea from the LA Times is only a desperate grasp at repair of the current damage and it is foolish to think that Clinton, or anybody "so well respected" could use his personal reputation to mend the ruins we are left with by this administration.
41802
To gain political power; politics is a dirty game!