So what was all the applause about Tuesday night? Has our president’s first year been such a success?
We began 2001 with Bush fighting hard for a tax cut. The result was a multi-billion-dollar cut that failed to generate any improvement to the economy. Next was Bush’s unilateral decision to cancel the long-standing arms reduction treaties with Russia. The cost of a missile shield will be enormous and the technology will surely fail. Not to mention the probability that Russia will likely renew the arms race that brought about the treaty.
After Sept. 11, Bush and Congress immediately bailed out the airline industry with a $16 billion giveaway. Then came 100,000 layoffs within a month of the bailout.
Now Arab and Muslim citizens and immigrants are under siege because they are being targeted. Even an Arab-American Secret Service agent was thrown off a plane because the pilot refused to fly. Bush reacted by saying he would be angry if the agent had been profiled. Well his Ivy League education should make it apparent that the agent was, and that the attorney general is spearheading this policy.
Finally, there’s Enron and there is no doubt that Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and most members of Congress have been stained by it.
So, cheer on, America! If 83 percent of you approve of this performance, the best may be yet to come.
