President Bush is reckless. Against the wishes of half the country, despite the entreaties of our allies and before the weapons inspectors could do their job in Iraq, he declared war against Iraq. As a result, our troops are dying every day in Iraq, Afghanistan is in trouble, and our allies are letting us spend the money and do all the work there ourselves. Bush has isolated U.S. from the world.
President Bush is angry because our allies do not agree with him. For months he did not talk to our French and German leaders. Then he said that since our European allies did not help in the Iraq War they would not get prime contracts for rebuilding Iraq. He is angry with Republicans that do not go along with his ideas - like Nick Smith, who voted against his Medicare bill.
President Bush is pessimistic. He is pessimistic that the the UN could work. He is pessimistic about the prospect for peace in the Middle East. At the start of his administration he did NOTHING as the intifada escalated every day. He tried briefly to work with a new Palestinian prime minister. After the prime minister resigned, Bush returned to doing NOTHING. He is pessimistic about weapons inspectors being able to do their job. He is pessimistic about achieving peace. He is so pessimistic, he believes that the only weapons at our disposal are military.
A great philosopher once said:
"The opinion one has of a thing shows more the nature of the person than the nature of the thing."
The same is true about the opinion a person has of another person. Bush is "reckless, angry and pessimistic." So he thinks everybody else is like this. He is wrong. He and Republicans in general try to increase fear in this country so that people will seek his protection. Democrats, and especially Howard Dean, are trying to instill hope into our citizens. Dean is trying to to awaken the country to the possibilities for peace.
Howard Dean is an optimist. Although the country is faced with a war on terrorism, an Iraq War, a world of foreign people antagonistic to the U.S., American workers living in poverty and without health insurance, and ordinary citizens living in fear, he wants to lead us to prosperity at home and peace abroad.
Bush is the pessimist. Dean is the optimist.
