User:AndySimpson/Criticism of George W. Bush

George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States of America, has drawn significant domestic and international criticism since his election in 2000. His level of popular support has varied widely, from the highest ever recorded by The Gallup Organization at 90 percent to among the lowest for any sitting President. Currently, most major polling outlets have his approval ratings in the 30s, rivaling Richard Nixon's unpopularity at the time of the Watergate scandal. His opponents have criticized his role in the controversial 2000 election, his way of fighting the War on Terrorism, his support for the USA PATRIOT Act and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, among many other acts and issues along the way.

The magazine TIME named Bush as its Person of the Year for 2000 and for 2004.

Some of Bush's opponents use a term previously ascribed to his father, "bushism", to describe Bush's colorful mistakes when speaking. Bushisms have been widely popularized and archived across the Internet due to their often humorous nature. In addition, he is often called "Dubya", a stereotypical Texan pronunciation of the letter "W" which is Bush's middle initial, by both supporters and opponents.

Iraq
Main article: Opposition to the Iraq War

Bush has taken a significant amount of criticism for his decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 and his handling of the situation afterwards. As Bush organized the effort, made the case, and ordered the invasion himself, he has borne the brunt of the criticism for the war.

Pacifist critics of the invasion claimed that it would lead to the deaths of thousands of Coalition soldiers and Iraqi soldiers and civilians, and that it would moreover damage peace and stability throughout the Middle East.

Another oft-stated reason for opposition is the Westphalian concept that foreign governments should never possess a right to intervene in another sovereign nation's internal affairs. Giorgio Agamben, the Italian philosopher, has also offered a critique of the logic of pre-emptive war.

Anti-war sentiment has led to a number of large protests in the US, among the most visible being the one led by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, and some reflection in electoral politics. A significant minority of mostly Democratic politicians, such as former Vice President Al Gore, opposed the invasion of Iraq. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for President in 2004, voted to authorize the invasion, and said during his campaign that he stood by his vote. Howard Dean, a rival for the nomination, ran on an anti-war position, but did not favor quick troop withdrawal. Dennis Kucinich, another candidate for the Democratic nomination, favored replacement of the U.S. occupation force with one sponsored by the UN, as did Ralph Nader's independent presidential candidacy.

Civil liberties
The most common criticism of Bush's method of pursuing the War on Terrorism pertains to a perceived lack if regard for civil liberties.

Domestic criticism
The President has been forced to increasingly defend his actions on many fronts and has been unable to generate widespread support among the nation as a whole. An example of the general displeasure and extent to which many Americans have lost respect and confidence in the President lies in his recent election as the "Biggest Tool of 2006" in an online poll created by Comedy Central. . Though it is not by any definition the most dependable source for truth, it does give a certain amount of insight into the attitudes many people have towards the President, and as such can be given some consideration.

After the overwhelming Democratic Party wins in the midterm elections of 2006, to gain the majority in both the House and Senate, MSNBC news service reported that "The war in Iraq, scandals in Congress and declining support for Bush and Republicans on Capitol Hill defined the battle for House and Senate control".

On December 9th, 2006 Representative Cynthia McKinney introduced legislation in Congress for the Impeachment of George Bush.

Hurricane Katrina
The President would come under more criticism when the powerful category 5 Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region in the early hours of August 30, 2005. In the wake of the hurricane, two levees protecting New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain collapsed, leading to widespread flooding. In the aftermath of this disaster, thousands of city residents, unable or unwilling to evacuate prior to the hurricane, became stranded with little or no relief for several days, resulting in lawless and unsanitary conditions in some areas. Blame for inept disaster response was partially attributed to state and local authorities, but public outcry in the disaster's early hours was largely directed at the Bush administration, mainly FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security alleging weak crisis management and coordination. Rapper Kanye West said in a relief fund raise concert that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," alleging that Bush did not do anything to help because most of the victims were black.

The criticism led to the resignation of FEMA director Michael Brown, and eventually, Bush himself accepted personal responsibility for what he deemed, "serious problems in the federal government's response" in a September 15, 2005 press conference. Currently, the administration is investigating itself, yet several politicians have called for either congressional or independent investigations, claiming that the Executive Branch cannot satisfactorily investigate itself.

Intellectual capacity
From time to time, Bush's intellectual capacities have been questioned by both Republican and Democratic media and other politicians, including a spokesperson of Tony Blair, making it even the subject of the widespread U.S. Presidents IQ hoax. However, a 2006 historiometric study published in the scientific journal Political Psychology, comparing the IQs of all US presidents since 1900, rated him second last, with an estimated IQ between 111.1 and 138.5, and mean of 120 (which still is well above average). In an interview, it was noted by the study's director that "Bush may be 'much smarter' than the findings imply" but that he "scores particularly unimpressively for 'openness to experience, a cognitive proclivity that encompasses unusual receptiveness to fantasy, aesthetics, actions, ideas and values.'" Still, the author concluded that Bush "is definitely intelligent ... certainly smart enough to be president of the United States". Other estimates of his IQ have been based on his SAT score of 1206 (566 for verbal and 640 for math), which would equal an IQ of around 125-129. No official IQ data for George Bush are available, however.

Much of the criticism of Bush's intelligence is in response to the various linguistic errors he has made during his public speeches. The term "Bushism" has become a popular catch phrase to describe these occurrences.

Bush's habit of the mispronunciation and misuse of words has received much ridicule in the media and in popular culture. Even as early as the 2000 presidential debates, this was the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch (see "Strategery"). Perhaps his most famous mispronunciation is that of "nucular" instead of "nuclear" when referring to nuclear weapons &mdash; however, he is by no means the only American president to do this. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton have all used some mispronunciation of the word.