began as early as his first days in office, when he immediately declared North Korea an enemy of the U.S. Bush's pronouncement had no upside whatsoever for the U.S. and plenty of downside. Declaring a country an enemy should have been Bush's last position, not his first. Perhaps it goes back to Bush's "us vs. them," "you're either with us or against us" simplistic mindset.

I remember Clinton, who left office after having negotiated an agreement with North Korea that settled our differences, shaking his head in disbelief. According to Clinton, he thought Bush would ultimately get credit for his negotiations with North Korea. Little did Clinton know, Bush would not only refuse to take credit for Clinton's work, but he would actually turn around and kick North Korea in the face.

This happened shortly after Bush first took office and roundly and ceremoniously dismissed all things Clinton--from Clinton's warnings about Osama bin Laden to prohibitions against arsenic in our drinking water. Instead of studying Clinton's insights, Bush revoked executive order after executive order signed by Clinton on the pretense that he wanted to start all over and study every situation in detail before he would take any action. A very compelling argument could be made that Bush's dismissal of all things Clinton may have led, at least in part, to 9/11.

Cardinal makes the history a bit more clear. Indeed, there was a rejection of Clinton, I suspect the underlying issue was Bush was begining his tutelage (read manipulation) by Cheney.

Not only has the Bush Administration single handedly damaged the aura of the mighty US armed forces, our enemies are emboldened and thumbing their noses at us while our allies are discouraged and feeling helpless. Meanwhile our economy's mid-range outlook is in shambles with a coming dollar crash on the heals of a leaking housing bubble, and being so far in debt, the government will have few alternatives to stoke the economy in the future. Will the millenium represent the peak and begining of the decline of the 20th Century surviving superpower? I think so.

Thanks for the link spk. I will continue to be yours and The Agonist's regular reader.

Dave Marco
Weblog: Shining Light In Dark Corners http://shininglight.us
Poetry: Musings of a Soulful Mind http://demarco.bz