Abstract

A Failed Presidency

Editorial. Presents an editorial regarding the failures of United States President George W. Bush as of September 2004. The hard truth of this campaign is that George W. Bush, while attempting to impose an extremist right-wing agenda on this country and the world, has compiled a record of staggering failure. The debacle in Iraq has already claimed close to 1,000 American and 12,000 Iraqi lives. Far from making America safer or the Middle East more democratic, it has turned out to be what this magazine warned it would be: a reckless abuse of power that has damaged U.S. security, destabilized the region and undercut the United States' position in the world. At home, Bush's failures are equally manifest. He has amassed the worst jobs record of any President since the Great Depression, the worst budget deficits ever and the most precipitous decline in America's fiscal position. Bush has nominated to the federal bench ideologues with a history of antiunion and antichoice decisions. And to secure his place forever in the hearts of cultural conservatives, he endorsed the gay-baiting federal marriage amendment. The Bush years have seen a steady increase in the number of Americans without healthcare. Bush's vaunted No Child Left Behind education law actually leaves most children behind.