The current administration was never the will of the majority, and the minority it collected was mostly for the centrist position it took in the campaign.

Then they switched to very right-wing, fundamental Christian policies.

The "approval ratings" of the President are lower than for Colin Powell, another voice of reason outside the inner circle. And I suspect "approval" means people love their country, not necessarily this administration. The way the question is asked folks have to repudiate their armed forces and law enforcement of they answer negatively. I suspect the "approval" for Bush is much lower. Might be wrong, though.

The conservatives are raising massive amounts of cash, and American elections are bought so it might be a tough couple of elections. However, Bushes, both One and Two, are temporary blips on the screen.

I'm hoping the backlash won't be too bad.

And, there are domestic problems on the horizon. The "reparations" for slavery are the sort of thing which can tear apart a democracy (when we get back to that). There is a large minority which feels disenfranchised, and is looking for a way to just plain take from those who are enfranchised.

If they felt they were part of the system, and that paying reparations meant a bunch of it were coming out of their pockets, this would be a non-issue.

Doesn't matter why they feel disenfranchised, whether they are indeed disenfranchised, or if any of that is justified. There is no bigger waste than that of the energy it takes to try to counter that sense that they have nothing to lose by forcing "reparations".

Try to figure a way to pay "reparations" and finance an aggressive foreign policy. Suspect it wouldn't work well.

(If "reparations" are eventually given, I think I should be able to charge for the pain and suffering of my Union Army relatives who were wounded freeing the slaves.)

A democracy needs to have all significant groups sensing they are a part of the system or there can be hell to pay.

But overall, the Bushes are a just a stain on a very large fabric, temporary schoolyard bullies who will eventually force the ROW to create a counter super-power, and by then the US will be broke. We will be dependent upon cheap foreign labor and oil, and have a balance of payments problem which has left our enemies owning a large chunk of us.

And our humility will be just as forthcoming as that of the bully who gets beat up.

One dog's opinions, for sure. None of it a sure thing, except that if the US keeps going the ROW will create another superpower to counter the US influence. And that competition will ruin the US economy.

Arf