I agree about changing my position. My main complaint was that, even though everybody knows that Saddam ought to get ousted, I didn't know why it had to be so soon. The evidence presented changes all that, in my mind at least.
Can I say one thing that may tick a few people off (or at least something that not many will believe)?
Ehler's said:
Now, if he could just do something about our crappy economy.
Unfortunately, the President can't really do much about that, in the immediate future at least. The economy is this odd ethereal thing that can't be pushed around very easily, and the government certainly has no magic button that will fix it. The economic policies that Bush has presented, and is beginning to implement, will take at least a year, if not many years to change anything.
The problem is not with the government, but with the population in general. After the plunging stock market, there is no consumer confidence. Businesses are closing, laying-off, etc., and the economy spirals downward. How is the president going to convince everyone to begin reinvesting? For every hundred people complaining about the bad economy there probably aren't more than six or seven that are actually doing something about it (hiring more employees, investing, etc.)
Yes, the president has influence on the economy, but it is not something that he can change quickly. Without trying to make partisan comments, most of the problems that we're experiencing are either due to 9/11 or the latter years of Clinton's presidency. Bush's real influence will show up a few years down the road.
Oddly enough, there probably isn't much that he could do better for the economy than to kick Iraq's trash.
