I hate Bush because he robbed America of its dignity.
A WWII vet once told me about bringing in German POWs. They were always terrified at how we would treat them, and dumbfounded by the relatively benign conditions they were allowed to live under. Americans used to take pride in the fact that the U.S. stood for Christian virtues like mercy, justice, and charity. (I am not a Christian, but those are still worthwhile virtues.)
Bush's "mercy" has included executing retarded minors during his tenure as governor of Texas, and imprisoning foreigners in Guantanamo with no trial, representation, or communication with the outside world, for
years. Can you even imagine that?
Under Bush's watch, we grab people off the street in Europe and Asia, based on finger-pointing by secret informants, ship them to conveniently out-of-the-way shitholes, strap them to boards and induce drowning panic reflex repeatedly to get information out of them. We torture people.
He used illegal methods to spy on Americans, and continues to defend the practice. A
secret court giving classified warrants wasn't good enough for him, so he just gave blanket authorization for our own Justice Department to violate the fucking Constitution.
Every critic of his policies is met with accusations of terrorist sympathies, alarmist nonsense, and fear mongering.
In a week or two, we will pass the 4,000 mark on American soldiers killed in Iraq -- a war knowingly started on false pretenses, followed up by a poorly-considered mission to prop up a government
that now considers Iran a friend. We will also pass an estimated 90,000 Iraqis killed in the same time frame -- and I've heard estimates that were much higher than that. "Iraqi Freedom," indeed.
For every law he signs, he includes a statement to the fact that he doesn't have to follow it.
He's arrogant, smug, and, at times, so blindingly stupid that even his own party is outraged (witness his appointment of horse show mis-manager Michael Brown to head FEMA or his nomination of the vastly under-qualified Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court).
If Bush isn't the worst president, I hope to God I don't live to see the president who wins that title. He's certainly the worst so far.
Demoman: "I'LL BE GENTLE!!!"