A “No Win” Presidency

We are approaching an election this year, so it is time for things to get ugly. Certainly there are ugly things to report. The war in Iraq is not popular with many. Scandals are rampant at and around Washington. Immigration and NSA/CIA spying are hot topics. Put these together and President Bush is in a “no win” situation.

If President Bush pulls our troops out of Iraq, he will be called a coward and his political foes will lay “another Vietnam-style loss” on his plate. We told you so! We should never have gone in… even though we voted for it. If we stay, they complain about a quagmire. It’s a no win situation.

Scandals need to be taken care of, but they sure do seem to get more attention around election time. Each side points to the others’ shortcomings. And we’ve got plenty to choose from: CIA’s Dusty Foggo for bribery, Rep. Tom DeLay for campaign finances, Rep. Patrick Kennedy for substance abuse, Rep. Cynthia McKinney for Capitol Police abuse, lobbyist Jack Abramoff for all sorts of abuse… the list goes on. The view of Washington by the average American continues to dim and the President’s approval rating slides.

If President Bush does nothing on illegal immigration, Congress and the media lampoon him for his inaction. If he calls out the National Guard as we are told, we get cheers or jeers from politicians seeking re-election, and the media goes into a feeding frenzy. Even those of the President’s own party aren’t helping. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, said, “I think we have to be very careful here… That's not the role of our National Guard." Huh? GUARDing the NATIONs borders isn’t part of the charter of the NATIONal GUARD? Who came up with that one? You can’t win an argument against stupidity.

The NSA/CIA/Patriot Act/Domestic spying – call it what you want. But what do we want here folks? Do we want terrorists in our own country, planning and plotting a 9/11 repeat? Or do we want our government to take whatever action it feels is necessary to do the job? “Don’t violate my rights!” Give me a break. Those that perished on 9/11 had their right to LIFE taken from them! The news publishes that the NSA is tracking phone calls. I am sure that the terrorists read the news and just changed their communication patterns. Thanks media friends. Way to help out the good guys. President Bush could of course stop all anti-terrorist work. We’ll be attacked again and he’ll be blamed. Or he can continue to fight terror and dodge political bullets himself.

I will be frank. I doubt the sincerity of the complaints and the desire of some politicians to actually solve any of these problems. Democrats complain because they want to hurt the Republican President, get elected or re-elected, and obtain the majority to play the game their way. Some Republicans are staying with the President and some are jumping ship because of his low polls. The media makes money by reporting the mess. You know – the media that endorses political candidates and then claims to be impartial. Sigh…

So what does President Bush do? I’ll suggest a few things. You can read along.

Dear President Bush,
Thank you for you leadership up to this point. I doubt anyone else in your position could have done much better given the circumstances, and the lack of hindsight we all now enjoy.

I have a few suggestions for you. You seem to have few (or very quiet) friends in Washington, even in your own party. You’re not running for re-election, so just do what is right and don’t worry about the fallout. You can’t control that anyway.

Pull out of Iraq with a W. That’s a “Win”, not a W… for your name… anyway… we accomplished what was needed. You deposed a nasty dictator and his posse, and ensured no weapons of mass destruction were there. Now let us leave as soon as we can and allow the people of Iraq to choose their own destiny and be accountable for their own future. The UN can surely help them if they get into trouble in the near term.

I think you’re pretty tough on scandals. Just be sure to make sure that elected officials or political cronies are punished the same as we ordinary citizens are. If I punch a police officer, I’m going to jail. I’m not sure why Ms. McKinney isn’t there yet. Perhaps you could check on that for me.

On immigration, stop trying to ride the fence, pun intended. They’re either illegal or they’re not. (They are violating the law, so they are.) Defend our borders or don’t. (I suggest you do.) But don’t let whiners and name callers slow you down.

As for domestic spying, if my facts are correct, the 9/11 conspirators were actually in this country when they attacked and killed thousands. Mr. President please do all in your power to protect us. Tell the American people that you have the daily intelligence reports we do not, the list of successes to date that you cannot tell us about to continue being successful, the knowledge of what the terrorists are capable of well in hand, and ask us to trust you and your people. Perhaps if you do this and some of these other things, we will be able to do just that. And all of us will win.

Your friend and hopeful successor,
Steve Adams

PS. Call any time. I’m here to help.

Steve Adams was born and raised in Ohio, graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Computer Science degree in 1988, and subsequently moved to Lexington KY. He has worked at Lexmark International since 1989 and has been a Part Time Local Pastor at St. Luke UMC since 2004. He is married with two children. He is not politically correct, but is politically active. He is a registered Republican, married to a registered Democrat, and running for President of the United States as a write-in candidate on the independent ticket. No joke. You can read all about it on www.PresidentAdams.com or e-mail Steve directly at Steve@PresidentAdams.com.

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