Has Bush ruined America?

[demzilla]

Historians of the future can best answer that question, but I find myself wondering whether this era is simply a bad, bad time that will eventually not matter very much, or a disaster from which our country will never truly recover.

So, what do you think? Has Bush ruined America?

[kodi]

1. Only Phillip II of Spain caused more damage to the nation he led

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain

and yes, Bush has accelerated the decline of US power and prestige by at least three decades. we are fast becoming a third world nation in everything but armaments

[mogster]

7. He does it on purpose

There is no way I'd believe that people can be as dumb as this administration.

Purpose: Rip down every known tradition with the intention of rebuilding the US in their picture. That includes the rest of the world too.

[Dynasty_At_Passes]

2. *Shrug* I took option A. Its been in real bad shape and been ruined....

Lots of times, and probably will recover from it someday.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I think he has done some major damage

more psychological wise then anything. We can always recover with the economy and all that. But with all the loss of life and family members both with us and the Iraqi's one can never escape. And the Iraqi's probably aren't better off either.

[DanCa]

4. I was thinking of posting something like this.

I believe the president is responsible for setting the tone in washington and from there everything rolls down hill. The level of discourse we have, the utter lack of contempt for the other side, the polarization, the lack of disresepect for peoples religious beliefs, this all comes from the president. He is missing a golden oppurtunity to meet with Cindy, he can at least say "while i disagree with you I can yada yada yada."
We, self included have got to start respecting each others rights and opinions again. The president should denounce Justice Sunday, and Democrats getting kicked out of church, and then sent set the tone for civility.
Now there is the policy decisions and administration decisions. Again the problem is that not only he wont triangulate his positions he will openly insult you if you disagree with his positions. You know what they say it flows down hill.
Do you know how bad this president is? This is the first government official in any party that I openly criticized. Why because he insults me daily.

[tocqueville]

6. but this time it's international damage

at several levels :

treating friends and allies like dirt can be repaired, but the US is at the same time showing its weaknesses. This will be used against them for self protection in the future. The defeat in Iraq will add to that.

the economy based on loans for over-consumption is doomed to fail in the end. Today the US is buying time. Today they have a negative trade balance with all major competiting powers, are a food importer and don't lead as a manufacturer any longer.

the lack of measures regarding the transformation from a cheap oil-guzzling economy to a more sustainable one based on other energy forces will be catastrophic. Europe and China are in different ways better prepared to that.

That's why the damage is irreparable.

[wli]

5. "signals a national decline" is too passive

There needs to be a harsher version of "yes" to match my opinions.