Opinion America's choice By Scott T. Hards	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
アメリカの選択 保守派の立場を取る筆者にとってさえ、 ブッシュ大統領の内政・外交は共にいただけない。 選挙では米国民が目を覚ますことを期待したい。

In a couple of weeks, America will choose its next president. Regular readers of this column who know that I generally hold conservative viewpoints may be surprised to learn that I want nothing more than for George W. Bush to be defeated.

Another title I considered for this column was "The Worst President Ever?" Four years ago, I felt that he was not even qualified to run for the office: George W. never earned anything in his life; his jobs and money were handed to him by his family. His grades were poor to average. He drove a company bankrupt. He doesn't read the newspaper, know how to use a personal computer, and had never even been to Europe before becoming president. Prior to the election, he displayed his ignorance of world affairs (and correct English pronunciation) on a number of occasions.

America is blessed with millions of people far more qualified than this man to run the nation. How has the country's political system deteriorated so far that someone so mediocre can be chosen its leader? How can it maintain an electoral system that puts someone in office despite their opponent getting more votes?

My fears about the man were proved right when he entered office. In four years, he has accomplished nothing positive. Rather, he has made a series of errors of such magnitude that they will probably be studied for decades by political historians:

He ignored Clinton's warnings that al-Qaeda was America's greatest threat. When 9/11 proved Clinton right, he responded well at first by ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan, but prematurely moved his attention, and the bulk of America's forces, to Iraq thereby undermining progress in Afghanistan. And while I supported the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power (though not the timing), Bush's horrible post-war administration efforts (such as not bothering to attempt to disarm the populace) have turned large patches of Baghdad into terrorist factories, seriously hindering recovery efforts.

At home, he has taken a nearly balanced budget and turned it into a huge deficit. His "security" efforts after 9/11 do little but create long lines at airports and alienate talented foreigners by needlessly denying or delaying their visas. Meanwhile, the nation's ports are left virtually empty. And he has shown his hatred for one of the founding principles of America (the right to pursue happiness) by publicly stating he wants a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages.

I could go on and on, but my point is clear: This man should never have been put in the White House to start with. I'm praying that America comes to its senses on Nov. 2.

Shukan ST: Oct. 22, 2004

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