Based on the first 3 years of George W. Bush as President, another 4 years of his administration will likely be disastrous for the economy, the environment, America's stature as a beacon of freedom, and state/church separation.

The Republican party was traditionally for fiscal responsibilty; but they have lead the most fiscally irresponsible U.S. administration and legislature in modern history.

"We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us."
— President George W. Bush, in his 2004 acceptance speech

"Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd!"
— Pope Benedict XVI

"Ein Folk, ein Reich, ein Fόhrer."  ("One People, one Reign, one Leader.")
— Hitler

Atheism and Atheists of Silicon Valley are nonpolitical.  However, I'm not.
— iMark Thomas, president of Atheists of Silicon Valley
Read: George W. Bush, stealth candidate in 2000

Here are some statements by former White House terrorism adviser Richard Clarke:

"Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism.  He ignored it.  He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11.  Maybe.  We'll never know."

"I think he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism."

"By invading Iraq, the president of the United States has greatly undermined the war on terror."

"You not only have a right to dissent, but a duty to dissent.  If you go on a bus and the bus is out of control and is about to go off a cliff, you have a duty to go up and replace the driver."
— Jim Rassman, who has said that John Kerry saved his life in Viet Nam

"I voted for Bush in 2000.  I thought he would bring something new to our country.  But he has shown no leadership.  His policies have ended up creating more terrorists."
— Bill Boggs, a major in the U.S. Army’s Fifth Special Forces Group who supervised Rassmann and Kerry.

"It does not follow that the theology of a few should be allowed to forestall the health and well-being of the many."
— Ronald Reagan, Jr., at the Democratic National Convention, on the need for embryonic stem cell research funding

"By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?  Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces.  They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas."
— Kurt Vonnegut, author, WW2 veteran and POW, 10 May 2004

"There is scant evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations, and even less to the Sept. 11 attacks.  Indeed Saddam's goals have little in common with the terrorists who threaten us, and there is little incentive for him to make common cause with them."
— Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser for President George H. W. Bush, in The Wall Street Journal, August 2002

"Trying to eliminate Saddam would have incurred incalculable human and political costs.  Apprehending him was probably impossible.  We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq.  There was no viable exit strategy we could see, violating another of our principles.  Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish.  Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
— President George Herbert Walker Bush, in his memoir A World Transformed

"I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government."
— Vice president Richard Cheney, on Meet the Press, 09/03

"...the action has been coordinated with the VP's [Vice President's] office."
— Army Corps of Engineers official e-mail on announcement of new Halliburton contract, March 2003, reported in Time Magazine:

"[Americans] will, in fact, be greeted as liberators"
— Vice President Dick Cheney (see article)

"[Iraq was] the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11."
— Vice President Dick Cheney (see article)

The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks and no collaborative operational relationship with Al Qaeda. (see article)

"Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."
— Headline of Aug. 6, 2001, Presidential Daily Brief

"Iraq is a very wealthy country...They can finance, largely finance, the reconstruction of their own country."
— Defense Policy Board Member Richard Perle, PBS, 07/11/02

"We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon."
— Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, UPI, 10/03/03

"[The] Bush administration intends to seek about $70 billion in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year, pushing total war costs close to $225 billion since the invasion of Iraq early last year."
— The Washington Post, 10/26/04

"The reality-based community is not the way the world really works any more.  We're an empire now and, when we act, we create our own reality.  And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out.  We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
— one of George W. Bush's advisors, to Ron Suskind of the Wall Street Journal

"Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it."
— Philosopher George Santayana

"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."
— President Richard Nixon, 1977

"Of course the people don't want war.  But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.  Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy.  All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
— Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

"Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security. ... For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak, and more wobbly than any other national figure.
— Sen. Zell Miller, "D"-Ga., Sept. 1, 2004, at Republican National Convention

"My job tonight is an easy one: to present to you one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders — and a good friend. ... John has worked to strengthen our military. ..."
— Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., March 1, 2001, introducing John Kerry

"Unique among the nations, America recognized the source of our character as being godly and eternal, not being civic and temporal.  And because we have understood that our source is eternal, America has been different.  We have no king but Jesus."
— then-Sen. John Ashcroft, in a 5/8/99 speech at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C.

"The ‘wall of separation between church and state’ is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging.  It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned."
— Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist

"In the United States of America we are free to worship without discrimination, without intervention and even without activist judges trying to strip the name of God from the Pledge of Allegiance, from the money in our pockets, and from the walls of our courthouses.  The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."
— Senator Elizabeth Dole, 2004 Republican National Convention

“The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation, and the public acknowledgement of God is undeniable in our history.  Our nation was founded on fundamental Judeo-Christian principles based on the Holy Bible.”
— from the platform of the Republican Party of Texas

"We still own the president."
— Christian Coalition president Roberta Combs

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
— Preamble to the United States Constitution

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..."
— from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution

"The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
— The Treaty of Tripoli, written during the administration of President George Washington, signed by President John Adams and unanimously approved by the Senate in 1797.

"Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." — Lord Farquaad, as he was sending his men off to battle, in Shrek. "There are some who feel like, that the conditions [in Iraq] are such that they can attack us there. My answer is 'Bring 'em on.'" — US Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush, 7/2/03. Listen to the audio. "We say to those tyrants who believe they can blackmail America and the free world: You fire; we're going to shoot it down." — US Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush, 8/17/04 "It's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." — President George W. Bush, three months after the World Trade Center towers went down "We're not going to have any casualties." [in Iraq] — President George W. Bush, to Pat Robertson "You know, I just — I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet." — President George W. Bush, when asked "what would your biggest mistake be ... and what lessons have you learned from it?" [White House Press Conference 4/13/04] "I don't do nuance." — President George W. Bush, to Senator Joe Biden "I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." — George W. Bush, CNN.com, 12/18/00 "I'm the commander--see, I don't need to explain why I say things.  That's the interesting thing about being President.  Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." — President George W. Bush, to Bob Woodward "There's a trade deficit. That's easy to resolve: People can buy more United States products if they’re worried about the trade deficit." — President George W. Bush, 12/15/04 "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.  They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." — President George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., 8/5/04 "We have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world." — President George W. Bush, 7/30/04 "I don't think you can win [the war on terror].  But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world." — President George W. Bush, 8/29/04 "My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it.  We will rid the world of the evil-doers." — President George W. Bush, Speech, 11/16/01 "Some have argued that confronting the threat from Iraq could detract from the war against terror.  To the contrary, confronting the threat posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror." ... "[Iraq] possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons.  It is seeking nuclear weapons." — President George W. Bush, Speech, fall 2002 Video: Bush was warned about Katrina

"And, again, I don't know where [Bin laden] is.  I -- I'll repeat what I said.  I truly am not that concerned about him."
— President George W. Bush, 3/13/02. See the transcript. See the video.

"First of all, of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us.  I know that."
— President George W. Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04

"Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden.  It's kind of one of those exaggerations.  Of course we're worried about Osama bin Laden.  We're on the hunt after Osama bin Laden.  We're using every asset at our disposal to get Osama bin Laden."
— President George W. Bush, Third Presidential Debate, 10/13/04

"This is a man [Saddam Hussein] that we know has had connections with al Qaeda.  This is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use al Qaeda as a forward army."
— President George W. Bush, 10/14/02

"I have not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11 attacks."
— President George W. Bush, 9/16/03

"There is no question that Saddam Hussein had al Qaeda ties.  We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11 attacks."
— President George W. Bush, 9/17/03

"It's in the interest of -- uhh -- uhh, long-term peace in the world that we -- uhh -- work for a free and secure and peaceful Iraq.  A peeance, freeance secure Iraq in the midst of the Middle East will have enormous historical impact."
— President George W. Bush, 10/27/03, Listen to the audio.

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you.  It fool me.  We can't get fooled again."
— President George W. Bush, 9/17/02. Watch him on a video (with a slight glitch).
    (What's in his psyche that prevents him from saying, "shame on me"?)

"My inclination was to support the government and the war until proven wrong, and that only came later, as I realized we could not explain the mission, had no exit strategy, and did not seem to be fighting to win."
— George W. Bush (about the war in Vietnam), in his autobiography, A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House

"I--I would take the use of force very seriously.  I would be guarded in my approach.  I don't think we can be all things to all people in the world.  I think we've got to be very careful when we commit our troops.  The vice president [Al Gore] and I have a disagreement about the use of troops.  He believes in nation building.  I--I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders.  I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place.  And so I take my--I take my--my responsibility seriously."
— candidate George W. Bush, debating with Al Gore, 10/03/00

"If we're an arrogant nation, [foreigners] will resent us.  If we're a humble nation but strong, they'll welcome us. ... We've got to be humble."
— candidate George W. Bush, 10/11/00

"I don't take — I don't take — you know, I don't spend a lot of time taking polls around the world to tell me what I think is the right way to act.  I just got to know how I feel."
— President George W. Bush, 11/8/02 press conference

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
— President George W. Bush, 03/17/03

"The senator now says we'd have to pass some international truth standard.  The truth is we should never turn America's national security decisions over to international bodies or leaders of other countries."
— President George W. Bush, 10/15/04

"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile"
— George W. Bush, in Des Moines, 8/21/00

"I will do everything in my power to restrict abortions."
— George W. Bush, Dallas Morning News, 10/22/94

"On the issue of evolution, the verdict is still out on how God created the Earth."
— President George W. Bush

"After all, religion has been around longer than Darwinism."
— George W. Bush, "Running on his Faith" US News & World Report, 12/12/99

"Well, I – first of all, I would never justify – I would never use God to promote policy decisions."
— President George W. Bush, to Brit Hume, in an interview on 9/22/03

"I trust God speaks through me.  Without that, I couldn't do my job."
— President George W. Bush, to Amish farmers, 7/15/04

"You know, he is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength.  There is a higher father that I appeal to."
— President George W. Bush, to Bob Woodward, about his father, and God

"God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.  If you help me, I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."
— President George W. Bush, speaking to the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, June, 2003

The Politics of Ignorance by Sam Harris

---

* * * Humor * * * Once again, God speaks thru a bush. Question: What's the difference between Viet Nam and Iraq? Answer: Bush had a plan to get out of Viet Nam.

Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address both came on the same day in 2005.  As Air America Radio pointed out, it is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication and the other involves a groundhog.