Criticism of George W. Bush

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George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States of America, has drawn significant domestic and international criticism since his election in 2000. His level of popular support has varied widely, from the highest ever recorded by The Gallup Organization at 90 percent to among the lowest for any sitting President. Currently, most major polling outlets have his approval ratings in the 30s, rivaling Richard Nixon's unpopularity at the time of the Watergate scandal. His opponents have criticized his role in the controversial 2000 election, his way of fighting the War on Terrorism, his support for the USA PATRIOT Act and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, among many other acts and issues along the way.

The magazine TIME named Bush as its Person of the Year for 2000 and for 2004. This award is traditionally given to the person considered by the editors to be the most important news maker of the year.^{[citation needed]}

Some of Bush's opponents use a term previously ascribed to his father, "bushism", to describe Bush's colorful mistakes when speaking. Bushisms have been widely popularized and archived across the Internet due to their often humorous nature. In addition, he is often called "Dubya", a stereotypical Texan pronunciation of the letter "W" which is Bush's middle initial, by both supporters and opponents.

Contents 1 Domestic criticism 1.1 Hurricane Katrina 1.2 Intellectual capacity 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Domestic criticism

The President has been forced to increasingly defend his actions on many fronts and has been unable to generate widespread support among the nation as a whole.^[1] An example of the general displeasure and extent to which many Americans have lost respect and confidence in the President lies in his recent election as the "Biggest Tool of 2006" in an online poll created by Comedy Central.^[2]. Though it is not by any definition the most dependable source for truth, it does give a small amount of insight into the attitudes many* people have towards the President, and as such should be given some consideration.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

Main article: Criticism of government response to Hurricane Katrina

The President would come under more criticism when the powerful category 5 Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region in the early hours of August 30, 2005. In the wake of the hurricane, two levees protecting New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain collapsed, leading to widespread flooding. In the aftermath of this disaster, thousands of city residents, unable or unwilling to evacuate prior to the hurricane, became stranded with little or no relief for several days, resulting in lawless and unsanitary conditions in some areas. Blame for inept disaster response was partially attributed to state and local authorities, but public outcry in the disaster's early hours was largely directed at the Bush administration, mainly FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security alleging weak crisis management and coordination. Rapper Kanye West said in a relief fund raise concert that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," alleging that Bush did not do anything to help because most of the victims were black.

The criticism led to the resignation of FEMA director Michael Brown, and eventually, Bush himself accepted personal responsibility for what he deemed, "serious problems in the federal government's response" in a September 15, 2005 press conference. Currently, the administration is investigating itself, yet several politicians have called for either congressional or independent investigations, claiming that the Executive Branch cannot satisfactorily investigate itself. ^[3][4][5][6]

[edit] Intellectual capacity

From time to time, Bush's intellectual capacities have been questioned by both Republican and Democratic media^[7] and other politicians, including a spokesperson of Tony Blair,^[8] making it even the subject of the widespread U.S. Presidents IQ hoax.^[9] However, a 2006 historiometric study published in the scientific journal Political Psychology, comparing the IQs of all US presidents since 1900, rated him second last, with an estimated IQ between 111.1 and 138.5, and mean of 120 (which still is well above average).^[10] In an interview, it was noted by the study's director that "Bush may be 'much smarter' than the findings imply" but that he "scores particularly unimpressively for 'openness to experience, a cognitive proclivity that encompasses unusual receptiveness to fantasy, aesthetics, actions, ideas and values.'" Still, the author concluded that Bush "is definitely intelligent ... certainly smart enough to be president of the United States".^[11] Other estimates of his IQ have been based on his SAT score of 1206 (566 for verbal and 640 for math),^[12] which would equal an IQ of around 125-129.^[13][14] No official IQ data for George Bush are available, however.^[15]

Much of the criticism of Bush's intelligence is in response to the various linguistic errors he has made during his public speeches.^[16] The term "Bushism" has become a popular catch phrase to describe these occurrences.

Bush's habit of the mispronunciation and misuse of words has received much ridicule in the media and in popular culture. Even as early as the 2000 presidential debates, this was the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch (see "Strategery").^[17] Perhaps his most famous mispronunciation is that of "nucular" instead of "nuclear" when referring to nuclear weapons — however, he is by no means the only American president to do this. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton have all used some mispronunciation of the word.^[18]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "The Worst President in History?", 2006 Rolling Stone article by Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz
• "Faux Pas"