January 28, 2003


Credibility problem
"George W Bush is in trouble. This is not wishful thinking by Europeans who cannot abide a man they see as a trigger-happy, unilateralist half-wit. It is an assessment of the 43rd president's standing at home, on the day he delivers what is surely one of the most important State of the Union messages in modern times." - the Independant.

"We can be sure that some pundits will acclaim the speech as bold and brilliant; they would do that if he read from The Very Hungry Caterpillar." - Paul Krugman.

"Perhaps all these powerful people just think we're stupid. This seemed to be the belief last Wednesday, when the president pitched his latest economic stimulus for the wealthy while standing in front of a painted facade of "Made in the USA" boxes in a room where the words "Made in China" on hundreds of real boxes had been taped over by presidential volunteers." - Robert Scheer.

"Americans have a word for men like George W Bush and Dick Cheney. In the parlance of Vietnam veterans Mr Bush and his vice-president are "chickenhawks", men who dodged the draft and now cheerfully dispatch young Americans to war. Not without irony they note that the most hawkish and bellicose government in living memory is filled with men who never saw battle themselves. Of the senior members of the US administration, Colin Powell, the secretary of state, is the single exception." - the Glasgow Herald.


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