Great commentary by Mark Shields

Mark Shields is more than a bit more liberal ("to the left") than I am, but he gets it absolutely correct in this good opinion piece.

I am a "fiscal conservative": I don't believe in large government expenditures in anything but education, defense (but to not use our armed forces in foolish ways), maintaining roads, etc. I voted for Bush in 2000 but I now feel that he is clearly the worst president that the U.S. has had in my lifetime. No one even comes close to both his failed policies that damage our country everyday and his thouroughness in protecting his own privacy but eagerness to strip away privacy and civil liberties of U.S. citizens. He gets away with it the way that corrupt elite-backed rulers have throughout history: dehumanize desired adversaries and do everything that you can to scare your own population instead of making them feel secure like a good leader tries to do. Think of Winston Churchill: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Now think how the radical neoconservatives who seem to have hijacked our government do everything that they can to scare people in order to get away with spoiling what our great country stands for.

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