Actually for a matter of fact, all the arms companies that Dick Cheney has investments in have made huge amounts of money off the war. The Iraq War was not about oil, it was about bloody securing more deals for arms companies.

War my friend is the biggest industry in the world. While your very poor soldiers, I genuinely pity them with all my heart, are being anally raped by the government, Dick Cheney is making a whole lot of money.

Oh and just for the reference, I met William Rodriquez a few weeks back and since then I've started to believe even more firmly that these attacks were planned.

It is true that Bush is not the sharpest tool in the shed. And it is also true that there are/were powerful people influencing, or even outright controlling, his decisions. Both Karl Rove (resigned due to various scandals and political heat) and Cheney had substantial influence over Bush's decisions throughout the adminstration.

These two men are as responsible for running the White House as Bush was. Ironically, Rove foresaw that going to Iraq would be an absolute mess, but both Cheney and Bush had a hard-on for more Middle Eastern escapades. The Rove always knows.

Well duh, they were planned! This was perhaps the biggest terrorist attack EVER. Are you saying the Bush Administration planned it? Were they behind the London and Madrid attacks as well? Oh curse them.

OMG, conspiracy people just make their respective political parties/idealogies look rather pitiful...

The one thing that really gets me is the double standard.  I would never mock Obama, because he deserves the respect of the office that he will control...

But, for arguements sake, if Obama were to be mocked and called "stupid" for only being able to answer questions on a teleprompter... or if he was at a press conference and a shoe was thrown at him, people would just be outraged and called racists if they dare made fun of him for it.

That's what bothers me really.  I hate double standards.

And I certainly have no respect people who disrespect our democratically elected leaders.  I don't mean that we have to agree with their decisions, I just think it's childish and low to act like toddlers and throw petty insults at them.  I mean really, how old are we? 

Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that no one in this forum personally knows Bush, so it's certainly not possible for anyone to truly know how smart the guy really is.  I've actually met him many times (back in my party days when he was elected the first time) and I thought he was a really bright and genuine guy.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think he is flawless by any means, and he's made many decisions that rubbed me the wrong way... but he's not "dumb" by any means.  He's very intelligent, he just not much of a political guy, and really doesn't speak well.

But then again, I don't speak well either, and my IQ is 167... a person's ability to speak well isn't neccesarily a gauge on their mental abilities (of course then again, I had some serious brain damage when I was young, so I have an excuse).

Either way, despite my differences with Bush, I just think it's disrespectful to insult someone the way he is insulted.  And I strongly feel the same way about Obama as well.  I truly believe in giving the presidency the respect that it deserves, even when someone disagrees with the executive branch's policies.  It's just a matter of basic respect really that we should show all human beings.

Very well put. I completely agree with you.

This is all well and good, but this person is RUNNING THE COUNTRY.  He should be held to a higher standard than EVERYONE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY.  This isn't like the special olympics.  We don't just give credit for people trying hard and have an "everyone gets a prize" mentality.

And yes, it does piss me off that he can't speak well, and it should piss everyone off.  This person is representing our entire nation and is the most visible person in our country.  If he sounds like a fucking idiot, how do you think that makes us look?  I don't understand why you are so willing to give him a free pass.  We shouldn't judge the President as we would judge anyone else, we should judge him using even stricter criteria.

People get offended when Bush is called a redneck, how is that any different than someone getting offended when someone insults Obama's race?  Its the end of Bush's term, anything good or bad he has done has pretty much already taken place.  Its not like we need to be supportive of him because he still has to run the country or something.

And if you don't believe me, ask the rest of the country.

CNN Poll: Three out of four Americans glad to see Bush go

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/26/cnn-poll-three-out-of-four-americans-glad-to-see-bush-go/

Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they're glad President Bush is going, with 23 percent indicating they'll miss him.

The three-quarters of Americans surveyed who say they won't miss Bush is 24 points higher than the 51 percent who said they wouldn't miss Bill Clinton when he left office in January 2001. Forty-five percent of those questioned at that time said they would miss Clinton.

I don't belive any of it really. But I do belive Iraq was a lie. Im from the UK myself and people on the street don't seem to care whats happening to our soldiers, only interest about thier own world and enjoyment. One thing I know the american people are paying the highest price with over 4k american soldiers dead and over 30k injured and the crysis at home with encomy, paying billions for a war when that money can be spend on health care, schools etc....

And how.  Wars are an economic nightmare.

You cannot compare the London or Madrid attacks to 9/11, they were nothing alike and were not on anything like the same scale.

I'm not exactly sure how much involvement they had but here is what I am sure of:

If they never actually carried out the attacks themselves, they certainly heavily supported the operation. I'm sorry but if you think weak guerilla groups in Afghanistan/Pakistan could ever plan such a complex attack on their own which such great success, then you a) heavily overrate them and b) Dont really know anything about those groups

Are you reading what I said at all?  I didn't say he shouldn't be held to higher standard, nor do I expect him to escape critisism either... hell I've been critical of MANY of his decisions.  But there is a huge difference between policy disagreement and petty insults.  I've heard him called a "moron", "dip shit", "retard", "dumb redneck", "Hitler" amongst other things.  That's not a difference of opinion, that's acting like a child to stoop to that level.  I hope I have made myself quite clear this time.

I expect more out of the president than I do my next door neighbor.  But, I wouldn't knock on my neighbors door and call him a eff'ing idiot because it's just disrespectful.  If I disagree with my neighbor, I express my opinion in an adult manner.  I'm not giving Bush a free pass by any means.  I could feel a 30-page post of things that has done that pissed me off... but I will never stoop to the level of kindergarten insults as so many people have.  People spoke at the polls by voting Obama in to the office, and that should be enough.

And as for your final comment of Obama, that is just further proof that you didn't read what I wrote. 

I am NOT an Obama supporter in the least bit, but despite this. I will show him the respect he deserves as MY elected president.  Will we disagree on policy?  Yes, probably all the time as a matter of fact.  But I refuse to ever insult the man or degrading him because that's not right for anyone.  Yes, I hold him to a higher standard than other people because he is the president, but I will not lower myself by treating him in an inhumane fashion.

Geez, I swear, I hate repeating myself, I really do.  Please read everything I write before responding to me.. PLEASE.