What We Think Americans Fear the Most and What Republicans Should Fear the Most

Why are President Bush's approval ratings dropping so much? We think we might know.

We are not "in the know," so what we write is a mix of speculation and opinion, but we have been around life's blocks quite a few times and we introspect rather well. We suspect that what goes through our psyches might well be going through Mr. and Mrs. America's psyches as well. If so, the Republicans have much to be concerned about, just as the rest of Americans have, regardless of political party affiliation.

The president's poll numbers are driven overwhelmingly by the status of the Iraq situation. Most people view that situation as deteriorating for us, that America is flinging young men and women as well as treasure into an abyss and getting nowhere doing it. Vermin, also called "insurgents" for some reason, flood into Iraq from Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Most seem to be trained, armed, and staged in Syria, whether they are Sunni or Shiite Muslims. They pour over the borders as though riding flying carpets. Vast sums of money come with them, all from the same places already mentioned.

Absolutely nothing effective ever gets done to control the borders and the influx of bad guys. In fact, little gets mentioned about the border problem by the President, the Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of State. Our national border with Mexico mirrors this situation exactly. Republican legislators in the main act like a ward full of mental retardates who are unable to grasp any of the border problem at home or in Iraq.

Back in Iraq, USA military personnel seem to be sent forward as ritual sacrifices. It is as though our course is to keep feeding "insurgents" personnel slightly faster than they can kill and maim them. Occasionally these brave military personnel go on hunt and kill forays, which always seem successful, but results never endure--there never seems to be any forethought or plan to cause results to endure. Militarily, we seem to be bailing out a boat with a hole in the bottom, using a bucket with a hole in it as well. The mighty might of the USA never receives a call, and no one ever seems aware among military and civilian leaders that we have overwhelming might, the use of which could change this "war" in our favor.

We even permit the Iraqis to dare to consider an Islamic state, run by sharia law.

Hey, man, they struck deals, didn't they? They got a constitution, and one constitution is as good as another, ain't it? The important thing is meeting that deadline, not what is on some pieces of paper. Right?

Well, that is how it seems to us out here in fly-over country. We read, watch news, and think. We know people, and we don't have need for "Beltway logic" because it is imperative to us to know that 2 + 2 = 4, and not some agreed upon Beltware alternative.

We also see that Republicans seem to be engaged in multiple, recurring "circle jerks," while President Bush seems detached. There is no Republican leadership worthy of post-911 America. And, the President seems to have no fire in his belly nor any rage about what is happening. He won't even discuss border transgressions into America per se, and he seems equally unconcerned about the border situation in Iraq. He gives speeches constructed to give the illusion that he is on top of this "war," but he seems so distant. He won't even dare to name the enemy nor identify what this war is really about.

What we feel is an uneasiness, a growing apprehension that President Bush is becoming incompetent to deal with the two biggest concerns facing America: our own borders and the war in Iraq. That is pretty harsh, admittedly, but, you know, that is what we, and we suspect that other Americans, are thinking and are fearing the most. We think this is what is driving the presidential approvals so low.

We need a president fired up to make things happen, not to be content to delegate to armchair generals and bungling bureaucrats. Frankly, at this point, we would love to see President Bush fire some generals and his Secretary of Defense. If he won't light off his own boilers, then he ought to step aside to let Dick Cheney run the war and the border situation.

President Bush can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but he has very little time to do it, and he had better train all resources on a blitzkrieg approach. If he catches fire, then his poll numbers will climb into the high approval. Americans must come again to believe that Bush is leading and do so strongly. Right now, we think that Americans are wondering about presidential incompetence.

That sense gets bolstered by the sagging performances and words of tired old men and women in the cabinet and a bunch of peacetime generals who can maneuver within the Pentagon and the Beltway, but not victory on the battlefield. Republicans had better face this growing apprehension in Americans. If they don't, they will die by their own hands in the 2006 and 2008 elections and become the minority party for decades to come.

Much more important, Americans need to stop dying and being maimed in vain in Iraq while ne'er-do-wells like Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia get away scot-free. The same goes for those suffering the invasion from Mexico. We need bullets and balls, not bureaucracy.