The Rant

From the New York Times New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JANET ELDER Published: March 3, 2005 mericans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. The poll underscores just how little headway Mr. Bush has made in his effort to build popular support as his proposal for overhauling Social Security struggles to gain footing in Congress. At the same time, there has been an increase in respondents who say that efforts to restore order in Iraq are going well, even as an overwhelming number of Americans say Mr. Bush has no clear plan for getting out of Iraq. On Social Security, 51 percent said permitting individuals to invest part of their Social S...

What's going on in Lebannon appears to be home grown. As such, democracy seems to have a better chance to take hold. Grudgingly, perhaps some credit goes to the Bush Administration. However, it may be interesting to compare it's progress in Lebannon and Iraq. The news media is comparing Lebannon to the Ukraine, or even the fall of the Soviet Union. But the fact that these were popular uprisings may be the difference with an Iraq comparison.