The President has intimated that the news media are responsible for his low ratings because they state only the negative about the Iraq war. In a series of speeches this week, including the televised news conference on Tuesday, March 21, 2006, Mr. Bush and his supporters have repeatedly slammed the news media.

First, I will state the obvious.

The news media are not to blame for the drop in Mr. Bush’s ratings in public polls. Why? Because, the news media must report independently of all social, political, and religious institutions, including their own. Additionally, like the general population of the United States, the members of that particular estate cannot help but have various ideological positions. They will report as they observe and understand the events taking place around them based on these positions. For instance, it is implicit that FOX News will defend the right wing Republican position rabidly, while CNN will typically favor Democratic ideology.

Second, there are authentic reasons for Mr. Bush’s drop in ratings, the most important of which is that the Neo-con six-month Iraq war has entered its 4th year! Moreover, there are many other not so minor reasons for the President’s drop in popularity, including the mundane – “Damn, he just keeps saying the same thing over and over again.” (Where have I heard that line before?) Seriously, centrist, dare I say “old fashioned” Republicans and right leaning Democrats worry about Mr. Bush’s close ties to evangelical Christian divisiveness and prejudice. Liberal Christians fear that - Jesus Christ’s and the New Testament’s message of tolerance and love to all people - is being overcome by the evangelical message of intolerance. Many women worry that they will become second class citizens, no longer in charge of their lives because Roe versus Wade may be struck down by a supreme court made ultra-conservative by the President’s new appointees. Many Gulf coast citizens find no hope of rebuilding their hurricane-destroyed homes, as government bureaucracy (FEMA), the current administration, this Republican congress and middle-class America seem to have abandoned them. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Americans fear that we will be made into second class citizens by the proposed 28th Amendment to the constitution that comes to a Senate vote in June. The third estate American, white-collar and blue-collar workers, fear unemployment because jobs are out-sourced, and companies sold to foreign interests. Thus, it’s not only because of the Iraq war that Mr. Bush’s popularity has fallen so precipitously. It’s also because, one at a time, Americans find that they may no longer have a place at the table.

Never the less, the Iraq war, and the ancillary energy concerns are Mr. Bush’s biggest problem, and he has mistakenly squandered his presidency on them.

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