Photo courtesy of Chris Seward/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT

Hurricane Bush - Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour, left, presents President George Bush with a Hurricanes sweater with the president's name on it during a ceremony held in the East Room of the White House Feb. 2.

   Despite President Bush’s uncanny ability to mismanage, pervert and just generally screw up everything America stands for, 32 percent of the population still approves of the job he’s doing. How much more damage to America would the president need to do to actually lose the support of that “steadfast” 32 percent? Is it even possible? Perhaps they remain devoted to “staying the course.” How admirable. 

   This means 32 percent of roughly 300 million people still for some reason support the president. That’s a lot of people to support someone who’s spent the last six years war-mongering, among a number of other unsavory things. As of late, I’ve been pondering why these people still support the president, and I finally came to a conclusion. But before I get to that, let’s examine why it’s so shocking to me that anyone still approves of the job he’s doing. 

   The chief reason would obviously be the Iraq war. Since I refuse to focus on the past, let’s forget for a moment about the lack of WMDs and the “mission accomplished” fiasco and instead focus on what needs to be done right now, which is for the troops to be pulled out. I know only a radical person would suggest pulling out of a war after the death of over 3,000 troops accompanied with minimal progress, but I can’t help it; I’m just crazy. 

   Of course, for a troop withdrawal to happen, the president would need to admit he made a mistake. Unfortunately, his ego takes precedence over the lives of the brave men and women fighting to secure Iraq. Take note of the fact that I say fighting to secure Iraq, not fighting for their country. I’m sure many people would die for their country, but would they die for Iraq? Would they sacrifice their life – or their child’s life – to force their style of government on another country where it may not even succeed?

   Quite a few people, even some who do not support the president, still think we need to stick around Iraq a tad bit longer to see how much more violence we can attract. How many more Americans need to die before everyone realizes this war is a massive blunder – akin to Vietnam – that can only be remedied with a troop withdrawal? And by remedied, I mean the prevention of anymore unnecessary sacrificed Americans. Nothing can remedy Iraq but the people of Iraq. 

   The Iraqi people must decide for themselves whether or not they will take control of their country. Some seem to think if we stick around in Iraq long enough, the “insurgency” will eventually “die down.” That if we just “wait it out” eventually things will get better. Rest assured, this will never happen, and those who believe it will, live in a fairy tale land that I honestly wish I could tune into because I would be a much happier person. 

   As long as American troops occupy Iraq, it will be a hotbed for terrorism and violence. If troops still occupy the country ten years from now, they will simply be fighting another generation of “insurgency” in addition to the constant influx of terrorists from surrounding countries. Sending more troops only gives the terrorists more targets. It will never end. The idea that the “insurgency” is in its “final throes” is absurd. 

   Sadly enough, the Iraq war only scratches the surface of why I find it so shocking that people still support the president; it’s just the most important reason because it costs us over $1 billion a year and, more importantly, American lives. Sure, I could rant about how his handling of Hurricane Katrina made us look like a third-world country, or I could point out other screw-ups in relation to global warming, foreign oil, signing statements, etc. But if the loss of over 3,000 American lives doesn’t sway people's opinion, I doubt any of those issues will either. 

   This leads me to my conclusion: People who still support the president now will support him regardless. President Bush could grow horns and a tail, and it wouldn’t faze his “steadfast” 32. Using that theory, the president’s approval rating is actually zero percent since I refuse to acknowledge zombies.