George W. Bush is a moron, and there is no 'grey matter' there (idea)

Ad hominem: toward the man. Such attacks seem a general waste and poor tactics. For those out there who do not like George W. Bush, hey, keep those flags of discontent flying. I would offer this advice: If the President's policies succeed in the next four years, then your cries of stupidity will seem like sour grapes. If his policies fail, people will happily vote him out of office on that score. It therefore seems counterproductive to adopt this strategy.

I suspect that those interested in the stupidity argument have not examined Al Gore's academic record particularly closely. In any event, I will not jump into that minefield, save to say that Gore's SAT scores were only 10 points better than my own and that (presumably) you will not think this sole figure an adequate basis for preferring me as President to W.

Is the "best man" ever elected to public office? Political theorists, following Plato's (well, we can't be sure they're really Socrates' words, can we?) thought would argue that those most qualified to serve tend to have no interest in serving, and even a casual observer of history can find numerous examples of this. So this argument really holds no water.

The original author of the lead writeup here does, in fact, take issue with two areas of W's policy, though only in the broadest possible strokes. Here are some of my thoughts on the matters raised:

• Russia: There has clearly not been time for the President to undo all that has been done in the past decade. Presumably (and I say this because none is offered), the argument is that America's insistence on building a national missile defense or NMD has done irreparable harm to our relations. This is to ignore the fact that, while Russia has opposed W's plan, they have conceded the point that a limited ABM shield may be possible and valuable to implement.
• Kyoto Protocol: W has, in fact, said that he would not, in his capacity as executive implement the provisions of this treaty. He is not doing anything radical here, as the US Senate--the body charged with ratifying treaties--defeated the measure when it was brought to a vote. Seen in this context, Bush's decision seems a logical extension of prior legislative action.

Once again, if you are interested in seeing W out of office, I have to believe that cogent attacks on his policy stances will be, in the long run, more productive than simply telling us that you feel he's stupid. And if you feel like trumpeting that anyway, at least do us the favor of attempting to document it.

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I have chosen to respond to the original author via the chatterbox to prevent this from becoming a morass of replies. I will, however, say that the fact that I took issue with the content of the author's WU and provided a point-by-point counterargument does not imply that I am ignorant of the facts. "Regardless of the actual issues" indeed.