Column: Call Bush what you want, but don't call him evil

George W. Bush has finally convinced liberals that he's not an idiot.Problem is, they've now decided he's a devious tyrant.

During his visit to England last week, thousands marched the streets of London with blood-stained signs reading "A killer comes to town" and "World's #1 Terrorist." They died the water in the Trafalgar Square fountain red and took down a Bush statue.

On Oct. 28, a columnist for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian said this: "Dubya is one of the single most evil men roaming free right now, a man whose deviousness and maliciousness is equaled by only a few. Bush is a creature on the same level as bin Laden or, more appropriately, Hitler."

And it isn't just the far left. The President is assaulted daily by mainstream Democratic politicians.

John Kerry and Dick Gephardt have used war allusions to attack Bush. Kerry said that "we need a regime change in America," while Gephardt accused Bush of having "declared war on the American people." Ted Kennedy gave this evaluation of war with Iraq: "This was made up in Texas... this whole thing was a fraud."

And as for Howard Dean, he has risen from complete obscurity to the front running and best funded Democratic candidate by angrily railing against "Bush and his cronies" daily.

Today's climate of burning leftist hatred is a far cry from two years ago, when the President enjoyed an 89 percent approval rating and respect across the spectrum. A shoo-in for reelection then, he now polls around percent. And as even his biggest supporters often admit, Bush has in fact fueled some of the fires against him through a series of actions that liberals consider offensive. Here are four:

1) The Patriot Act. Though it passed the Senate 98-1, the Patriot Act has now become synonymous with egregious civil liberties violations. The President, however, brushes off suggestions that it was too sweeping a piece of legislation.

Bush won't repeal the Patriot Act, they say, because he desires the power. He won't stop cutting taxes, they claim, because he wants his rich friends to get richer. He invaded Iraq, it continues, because he didn't care about casualties and knew he could get what he wanted. And he didn't assign Iraq's oil to another corporation because he wanted Halliburton to get the payout.

There it is--the liberal argument of today. "Bush" (spitefully enunciated), is doing things which he and his "crony" Karl Rove know are endangering his chances at reelection because they're just that tyrannical, greedy and corrupt.

Sound logical? Compare it to this theory:

President Bush is a deeply principled man who realized after 9/11 that he holds an awesome responsibility to look out for Americans. He believes that law enforcement needs the Patriot Act to prevent terrorist attacks. He saw Saddam Hussein as a grave threat to national security. He agreed with experts who said that Halliburton was uniquely qualified to handle Iraq's oil. And he holds the economic ideology that tax cuts improve economies and create jobs. He therefore unequivocally supports the Patriot Act, military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and tax cuts.

On Sept. 20, 2001, in his "axis of evil" speech, the President addressed Congress and outlined this very strategy of governing. He received thunderous applause. For two years, he has held to the plan. Liberals, meanwhile, have changed their minds and stopped applauding. Call the President inflexible or wrongheaded. But don't call him evil. If he isn't reelected, it's for one reason--he stuck to his guns.

Nathan Carleton is a Trinity junior. His column appears every other Tuesday.