It’s true that in this country, anyone can become president. Just look at whom we’ve got. Don’t we all know likable, cute guys like President Bush? Aren’t most of us likable and cute? But most of us recognize that likable and cute don’t qualify us for top national leadership.

Bush has one, no, two things, that most of us likable, cute people don’t: money and connections. So, he ran for president.

But that doesn’t mean he’s any good at being president. And he isn’t any good at it. He was just pathetic at his news conference Tuesday night, falling back on a few rote lines whenever pressed by the press.

He said more than once that if he’d had an “inkling” that the Sept. 11 attacks were going to occur, he would have “moved heaven and Earth” to prevent them.

“An inkling,” he said. Not a detailed letter from bin Laden telling him where, when and how. “An inkling.”

He did have an inkling. He had warnings of al-Qaida seeking to use hijacked airplanes, and he had notification that bin Laden intended to attack us from within. That adds up to an “inkling.” I see no evidence that he moved heaven and Earth to prevent anything.

I felt sorry for the man as I listened to his press conference. He can’t defend himself, and truthfully, he shouldn’t have to because he’s just a likable, cute, moneyed, connection-rich guy who should never have become president.
Deborah L. Hardy, Windham

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