Jurgen, I am a working guy myself, (and a lazy student as well, so I feel a kinship w/ Bush there), but I do believe that the most powerful political leader in the world has to be a bit more than just a "regular guy". And within the Executive Branch, no person or group of persons, (such as the cabinet), has ANY authority over the President's final say. They are all advisors to him or wield authority at the President's convienience, ie. he can fire them but not vice versa.
Furthermore, although our 3 branches are supposed to be a system of checks and balances, (avoiding too much of a concentration of power in the Executive Branch), in reality since the terrible events of Sept. 11 the President has seen basically no resistance within the government to enacting sweeping measures all sold under the heading of increasing security. Or to this war against Iraq, which would normally be beyond the President's authority to wage w/o the backing of NATO and the U.N.
I believe that our government has gone into the "fear business", using people's fear of terrorist attacks to enact odious legislation curtailing civil rights, (forgetting the number of people who have died fighting for those very rights), and to sell a war that will only cause further terrorism, and bankrupt the economy for a generation. Forget ideology for a minute, just as a pragmatist I do not think that this war will work to accomplish what it sets out to do, "make the world a safer place". That is my opinion, and the opinion of many people much better informed than me, (not lazy students).
