Bush critics, then and now

To the editor:

To a Bush hater, these surely must be confusing days. They now put forth completely opposite mantras than just five years ago.

Then: Bush was stupid, not capable of running on a treadmill. Now: Bush is so brilliant that he tricked the nation, including the brilliant Democrats in Congress, into going to war and re-electing him.

Then: The judge who found President Clinton guilty of perjury resulting in his being disbarred was a political hack. Now: Tom DeLay has been accused of crimes by a political prosecutor that helped fund Delay's opponent -- build the gallows.

Then: James Traficant was indicted, tried, convicted, imprisoned and expelled from the U.S. House on July 24, 2002, for 10 counts of bribery and racketeering; Oops. He made some bad choices. Now: Randy Cunningham pleaded guilty and resigned because of similar charges, so hang him and anyone who has ever met him.

Then: We'll need 10,000 body bags in the first month if we try to invade Iraq (whose people are too stupid to hold elections). Now: Civil war has broken out in Iraq without Saddam, their free elections won't stand up, and we should quit fighting and dishonor the 2,000-plus American soldiers who died there.

Then: We must keep the terrorists from attacking the U.S. again, so give me your nail clippers before you get on the plane. Now: We can't fight the terrorists there, because we'll make them mad and they will come here.

Wow, confusing days indeed.

JOHN MITCHELL, Jackson