It's been said by some people that I only slag on Republicans and the President for lies, corruption, damaging policies, etc. In the interest of fairness, here are some things that I think "The Left" and "Anti-Bush People" have been dead wrong on. In some cases, they still are. In no particular order:

"Bush Stole The Presidency"
Grow up. You don't have to like the person who won the election -- you don't even have to think that the election wais fair. But like it or not, tricky, terribly-close elections in our country are always going to be contentious. Bush became our President and it happened without a coup, without military conflict, without the various sides taking to the streets and looting or rioting. If anything, that's a comforting thought when we compare our country to various third world nations.

"Bush Knew 9/11 Was Coming"
It's one thing to argue that Bush's ideological prejudices left his administration looking one way while the threat came from another. It's another matter entirely to float dark conspiracy theories about Bush being complicit in 9/11 and using it to grab more power. It may be cathartic to rant about that stuff, but it's no more true and no more productive than conservatives in the 90's screaming that Clinton murdered Vince Foster.

"Bush Is In League With The Saudis"
While Cheney's connections to Enron are pretty direct and quite questionable, the Bush Family's financial ties to Saudi businesses are not, in my mind, compelling. There are a lot of conspiracy theories that can be floated, but this is pointless thrashing. Once you get into the world of international business and the military industrial complex, everything looks like a game of Six Degrees.

"Bush Is Trying To Create A Police State"
While I believe that his policies are laying the foundation for a future unscrupulous leader to sieze even MORE unconstitutional control, I do not believe that Bush is in any way trying to 'take over the country.'

"Bush Is Evil"
The policies the Bush Administration has advanced are damaging to our nation and our world. The Bush Administration, though, has never had a monopoly on that. Neither he nor his cabinet members are Evil Incarnate. Kerry, Bush, and other third and fourth party candidates are just people pursuing their agendas. None of them are Satan incarnate -- NONE of them -- and our nation, despite proclomations on both sides, will survive regardless of who's elected. Another four years of Bush may be frightening and frustrating for those I agree with politically, but the world has seen worse times and survived. Take a deep breath. Relax. Smell some flowers.

"Bush Fights Dirty."
Yes. Yes, he does. Karl Rove in particular is a right bastard, and I make no attempts to defend that. But fighting dirty is a tradition that goes back a long way, with both parties in our country. Where there's political power to be had, dirt will be thrown. Sadly, the legal, political, and social climate we're in makes that a very very effective way to win. The fact that Bush's campaign is able to utilize it effectively is bad, but not unique to him or to Republicans. (As a caveat, though, there is a difference between true, false, and deliberately misleading claims. Calling someone on their record is not an attack. Distorting their record, or deliberately lying about it, is.)