Letter: Bad news making worry-free facade of Bush crumble

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 8:47 a.m.

Sen. Hillary Clinton was accurate when she recently compared President Bush to Alfred E. Newman, the Mad magazine character whose response to every problem is, "What, me worry?"

So President Bush's three tax cuts have rocketed our national debt to $7.8 trillion, but, not to worry, he tells us, because one of these years we'll cut the annual deficit in half.

All the claims he made to Congress that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaida have proven to be false, but don't worry, he assures us, because we'll change the name of the war to "War for Enduring Freedom for the Iraqi People."

Polls show that most of the people of the world now detest the United States, but, he says, don't worry, that's the price we pay for trying to bring democracy to the world.

Illegal immigrants are now at 11 million and more are pouring over our borders every day, yet he again says, don't worry, because I'll set up a guest-worker program.

His response to every problem is a smiling face, the sort associated with Newman's and the thought that goes with it: What, me worry?

RICHARD J. MUNDY