'Just World News' with Helena Cobban

60 percent disapproval of Bush

Oh yes! Today, the WaPo reported that its latest poll had the US public disapproving of the President's performance in office by 60 percent to 39 percent.

Plus, this:

several pillars of Bush's presidency have begun to crumble under the combined weight of events and White House mistakes. Bush's approval ratings have been in decline for months, but on issues of personal trust, honesty and values, Bush has suffered some of his most notable declines. Moreover, Bush has always retained majority support on his handling of the U.S. campaign against terrorism -- until now, when 51 percent have registered disapproval.

The CIA leak case has apparently contributed to a withering decline in how Americans view Bush personally. The survey found that 40 percent now view him as honest and trustworthy -- a 13 percentage point drop in the past 18 months. Nearly 6 in 10 -- 58 percent -- said they have doubts about Bush's honesty, the first time in his presidency that more than half the country has questioned his personal integrity.

And on Iraq, this:

Iraq remains a significant drag on Bush's presidency, with dissatisfaction over the situation there continuing to grow and with suspicion rising over whether administration officials misled the country in the run-up to the invasion more than two years ago.

Nearly two-thirds disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation there, while barely a third approve, a new low. Six in 10 now believe the United States was wrong to invade Iraq, a seven-point increase in just over two months, with almost half the country saying they strongly believe it was wrong.

About 3 in 4 -- 73 percent -- say there have been an unacceptable level of casualties in Iraq. More than half -- 52 percent -- say the war with Iraq has not contributed to the long-term security of the United States.

The same percentage -- 52 percent -- says the United States should keep its military forces in Iraq until civil order is restored, and only about 1 in 5 -- 18 percent -- say the United States should withdraw its forces immediately. In the week after U.S. deaths in Iraq passed the 2,000 mark, a majority of those surveyed -- 55 percent -- said the United States is not making significant progress toward stabilizing the country.

... Yesterday, here in Charlottesville, we moved to our "winter schedule" for the weekly peace vigils. Once the country comes off summer time it gets dark that much earlier in the evening. So for visibility and safety we shift the vigil to 4:30 p.m. through 5:30 p.m. In summer it's 5 through 6.

Whenever we make our twice-yearly shift, we catch the attention of a bunch of regular rush-hour drivers who haven't seen us there for a while. Yesterday, it was the 4:30 through 5 p.m. drivers who hadn't seen us since spring. They seemed delighted to see us there again. Many gave prolonged honks of support or let rip with little riffs on toot-too-too-toot-toot-- toot-toot!

Our honk rate has definitely gone up a lot since April.

It was the end of a beautiful, balmy afternoon. In the nearby, pedestrianized downtown area many townspeople were just hanging out, enjoying the Indian summer sunshine. A crowd of black teens were slouching around outside Christian's Pizza, trading jokes. The street-traders in Central Place-- a large proportion of whom are Tibetan immigrants-- chatted among themselves quietly as their bright piles of winter scarves and hats sat unsold. A couple of moms with small kids wandered out of the new Italian gelateria licking on large waffle-cones. A few dry yellow leaves drifted down from the trees.

Peace is so amazing, and most people who enjoy it don't even realize that!

Personally, I'm really delighted that-- in the midst of all the campaigns of fear- and hate-mongering that the pro-war folks have been continuing, 18 percent of Americans now, according to that waPo poll, support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Wow. Those people, it seems to me, see completely through all the many arguments produced by the "oh, we have to stay there to make things better" crowd and all the "Pottery Barn Rules" folks.

During the peace vigil, my friend Heather said, "Oh I can't believe we might be here this time next year, as well." Well yes, Heather, quite likely we will be. But I venture to suggest that our little vigil-- and all the other things people in the peace movement have done over the past four years-- has actually made a difference. It's kind of good to feel that way... even if we still have a long way to go, an additional 82 percent of Americans to persuade...