With the upcoming elections, there seems to be talk all over the place about the 2004 candidates. A staunch conservative myself, I am quite fond of George W. Bush and what he stands for. To some, that comment resembles admission to Satan-worship. I am sick of the depths people must stoop to find something wrong with Bush.

The first accusation a liberal makes toward Bush is the idiocy of his quest to find the WMDs as an excuse for his early plunge into war with Iraq.

To begin with, Saddam Hussein defied 17 U.N. Security Council resolutions within 12 years and did not meet the expectations of the international community upon the end of the Gulf War in 1991. He had been warned time and again and was under close supervision during the Clinton administration. When Sept. 11 occurred, it placed a new light on the entire situation. Saddam Hussein’s regime used a combination of nerve agents, mustard gas and conventional munitions to kill 5,000 innocent Iraqi civilians in the town of Halabja in March 1988. These weapons gave him leverage as the leader in Iraq by instilling fear in his people. In addition, Bush and his administration had intelligence regarding the presence of laboratories and equipment owned by the Iraqi government used specifically for the WMDs. With these facts, and Hussein’s track record, what was Bush supposed to do?

This was a lose-lose situation for Bush. If he failed to take action, and something horrible were to happen again, it would be on his shoulders. If he took drastic action by going to war over it, he would be wrong because of all the implications. Bush had a hard decision to make, and to me, he made the correct one. He had intelligence, he had the shady past of Saddam Hussein; he had the turmoil and panic of Sept. 11 looking over his shoulder. Perhaps people would have Bush wait another 12 years for this dangerous man to comply.

The next hot-button issue is gay marriage. First of all, I cannot believe for one moment that Bush’s actions to amend the Constitution is to gain support and media attention. This situation has only made people think he is intolerant of the gay community.

Bush is a man of principal, and would not let this issue slide. Nobody can say that this issue is simple. If Bush played the game of politics, he would ride the fence on this sticky issue — but Bush is not your typical politician. He is a man who boldly stands for what he and many other Americans believe. He will lose votes over this issue, not gain them. He has earned that much more of my respect for taking a stand.

Bush has had to make some of the hardest decisions of any modern president. The least people can do is stop bickering and think about that for one moment. The man is not evil, and he is not making an effort to discriminate against people or put our nation in a dangerous situation in the Middle East. He is simply trying to lead our country the best way he sees fit.

Ashley Earnest is a junior accounting major from Houston.