Kevin Drum is depressed. Why? Well, because Bush and company are destroying our utopia, of course.

I'm afraid that there are days when I just can't stand to watch any longer as the Republican party continues its ceaseless, step-by-step quest to destroy a great country and a decent society, and today is one of those days.

I consider myself independent, so guess what? I can actually look at the Bush administration and pick five policies I approve of and five I think suck. Ah, the merits of an objective mind!

Here's a sampling:

Leadership following 9/11: Good
Afghanistan: Good (actually, initial action good, rebuiling mixed)
Iraq: Good (ditto Afghanistan)
Homeland Security: Good
North Korea: Good
Choice of Secretary of State: Good

Israel/Palestine: Bad in retrospect (but getting better)
Missile Defense: Bad
Faith-based Government Spending: Very Bad
Tax Cuts: Would have been good 10 years ago, right now Bad
Stem Cell research: Bad
Choice of Attorney General: Bad

In fact, from his corporate entanglements to his general demeanor, there are lots of things I don't like much about Bush. But if elections were held today, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat, because I think he's done more substantively to deal with potential terrorist threats and actually begin real reform of the dysfunctional Middle East than any President before him, and that trumps nearly any other issue at this point in our history.

Unlike Kevin, I don't think the Republicans are out to destroy our nation, or are doing so inadvertantly.

I'll tell you what depresses me, though...overblown partisanship at the expense of common sense.