Imagine the right-wing policies of the Bush administration in a second term when voters can no longer force them out. Our self-proclaimed "war president" would view re-election as a mandate to invade North Korea and Iran. Bush would reinstate the draft and invoke a second USA Patriot Act, allowing for the inspection of mail and e-mail and eavesdropping on phone conversations.

Anticipate further economic policies to benefit the rich. Additional tax cuts for the wealthy would call for a drastic cut in Social Security and an ever-growing deficit. Bush would focus on eliminating taxes on unearned income as he pushed us toward a flat tax. Corporations would rule at the expense of worker and environmental rights.

The checks and balances in our democratic system will disappear if the radical right is set loose. Extreme Supreme Court justices would be nominated who would remove the barrier between church and state. The Federal Communications Commission would allow three or four media empires (with ties to the Republican Party) to consolidate, thus slanting the news and monopolizing the media.

Let Bush's first term be his last.

Bob Bird
Holland resident