Surely the legacy of a President far outlives any of the others. The most memorable quotes in our history have been coined by Presidents: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," or "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for our country," or even "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

The President's power reaches far beyond our borders and affects economies worldwide. American Presidents have done great things such as the establishment of the United Nations; the Geneva Convention Treaty, which established laws of warfare; and domestically, Social Security entitlements for our seniors.

Since 2000, the face of America has been George W. Bush. In the last six and a half years, more damage has been done to America than anyone could have imagined. Aside from leading our country to war under false pretenses (and denouncing the pacifists as unpatriotic), Bush has established secret CIA prisons overseas, abolished habeas corpus for anyone deemed an "enemy combatant," and ignored the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), by conducting warrantless wiretaps on domestic as well as foreign conversations.

So when Bush talks about human rights violations, the world sees us as hypocritical, just like our leader. What better forum to show off that hypocrisy than at the annual U.N. General Assembly Meeting in New York? Bush managed to criticize four countries that were seated right before him in the first five minutes of his speech, but the kicker is that he announced economic sanctions against Myanmar, a country in southeastern Asia, between Bangladesh and Laos.

The existence of this country might come as a surprise to most Americans, so here is a quick synopsis. Formerly known as Burma, this country was part of the British Empire in the 1800s. After pushing out the Brits during World War II, the government became a fascist military regime that has outlawed opposition and crushed rebellion. Their concern for human rights makes a job in China look appealing, so it is just to sanction their government, right?

Dick Cheney's little problem child of Halliburton rears its head again.

Halliburton has been doing business with the government of Myanmar since 1990, and has two key oil pipelines running through the country. Soldiers for the regime guard the pipelines heavily, and the land has been destroyed by the environmental hazards of oil drilling. Does this sound familiar? This is exactly what happened in Afghanistan, pipelines, oppressive regime and all.

So when our President talks about freedom and democracy around the world, other countries are naturally going to be skeptical. If Bush thinks these regimes are so horrible, then why are his top men doing business with them? True leaders do what's right for their nation, not what's good for their wallet.

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