I'm giving him 5 stars because of his appointments to the Supreme Court. This is what he has done best. But he's been a big disappointment to a conservative like me, in growing the government even larger than it already was. When it comes to over-taxation, over-regulation and an over-reaching government, I don't feel that I have a political party I can identify with.

What turns presidential cronyism into something deeply concerning is when such favoritism leads to the appointments of seriously underqualified candidates in the most important roles in America.

The two most painfully obvious examples of sorely underqualified Bush picks would be Michael Brown leading FEMA, and Harriet Miers nomination as Supreme Court Justice.

Bush's other appointments lean strongly toward longtime loyalists, showing a strong distrust in empowering highly qualified unknowns that may second guess his decision making, either publicly or privately.

Probably the most corrupt regime since Nixon's. It seems these days that a new scandal breaks every week. Hard to keep up with them.

Unfortunately, we have a president who surrounds himself with people who say only what he wants to hear. Anybody, such as Powell, who expresses even a slight amount of independence, is gone.

Mixed bag. Lefties shake their fists at the sky railing about cronyism and nepotism but he has surrounded himself with mostly capable, knowledgeable, tough-skinned professionals (Mike Brown notwithstanding) and they have done a capable job. I was almost ready to forget about Harriet Miers . . . which no republican should ever do.