Posted on 07/29/2004 1:27:37 AM PDT by zarf
Edited on 07/30/2004 12:17:55 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
It happened again this morning. I saw a picture of our president—my president—and my feelings about him were instantly rekindled. The picture was taken after his speech to the graduating seniors at the Air Force Academy. He was wearing a dark suit, a light-blue tie, and a white shirt. His unsmiling visage was grim and purposeful, in pointed contrast to the face of the elaborately uniformed cadet standing next to him, which was lit up with a cocky grin. Indeed, as something more than a frozen moment—as a political statement—the picture might have served, and been intended to serve, as a tableau of the resolve necessary to lift this nation out of this steep and terrible time. The cadet represented the best of what America has to offer, all devil-may-care enthusiasm and willingness to serve. The president, his hair starting to whiten, might have represented something even more essential: the kind of brave and, in his case, literally unblinking leadership that generates enough moral capital to summon the young to war. Although one man was essentially being asked to stake his life on the wisdom of the other, both were melded in an attitude of common purpose, and so both struck a common pose. With the cadet bent slightly forward and the commander in chief leaning slightly back, each man cocked his right arm and made a muscle. They flexed! I didn't know anything about the cadet. About President George W. Bush, though, I felt the satisfaction of absolute certainty, and so uttered the words as essential to my morning as my cup of Kenyan and my dose of high-minded outrage on the editorial page of the Times : "What an asshole."
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bump for later!
What a well-written column. Thank you very much for posting it.
I WILL NEVER FORGET the sickly smile that crossed the president's face when he asked us all to go shopping in the wake of 9/11.
People who object to the President saying "go shop," fail to realize how important it is for people to get out among other people, to exchange words and ideas, as well as exchange goods.
A good read, and a bump for others to read as well.
bttt
Already posted here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1180426/posts
Ping
I have to admit, at first I had to keep checking the top of the page thinking I had linked to DU.
Good read.
This is a really good article, because it shows extreme thoughtfulness, a willingness to have certain beliefs but yet able to see the argument of the other side not through the prejudice of one's own biases.
I wish the democrats who oppose Bush and the War in Iraq were all as thoughtful as this person, because then even if they are our ideological opponents, they'd be honorable opposition worthy of their place in a presidential contest representing their half of the great nation that is America.
It would be as two gallant knights participating in a chivalrous joust.
Instead we are left with the indignity of having to wrestle with hogs in the mud.
BUMP!!
Too long winded for me, but sounds like Tom will be disappointed in November.
AMEN!!
this is great!!! Pls add me to your ping list
Bump for home reading.
BUMP!!
. for later
I only wish the dems thought as clearly as the writer.
Ann Coulter said the reason for the dems hate of Bush is that he does not hide his faith. When you do not believe, you have to tear down those who do. In this new world of moral equivalency, there is no room for absolutes.
That is the dilemma the author faces up to. He dislikes Bush (for all the same reasons that the left gives, all based on their twisting of the truth), but he has to face the problem of evil. Which is what GW is doing.
Sure, for later!!
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