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The Age of Liberty (Safire: Finest Bush Speech)
The NY Times Op-Ed Page ^ | 11/9/03 | William Safire

Posted on 11/11/2003 8:15:50 PM PST by sdk7x7

The Age of Liberty By WILLIAM SAFIRE

EW ORLEANS

With a strong sense of history, George W. Bush last week made the case for "a forward strategy" of idealism in American foreign policy. He dared to place his Big Idea — what has become the central theme and purpose of his presidency — in the direct line of aspirations expressed by three of the past century's most far-seeing and controversial U.S. presidents.

He evoked Woodrow Wilson trying to make the world safe for democracy in 1918; then F.D.R. in 1941 giving hope of freedom to peoples enslaved by Nazism; finally, Ronald Reagan telling a skeptical Britain's Parliament in 1982 that a historic turning point had been reached and Communist tyranny could not stop the march of freedom. "From the Fourteen Points to the Four Freedoms, to the Speech at Westminster, America has put our power at the service of principle," Bush said. "The advance of freedom is the calling of our time."

That is called a theme. Did he develop that theme in his speech, marshaling his arguments both rationally and evocatively at a time of crisis? Did he succeed in setting his vision of our mission in the world before the American people in a detailed, coherent and inspiring way worthy of rallying their support?

I think he did — not only because I agree that protecting and extending freedom has always been America's "calling," but because I was able to read and re-read the serious speech in its entirety.

You have probably not had that opportunity. Most people did not have the chance to catch the whole speech on cable, and found only snippets on broadcast TV; the longest excerpt of the half-hour address ran less than four minutes on prime-time network news.

Some newspapers front-paged accounts of the news in the speech, noting departure from the realpolitik of Nixon, the elder Bush and others: "Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe — because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty." But not even The Times gave readers the chance to study the full text in the paper. (It's on the Times Web site at www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/politics/06TEXT-BUSH.html.)

This speech clearly articulated the policy this Bush will be remembered for. If you are interested in knowing where he wants to take this country and why, you will find it worth reading all the way through. Reading summaries and excerpts and critiques lets editors and analysts do the thinking for you. Film snippets of applause lines won't help you grasp the import, which you should have even if you want to disagree knowledgeably. A carefully constructed speech, like a poem or a brief or a piece of music, has a shape that helps makes it memorable. Bush's "age of liberty" address begins on a note of historical optimism: "We've witnessed, in little over a generation, the swiftest advance of freedom in the 2,500-year story of democracy . . . It is no accident that the rise of so many democracies took place in a time when the world's most influential nation was itself a democracy." (He chose "influential" rather than "powerful" to stress our democratic example.)

Then he takes us on a tour d'horizon of the state of freedom today: from "outposts of oppression" like Cuba, Burma, North Korea and Zimbabwe to China with its "sliver, a fragment of liberty," to the West Bank leaders who are "the main obstacles to peace." Egypt, having "shown the way toward peace" (under Sadat) "now should show the way toward democracy."

He returns to his opening theme in dealing with Iraq, where failure "would embolden terrorists around the world," but where "a free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution." (Failure gets the conditional "would," but success the certain "will.")

But let me not join the summarizers. Invest a half-hour in reading this moving exposition of the noble goal of American foreign policy. And note the subtlety in Bush's concluding reference to the deity in underscoring our opportunity in this age of liberty: "And as we meet the terror and violence of the world, we can be certain the author of freedom is not indifferent to the fate of freedom."


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: ageofliberty; ageoflibertyspeech; bushspeech; safire
Speech link: www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/politics/06TEXT-BUSH.html (recommend you go to "single page view" and print this... it's great!)
1 posted on 11/11/2003 8:15:51 PM PST by sdk7x7
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To: sdk7x7
Yeah, this speech is really great. And I'm grateful to William Safire for recommending I read the full speech. Funny how the mainstream media didn't report much about this. Go figure.
2 posted on 11/11/2003 8:20:28 PM PST by 68skylark
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To: sdk7x7
Do you think that sore a*s saron will see any of this?? or even read it?? The escaped Nazi turned Communist should be held accountable before he spreads his billions to fools, which he is one of in the demoncraptic party. P*ss on him and them.
3 posted on 11/11/2003 8:26:00 PM PST by Ethyl
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To: sdk7x7
Any way to access this speech without going to the NYT?
4 posted on 11/11/2003 8:28:04 PM PST by PieroC (pieroc)
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: sdk7x7
A great speech! The part I liked best is ...

Historians will note that in many nations the advance of markets and free enterprise helped to create a middle class that was confident enough to demand their own rights. They will point to the role of technology in frustrating censorship and central control, and marvel at the power of instant communications to spread the truth, the news and courage across borders.

7 posted on 11/11/2003 8:59:52 PM PST by thinktwice (Thank God for freedom, the internet, and FreeRepublic.com.,)
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To: sdk7x7
You can see the speech and probably read it at White House.gov,too.
8 posted on 11/11/2003 9:07:43 PM PST by MEG33
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To: sdk7x7
After reading the complete text, I am, once again, overwhelmed with pride in my President.

History will show that this man who stands up for his convictions and makes tough decisions in a time of crisis will have a greater impact on the world than probably he even realizes.


9 posted on 11/11/2003 9:07:44 PM PST by military cop
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To: sdk7x7
SPOTREP - W!
10 posted on 11/11/2003 9:39:09 PM PST by LiteKeeper
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To: sdk7x7
bttt
11 posted on 11/11/2003 10:43:02 PM PST by lainde
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To: sdk7x7

FR search on The Age of Liberty Safire

The Age of Liberty (Safire: Finest Bush Speech)
      Posted by sdk7x7
On 11/11/2003 8:15 PM PST with 10 comments


The NY Times Op-Ed Page ^ | 11/9/03 | William Safire
The Age of Liberty By WILLIAM SAFIRE EW ORLEANS With a strong sense of history, George W. Bush last week made the case for "a forward strategy" of idealism in American foreign policy. He dared to place his Big Idea „ what has become the central theme and purpose of his presidency „ in the direct line of aspirations expressed by three of the past century's most far-seeing and controversial U.S. presidents. He evoked Woodrow Wilson trying to make the world safe for democracy in 1918; then F.D.R. in 1941 giving hope of freedom to peoples enslaved by Nazism; finally,...
     
 
William Safire: The Age of Liberty
      Posted by blitzgig
On 11/10/2003 9:30 AM PST with 3 comments


New York Times ^ | 11/10/03 | William Safire
The Age of Liberty By WILLIAM SAFIRE November 10, 2003 With a strong sense of history, George W. Bush last week made the case for "a forward strategy" of idealism in American foreign policy. He dared to place his Big Idea „ what has become the central theme and purpose of his presidency „ in the direct line of aspirations expressed by three of the past century's most far-seeing and controversial U.S. presidents. He evoked Woodrow Wilson trying to make the world safe for democracy in 1918; then F.D.R. in 1941 giving hope of freedom to peoples enslaved by Nazism;...
     
 
Safire: The Age of Liberty
      Posted by Pokey78
On 11/09/2003 8:29 PM PST with 20 comments


The New York Times ^ | 11/10/03 | William Safire
NEW ORLEANS „ With a strong sense of history, George W. Bush last week made the case for "a forward strategy" of idealism in American foreign policy. He dared to place his Big Idea „ what has become the central theme and purpose of his presidency „ in the direct line of aspirations expressed by three of the past century's most far-seeing and controversial U.S. presidents. He evoked Woodrow Wilson trying to make the world safe for democracy in 1918; then F.D.R. in 1941 giving hope of freedom to peoples enslaved by Naziism; finally, Ronald Reagan telling a skeptical Britain's...
     

12 posted on 11/11/2003 10:52:10 PM PST by Sabertooth (No Drivers' Licences for Illegal Aliens. Petition SB60. http://www.saveourlicense.com/n_home.htm)
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To: seamole
Thanks for the link to this excellent speech.
13 posted on 11/11/2003 11:27:04 PM PST by Cultural Jihad
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