High Hopes, Hard Facts

Jan. 31 issue - It was a speech written for the ages, and it will live in history as a powerful affirmation of American ideas and ideals. George W. Bush’s second Inaugural Address was the culmination, in style and substance, of a position he has been veering toward ever since September 11, 2001: that the purpose of American foreign policy must be the expansion of liberty. It is not a new theme for an American president. Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan all spoke in similar tones and terms. Bush, however, has brought to the cause the passion of the convert. In short declarative sentences, influenced by the King James Bible and by his most eloquent predecessors, Bush used virtually his entire speech to set out the distinctively American world view: that “the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.” To borrow an old saw about the mission of journalism, Bush’s words will “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Democratic reformers around the world will surely take

I've already picked up on what Dem operatives are going to do with this speech, in fact it's already started in the chattering classes:

"What about this country? What about that country?" If he doesn't free the entire world in, say, the next six months, he has "lied to the American people."

They refuse to acknowledge that President Bush was talking about a course that will take perhaps half a century. Our support will come in many forms.

That would be too honest for them to admit, even as they completely understand his meaning.

I beg to differ.

From the article:
His response was simple. “America positions itself as the moral arbiter of the world, it pronounces on the virtues of all other regimes, it tells the rest of the world whether they are good or evil,” he said. “No one else does that. America singles itself out. And so the gap between what it says and what it does is blindingly obvious—and for most of us, extremely annoying.” That gap just grew a lot bigger.
END

Let's see:
Beheadings? Good or evil?
Slaughter of thousands of civilians by dictators? Good or evil?

How can these pompous fools compare this with the reality of the American way of life -- the land of the free.

Unbelievable!

The fact that this speech has got more attention than an inaugural speech in a generation I think proves the greatness of it.

History will mark this along with Reagans "evil empire","tear down this wall" as one of the great moments in our history and freedoms history.

Do you think that Condi was in on this speech? If so, do you think she will carry it to the state department and that it will make a difference in how our foreign policy goes?

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