[visitor]

I guess it’s how you define “realist”...rto

World War IV by Norman Podhoretz, page 133...

Bush made no secret of his repudiation of realism, and he did not pussfoot around it:

“For decades, free nations tolerated oppression in the Middle East for the sake of stability. In practice, this approach brought little stability and much oppression, so I have changed this police.”

...Bush was equally forthright - almost brutal - in giving the back of his hand to the realist prohibition against using force to transform the internal character of other states:

“Some who call themselves realists question whether the spread of democracy in the Middle East should be any concern of ours. But the realists in this case have lost contact with a fundamental reality: America has always been less secure when freedom is in retreat; America is always more secure when freedom is on the march.”

[syriacus]

Visitor commented: I guess it’s how you define “realist”...rto

I agree.

In the citation you provided, Bush said:

But the realists in this case have lost contact with a fundamental reality:

Perhaps Bush is more of a realist than the tolerators, who he says are out of touch with reality.

The jury is still "out" on that deliberation.