Thanks for your 2 cents worth
Against a chorus of caterwauling naysayers, in the press and on the campaign trail, the President took center stage again tonight, wresting decisive control of an issue his media enemies, fearful U.S. success on the battlefield abroad could doom Democrat prospects on the '04 battlefield here at home, eagerly have sought to neutralize as a winner for Bush -- or turn into a costly drag altogether.From the very moment Saddam's 50-foot bust was famously toppled in Baghdad, heralding the crumbling of his murderous regime, a relentless, Joseph Geobbels-worthy media onslaught desperately began. In newsrooms across America, all stops were pulled to denigrate triumph on the battlefield into defeat. Or obscure what was accomplished -- quick work of the largest Arab army with few Coalition casualties -- into pettifoggery over post-war "planning," epitomized notoriously by the Baghdad Museum plunder which never happened. The effort aimed to douse euphoria and limit Bush's post-war bounce. And, of course, contain damage to pre-war naysayers in the media and Democrat Party, whose nightmare scenarios -- tens of thousands of G.I.s killed, hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, Stalingrad-like battle for Baghdad, inflamed Arab Street, massive uprisings, coups in Pakistan, Jordan, etc., Kurdish-Turkish civil war, massive refugee flows, oil fields set ablaze, Scud missile strikes on Israel, al-Qaeda strikes here at home, terror blow-back overseas -- never materialized. For the press, it was either lie outright -- portray post-war Iraq as a failure -- or face a credibility meltdown.
Bush, who has repeatedly proven his enemies wrong in the past, was at it again tonight.
The media, before tonight's address, told us Bush was finished, a walking dead-man, his political obit all but written; it was curtains for Bush, no longer sure-footed, "struggling" cluelessly, mired in quagmire, indeed, sinking hopelessly deeper and deeper into political quicksand. (A much-ballyhooed new Zogby poll showed an 8-point drop in Bush's job approval, from 53 percent to 45 percent over a two week period, though a new TIME/CNN poll showed no such drop. In any event, Howard Dean was measuring drapes in the White House.)
Well, that's not exactly the image that beamed across our living rooms tonight. Au contraire. Rather than irresolution and drift, we saw the image of a leader, a leader undaunted and defiant -- the same clarity of purpose, firmness of will, boldness of strategy, strength in direction and resolve that led our nation in the aftermath of 9/11. Displaying the same unflappable calm and steadiness, Bush epitomizes the essence of vision, what it means to be in command, his mettle and courage, spunk and backbone, guts and grits contrasting glaringly against the squeamishness of myopic critics nipping his heals.
Bush's speech was tour-de-force defined. His critics -- petty, spiteful, shallow, irrelevant -- are, like al-Qaeda, the big losers tonight. They were clearly outmaneuvered. The message in the speech was more than just 'stay-the-course,' or counseling patience, however. It was more than just a vow to crush "guerrilla" resistance.
The speech was a challenge. A powerful challenge to the world -- especially critics of U.S. policy: Get off your butts, get on board, put your money where your mouth is, or stay irrelevant. This ain't Somalia. This ain't Beirut. This ain't pre-9/11 America. We leave Iraq only when the job is done. Wanna help? Now's your chance.
Addressing those critics, the President said "Past differences (should not) interfere with present duties. Terrorists in Iraq have attacked representatives of the civilized world, and opposing them must be the cause of the civilized world. Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity -- and the responsibility -- to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation."
"For America," added Bush, "there will be no going back to the era before September the 11th, 2001 -- to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities."
Once again, Bush sets the agenda, defines the terms of debate, the course for action, the meaning of success. That's what a leader does. That's what Bush did tonight.
Anyway, that's..
My two cents..
"JohnHuang2"
Bravo, John!
So, where's the thread? (^;