Bush Memo to U.N.: Pony up, or stay irrelevant
by JohnHuang2
The take-charge U.S. President more than lived up to his billing Today, taking center stage boldly and forcefully, delivering a tour-de-force, audaciously no-holds-barred challenge, throwing down the gauntlet before the U.N. General Assembly with spunk and unwavering resolve.
Bush's iron will and determination, the tested mettle and strength-in-the-face-of-all-adversity which define his character, forms the starkest of contrasts to the often quarrelsome and petty U.N., its blustery anti-Americanism fueled by unbridled envy amid its unbridled irrelevance. Bush's clear-as-crystal vision, his commanding, eagle-eye view of the world, delivered in bold and daring prose, again contrasts glaringly with trifling, narrow-minded parochialism and drift at the U.N.
If murky, shilly-shally, wishy-washy is what you want, Bush's not your man. If wimpy, fickle, pussyfooting is your bag, you might want to check with Wesley Clark. George W. Bush, whose unabashed, matter-of-fact blunt talk slices diplo-drivel like a jackknife, cutting right to the chase, doesn't do Shilly-Shally. The frank, plain-spoken Texan, who drives girly-boy rivals absolutely bonkers, doesn't do Wishy-Washy either.
If Democrats and their media allies expected sheepish, self-abasement -- a craven 'Please, Pretty-Please-Forgive-Me-For-I-Have-Sinned-Against-You, Oh U.N. -- from Bush, a Texas-sized disappointment is what they got instead. The President -- unbowed, undaunted, unflinching -- made it clear he has nothing to apologize for. Rather than a mushy 'Admit-Guilt-And-Beg-Forgiveness' touchy-feely teary-eyed appeal, Bush gave the house of Kofi Annan a defiantly roaring call-to-action instead, a 'Put-Your-Money-Where-Your-Mouth-Is' challenge. Memo to the U.N.: Pony up, or stay irrelevant. Your call.
From the dais, Bush unveiled his plan-of-action, eschewing calls for quickie handover of U.S. authority in Iraq, as the French and Germans insist. If taking precipitous action is the price of U.N. assistance, that's a price the U.S. will not pay. The transfer of power will be done on U.S. -- not U.N. -- terms. There will be no handover of sovereignty to unelected councils; the return of authority will proceed in orderly fashion, on a U.S. -- not French nor German nor Syrian -- timetable. America, with its Coalition allies, has sacrificed blood and treasure in the sands of Iraq, now the world needs to quit yapping and meet its responsibilities.
"The primary goal of our coalition in Iraq is self-government for the people of Iraq, reached by orderly and democratic means," Bush told the U.N. "This process must unfold according to the needs of Iraqis -- neither hurried nor delayed by the wishes of other parties. And the United Nations can contribute greatly to the cause of Iraqi self-government."
The delegates got yet another rousing lesson on what true leadership really means. Bush, through words and action, exemplifies it. For Kofi Annan and the boys, Bush's more than just a thorn in their side; he's their worst nightmare. If el hombre de Tejas has taught the world body anything, it's this: He doesn't give squat what Syria or France or Libya think. Whether war or peace, whatever course America sets, with George W. Bush at the helm, it will serve American interests, or forget it. Those hoping the U.N. might act to "contain" the world's mightiest nation, its foreign policy hostage to endless draft resolution debates amid veto threats from Paris, Bush dealt those hopes a crushing blow last March. Under Bush, America will not be cowed, will not be pressured, will not be bullied. One year ago, in his opening address, Kofi Annan put the Arab-Israeli conflict at the top of the 'To-do' list. Bush, in his address, put Iraq and the spread of weapons of mass destruction at the top. One year later, Kofi Annan, in his opening address, puts Iraq and the spread of weapons of mass destruction at the top. Question: Which of these two men is driving debate, setting the agenda/priorities?
Bush, less than 3 years as President, through thickets and minefields, has led America to unparalleled greatness and power. Its ability to shape events and tip scales globally has never been greater. Bush has pushed back the bounds of possibilities beyond the unimagined. America is back. Gone are the days of America the pushover, the faltering, vacillating, wobbling weakling, the superpower of self-doubt.
America may not be loved the world over, granted, but no longer are we the object of scorn, of contempt. After Iraq and Afghanistan, enemies no longer mock America, they fear America. Again. Terrorists fondly remember the Clinton years. Small wonder. For them, those were the good times. Days of unparalleled growth. With Clinton at the helm, the terror business flourished, thousands of jobs were created.
Under Bush, it's been a deadly depression -- The Great Depression. For the terror underworld, Bush has brought nothing but death and joblessness. Two-thirds of al-Qaeda top management are maggot factories. The rest are dying or cowering in caves. End of story.
Granted, Iraq second-guessers abound these days. The Bush-haters crow that once skyhigh poll numbers are back down to earth. With the '04 campaign gearing up, one can hardly pick up a newspaper without FALLING POLLS! BUSH IS FINISHED! headlines blaring. The media pundits have Bush deep in embalming fluid and "president-elect" Dean forming his White House transition team.
Ah, yes, but haven't they forgotten a little itty-bitty something? A little something like...er, never -- ever -- Misunderestimate George W. Bush? Ann Richards will tell you why. Recall how Bush was written off for dead after New Hampshire? Hordes of pundits gleefully wrote Bush's obit. You could hardly pick up a newspaper without the UNSTOPPABLE MCCAIN JUGGERNAUT! BUSH IS FINISHED! headlines. In response, the fiesty Texan picked himself up, smiled, shrugged his shoulders and fought on with new resolve and vigor. No bitterness. No whining. No complaints. Just when the political morticians eagerly awaited W's corpse, he'd come roaring back to life -- confounding and frustrating his enemies.
Get set for an encore.
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Sky is Falling! Sky is Falling! Part IV
Meanwhile, "Americans are split over whether the war was worth fighting; 50% say yes, 48% no," USA Today reported Monday, citing its latest poll. "That is a dramatic drop from April, when, as Saddam Hussein's statue was falling in Baghdad, 76% said the war was worth it."
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Not only that, but in utterly horrific news for Vulnerable Bush, Democrat registration nationwide has, in one week, jumped a whopping 50 percent, from 33 percent total registration a week ago to 48 percent currently! We know this because, among the 1,003 adults interviewed in the CNN-Gallup survey, no less than 480 were "Democrats or Democratic leaners." That's 480 out of 1,003! If the shift in registration continues at this pace, all Americans will be Democrats in about a month. Terrible news for Bush, right?
Ah, not so fast.
After plunging Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the period covered in the CNN poll, support for the war has since rebounded, the sharp turnaround beginning in the early morning hours Monday, September 22. On Sunday evening, support for the war stood at 50%, as CNN-Gallup reports. But by early Monday morning, support for the war had soared to 63%, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, released Tuesday. The Sunday-evening-to-Monday-morning turnaround in public sentiment seemingly caught most analysts, who predicted the meltdown would continue, by surprise. In the Pew poll, "despite the persistent attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq," 62 percent of Americans think the U.S. military effort there is either going very well or fairly well, only 35 percent disagree -- the same as in August.
What caused the turnaround -- this massive, overnight mood swing? Pew doesn't list a breakdown by party registration, but my gut tells me the registration pendulum has swung back to Republicans ;-)
Kidding aside, the CNN-Gallup poll is a total and complete fraud. Democrat registration nationwide stands at 33 percent or so, not 48 percent, as CNN would have us believe. GOP registration hovers around 33 percent. The rest are mostly unaffiliated or independent.
The statistical anomaly in the CNN-Gallup poll means the results are "heavily skewed to the Democratic side," said Fox News' Fred Barnes Tuesday, citing James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal.
So much for Gallup polls.
BUSH/CHENEY '04
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Anyway, that's...
My two cents
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