Posted on 01/21/2005 4:19:45 AM PST by Mikmur
PEGGY NOONAN
Way Too Much God Was the president's speech a case of "mission inebriation"?
The inaugural address itself was startling. It left me with a bad feeling, and reluctant dislike. Rhetorically, it veered from high-class boilerplate to strong and simple sentences, but it was not pedestrian. George W. Bush's second inaugural will no doubt prove historic because it carried a punch, asserting an agenda so sweeping that an observer quipped that by the end he would not have been surprised if the president had announced we were going to colonize Mars. A short and self-conscious preamble led quickly to the meat of the speech: the president's evolving thoughts on freedom in the world. Those thoughts seemed marked by deep moral seriousness and no moral modesty.
The president's speech seemed rather heavenish. It was a God-drenched speech. This president, who has been accused of giving too much attention to religious imagery and religious thought, has not let the criticism enter him. God was invoked relentlessly. "The Author of Liberty." "God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind . . . the longing of the soul."
And yet such promising moments were followed by this, the ending of the speech. "Renewed in our strength--tested, but not weary--we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." This is--how else to put it?--over the top. It is the kind of sentence that makes you wonder if this White House did not, in the preparation period, have a case of what I have called in the past "mission inebriation." A sense that there are few legitimate boundaries to the desires born in the goodness of their good hearts.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Precisely!
And we pretty much lived in the same never neverland prior to 911. Quite honestly I'm not sure its all that different now.
But what has that to do with the war in Iraq, or spreading freedom and democracy to every pissant corner of the earth?
Seems to me they might have a better handle on spreading culture than we do ... no?
Frankly, I would just rather discuss and disparage the Islamic variety.
But if you insist...
BUMP
Unfortunately, Iraq was Balkanized on the day it was invented by the Brits (you remember them, the last significantly hubristic nation).
The real reason that europe can not bring themselves to help in freeing the oppressed of the middle east is because they cannot stand to see us succeed where they have failed.
Here's the limit on my "help" in this debacle.
If we had been serious in efforts to establish anything but a puppet state, we would have chosen to help establish a Republic (Not so different from our own blueprint).
You couldn't be much more wrong. We cannot protect every high school football game, every family picnic, every mall and restaurant. Talk about "big government"! Fear and Isolation is what will give us things much worse than the reasonable "Patriot Act". Think Israel - Think Security Guards - Think Bus Bombings. You can attribute that largely to the Israeili unwillingness to take out the "A... Your Towel Smells Terrific" Arafat, the terrorists and taking on a purely defensive posture.
I rarely get an "idea" from any commentator, of any stripe.
I do fairly often agree with Juan's comments.
PEGGY NOONAN
"Way Too Much God Was the president's speech a case of "mission inebriation"? "
Peggy, Peggy, Peggy...
You can never have too much God
You can never have too much ammunition
You can never have too many Viking Kitty pics
Their posts usually speak fairly clearly unless they're ambiguously sarcastic or ironic.
I guess she didn't like it. Oh well.
How can you have "too much God?"
see tagline.
ROFL!!!
I know what you mean. I feel the same way about Brit Hume and Michael Barone.
They are each great at providing details to back what they say.
One of my favorite singers, a black Christian man, Wentley Phipps sang one of the songs. He is outstanding. He narrates beautifully. You should hear his narration about Amazing Grace. Outstanding. It's on one of the Gaither Homecoming videos. I always cry when I hear it.
My thoughts, when I heard that part of it, was that we would withhold funds from them if they didn't treat their people right (and quit persecuting Christians!).
This is just sickening coming from Peggy Noonan. I hope that Sean tears her comments apart today on his show.He seems to be in Peggy's camp alot.
This is just sickening coming from Peggy Noonan. I hope that Sean tears her comments apart today on his show.He seems to be in Peggy's camp alot.
While I agree with this sentiment, all the same, it wasn't a great speech.
Ah, but we have God on our side. That is a first. It really is, isn't it?
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