I think that the President will make the case when the time is right. No one except political junkies like us is paying attention to anything now. Even the press is off chasing their tails ignoring the gradual build-up that we have been undtertaking for months in the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile, last night one of the Indianapolis stations did a "man on the street" interview with average folks, and not the intelligentsia, may I say. Not one person was confused about why we need to go to war with Iraq, and many favored the use of nuclear weapons if necessary.
Why some people think that the enemy has not been portrayed as evil I do not know. I can only conclude that they are not listening to what the President says.
From this President you are not going to get daily speeches. On the other hand, when he does give a speech, it is payed attention to by everyone, including the non-political citizens.
So Mr. Steyn needs patience and to pay a little more attention to things, and also to realize there is more than one way to skin a cat.
And those who pine for Reagan need to quit living in the past. A Ronald Reagan comes along once in a generation, if we are lucky. He was a unique person born of the times in which he matured. Appreciate what we have now, while being grateful that we had President Reagan when we did.
I am, and thanks for that reminder.
I appreciate your cogent comments regarding President Bush, his approach to the War on Terrorism and isolating radical Islam. I enjoy reading Mark Styne but although he is informative, thoughtful and often entertaining, he does misjudge George W. Bush - as so many others do.
These same nay-sayers would the very first to scream 'BUSH KNEW' and stand in the Senate pointing to newspapers with that headline should Saddam develop a nuke and some Islamic suicide bomber set it off in an American city anytime soon. President Bush isn't about to allow that to happen. Many of us realize that but some, like Mark Styne, believe that Bush hasn't convinced the American people. I disagree.
President Bush isn't holding a 70 % approval rating because no one agrees with him. As has been pointed out, close to 80% of the respondents in general polls know full well that Iraq is an enemy and support our eventual invasion of Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein and his WMD. The liberal media would have us believe differently. The drumbeat of opposition to invading Iraq is manufactured from the usual leftist suspects and a few nervous Republicans who are afraid of being on the wrong side should an invasion not succeed or should there be major loss of life on the U.S. side. They are mistaken and will likely join the rest of the American people in supporting the President once hostilities begin.
It's clear from the Wednesday (21st) Texas press briefing (with the Secretary of Defense at his side) that President Bush intends to ignore the nervous nellies and is planning to do what is best for American interests and security, which is an invasion of Iraq and an overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
We will succeed and the Middle East will never be the same again. Petty dictators and kings on shaky thrones are easily swayed from supporting radical Islamic fanatics once a despot like Saddam Hussein has been eliminated and they realize that (a) Bush is deadly serious (b) the American people (if not the media) are behind him and (c) supporting Islam and endless jihad will end in their certain death and destruction. That fact sobers people, both rulers and the 'Arab street'.
Thanks again for your observations. Nice to see something besides Bush-bashing and doom and gloom posts all the time.