Posted on 02/04/2003 12:41:52 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Well, I personally took a heck of a lot of delight in seeing the likes of Democrats Richard Gephardt, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards and John Kerry gulp and gulp again as President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union Address.
Yes, my self-satisfied smile got wider and wider, as the faces of these presidential contenders looked more and more depressed.
Ah, how sweet victory -- and retribution -- truly is.
The American lib-lefters who mocked Bush so much are now having second thoughts.
Deep, deep second thoughts.
As comedian Jackie Gleason used to say, how sweet it is!
The scornful individuals who mocked Bush without mercy not only months ago but just days ago, aren't quite so demeaning now.
For they now know Bush will not be the pushover they thought he would be come the next U.S. election.
Indeed, I'll bet they are quietly considering whether they should really waste the time and money battling him.
Look at how exhausting even the primaries are.
Then comes the big campaign.
The harsh media scrutiny.
Why bother if you know defeat is at the end of the road?
Strange they never got the cues from the U.S. midterm elections in which the Republicans trounced them all across the nation.
Now, I've witnessed a few political speeches in my life --many in front of the speakers themselves.
In Canada, the champions were John Diefenbaker, T.C. Douglas, Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney. From the U.S., Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
Their words rippled through an audience.
Diefenbaker was almost a demagogue and hypnotic like one. Trudeau was dynamic but a con man. Douglas was passionate like the Christian preacher he was.
Mulroney had that smooth baritone voice.
Nixon was very measured, Reagan was affable but forceful ("Tear down this Wall, Mr. Gorbachev!") when necessary, and Clinton jovial.
Britain's Margaret Thatcher, too, ignited the audience I was in.
But by any assessment, despite their differing styles, none could have bettered Bush this past week.
For almost one hour I hung onto every word.
Bush, once ridiculed for being supposedly inarticulate, was superb.
Not a stutter; not a stammer.
Polished and unblinking.
I'm told he got 77 ovations from both sides of the political spectrum.
Can you image Prime Minister Jean Chretien commanding such respect?
One can't even imagine Chretien giving an articulate speech, never mind holding a nation's attention for the best part of one hour.
Bush has come of age.
He has, as they say, grown into the job.
The president painted a portrait of what a nation should be.
A nation with worldwide obligations to spread freedom for every man, woman and child living under dictatorships, and a nation in which average families deserved solid tax cuts right now rather than later.
And America under Bush will deliver both that freedom to the world, and those tax cuts to its families.
But after Bush concluded his speech and I reflected on his performance and his perspectives, a touch of depression descended on me.
Why can't we in Canada have a leader like this?
Why don't we have a leader and a government untouched by both personal and cabinet scandal?
Why do we not want to bring solid values to the world?
Why don't we have a prime minister who isn't a self-serving charlatan?
My advice to Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper is to screen and re-screen George W. Bush's speech and study it well.
Emulate his delivery and his sincerity.
For surely, Canadians deserve to be viewed as part of a respected first-rate power, not a second-rate one.
Jackson, associate editor of the Sun, can be reached at paul.jackson@calgarysun.com. Letters to the editor should be sent to callet@sunpub.com.
"Our Union is Strong"
by "JohnHuang2"
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
President Bush:
"Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God s gift to humanity."
Some speeches are merely adequate to the task -- a memorable line here or there, maybe, but, beyond that, not much. Other speeches standout as above average caliber, those that rise to the occasion and beyond, marked by defining lines and phrases of exceptional quality and brilliance which won't easily be forgotten.But the words and performance from the well of the House Chamber tonight went beyond merely adequate or sufficient -- beyond merely *above par*, or superior, even.
Transcending expectations even of the President's staunchest supporters, what we saw and heard tonight was a vaulting tour-de-force of unparalleled splendor, unriveled clarity and authority, a sweeping political magnum opus of watershed dimensions, a torrent of passion and conviction, certitude and hope only a confident leader with vision and clearness could deliver convincingly.
This was more than a speech, more than a lively pageantry of elegant words, which, however kindling and inspiring at the moment, the spur fades swiftly, leaving no deep or lasting mark, no thrust over the grander human narrative, the course of history itself.
By contrast, this State of the Union Address, Bush's second, will be remembered not merely for choice phrases, polished words or classy lines, but as a momentous, rousing call to history, a crucial and decisive fork-in-the-road for the nation.
As a leader, Bush is exemplary, a man of unshaken faith, steely instincts, unflinching resolve and purpose, yet shrewdly circumspect and judicious, careful to weigh repercussions from policy well ahead of the pack, a knack which drives Democrat foes -- bewildered, baffled, befuddled -- up the wall in frustration. The number of times political rivals have mis-underestimated el hombre de Tejas could, quite literally, fill whole libraries.
Indeed, leading-up to tonight's address, the mis-underestimators, true to form, were at it again describing the President as 'adrift', 'flagging', 'lethargic', 'on defense', 'under pressure', needing urgently to 'reassure' a skeptical public increasingly 'doubtful' of his leadership. The flurry of dour assessments seemed stubbornly immune to facts -- pre-SOTU polls showed overwhelming majorities giving Bush extraordinary high marks on leadership, management, decisiveness, vision and ability to make tough decisions. But implacable Bush-haters -- Washington Post "reporter" Dana Milbank springs to mind -- will not be deterred by mere facts.
So acute was the media desperation over the President's seemingly bullet-proof popularity that celebration greeted a recent Gallup survey pegging job approval at 58% in January, a 'devastating' 'collapse', a 'catastrophic' 'tumble' from December's 61%. The much-heralded 'collapse, never mind, fell well within the poll's margin of sampling error. Oh, facts are such stubborn things!
Another Bush trademark that sticks in liberal craws: A frank, straightforward honesty, a candid, down-to-earth genuineness and reserve rare in politicians, endearing traits which, much to elite chargin, has won him the trust and confidence of Americans across party lines -- a mystic bond defying all precedence.
Bush, his beliefs and personal strengths deeply rooted in experience, his values and virtues the outgrowth of a life rich in vicissitudes -- twists and turns, tests and challenges -- brings to the Presidency a soundness of judgment and horse-sense, a level of wisdom and insight, far beyond Bush's years in politics.
George W. Bush is living testament to the fact that, in a leader, Character Counts most of all.
Bush enters the 2nd half of his term unequivocally in total command of the stage, the agenda and issues framed primarily on his terms, a crippled opposition mired in muddle, floundering after stinging defeat at the polls last November.
Across the full range of issues, Bush spoke with ringing clarity and eloquence, a crispness and energy as only he can deliver, building his case forcefully, girding the nation for possible war.
Projecting from the dais tonight, a portrait of strength, triumph, resilience, confidence, hope -- defining traits ingrained in each of us, the things which make us uniquely American.
President Bush:
"In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be confident. In a whirlwind of change, and hope, and peril, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong."Never has a President embodied the mettle and grit, courage and verve, sparkle and spirit, compassion and optimism of America and her people quite like George W. Bush.
Bottom line? What we heard tonight was history-making, galvanizing, visionary -- greatness befitting a great leader.
Great job, Mr. President.
Anyway, that's..
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2"
I liked it, too. ;-)
And our president is a good and decent man. What a blessing.
Remember, before his speech there were six stories a day about the President's slipping poll numbers?
Beautiful 2 cents John!
I must say this about Mr. Jackson's piece.
Emulate his delivery and his sincerity.
IMHO, when someone seeks to emulate another person's sincerity, it is nothing more than manipulation, and will come across to the public as such.
Sincerity must be real, it cannot be "emulated."
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