The State of the President
George W. Bush began his State of the Union address last night in one of the most difficult situations any president has had to address the Congress and the Nation. That he brought it on himself is irrelevant to the point that I don't think any one of us envied his role last night.
A funny thing has happened over the course of Bush's presidency. I realized this last night. On September 11, 2001, and the initial weeks that followed, I thought he was a terrific president. I believed he was the right man for the job. He spoke and seemed tough in the face of the enemy. He showed resolve. He looked like the one president Osama and company should never have crossed.
By the time we invaded Iraq, I believed he was still a strong president. However, he was a bit of a cowboy. His toughness was getting in the way of good strategic thinking. And while I believed at the time that there was a threat in Iraq (hey, I'll admit when I was wrong), I secretly worried that we were going to lose friends.
By the time the invasion ended and we had found Saddam Hussein but no WMD's, George Bush looked still more different. People began to question the purpose of the war by this time. And the cowboy in him turned against those who shared a different viewpoint from him. Unfortunately, there were no Jim Webb's in the Senate at the time. The Democrats were cowering. Bush was beginning to look like a bully.
In November, Bush looked like the same bully, only he had just taken a wallop from the smaller kid he'd been picking on for years. He seemed more conciliatory, more accepting of alternate views.
All of this brings me to last night.
I will consider the issues in a future rant, but I want to mention that I realized last night that all this time it wasn't the President who had changed, it was me. Bush was, is, and seemingly always will be the same person that he is today. He was that way on 9/11, and all the other moments I mentioned. I see him differently today because, after having seen, heard and learned about him over the years, I've come to finally realize who he is.
George W. Bush made what to me seemed like a final stand last night. He showed his conciliatory side in the inital few moments of his speech. He did not bully the Democrats. He couldn't, they already had defeated him. But he chose, instead, to use the latter part of his speech to bully the members of his own party. He used words like "victory" and noted that they didn't vote for the war to lose.
I believe he failed.
He continues to lose the support of his own party. He is at an all-time low. And he could not save himself last night from the one person who will ultimately destroy his legacy.
He couldn't save himself from himself.
A funny thing has happened over the course of Bush's presidency. I realized this last night. On September 11, 2001, and the initial weeks that followed, I thought he was a terrific president. I believed he was the right man for the job. He spoke and seemed tough in the face of the enemy. He showed resolve. He looked like the one president Osama and company should never have crossed.
By the time we invaded Iraq, I believed he was still a strong president. However, he was a bit of a cowboy. His toughness was getting in the way of good strategic thinking. And while I believed at the time that there was a threat in Iraq (hey, I'll admit when I was wrong), I secretly worried that we were going to lose friends.
By the time the invasion ended and we had found Saddam Hussein but no WMD's, George Bush looked still more different. People began to question the purpose of the war by this time. And the cowboy in him turned against those who shared a different viewpoint from him. Unfortunately, there were no Jim Webb's in the Senate at the time. The Democrats were cowering. Bush was beginning to look like a bully.
In November, Bush looked like the same bully, only he had just taken a wallop from the smaller kid he'd been picking on for years. He seemed more conciliatory, more accepting of alternate views.
All of this brings me to last night.
I will consider the issues in a future rant, but I want to mention that I realized last night that all this time it wasn't the President who had changed, it was me. Bush was, is, and seemingly always will be the same person that he is today. He was that way on 9/11, and all the other moments I mentioned. I see him differently today because, after having seen, heard and learned about him over the years, I've come to finally realize who he is.
George W. Bush made what to me seemed like a final stand last night. He showed his conciliatory side in the inital few moments of his speech. He did not bully the Democrats. He couldn't, they already had defeated him. But he chose, instead, to use the latter part of his speech to bully the members of his own party. He used words like "victory" and noted that they didn't vote for the war to lose.
I believe he failed.
He continues to lose the support of his own party. He is at an all-time low. And he could not save himself last night from the one person who will ultimately destroy his legacy.
He couldn't save himself from himself.
posted by E-Luv at 9:27 AM
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