Wednesday, February 02, 2005
The State of the Union
Two quotes from David Frum's Diary at NRO. First: the president served notice:
Abroad, the president sent a strong message to the axis of evil and its cadet member, Syria. He expanded the issue with Iran from its weapons to its oppressive theocracy – and returned to the promise he made in 2002 to stand with the Iranian people against the unelected few who oppress them in the name of religion.And Second:
Gently and flatteringly, Bush served notice on Egypt and Saudi Arabia that they must move toward democracy – and to the Palestinians that they must move away from terrorism. He offered a cogent, credible and convincing account of the connection between tyranny and terror.
Michael Barone has aptly compared the Bush presidency to a pulsar: a star that goes dark for long periods and then bursts forth in a sudden spurt of activity. I’ll confess: Bush sometimes worries me. There will be periods of weeks or even months when the gravity of government seems to pull him down, when the energy and imagination of the best hours of his government seems to have seeped away. And then there follows a moment like this speech, when this president surges back into action and his government regains its gravity-defying momentum.It was a powerful moment between Safia Taleb al-Suhail and the parents of Byron Norwood. I suspect it was a moment that would bring a mist to the eye of even the most hardened. Anyone who serves his or her country wants to believe the sacrifice was worth it. Safia Taleb al-Suhail, with her history then her blue finger proved it was.
Bush seems to pay lip service to domestic matters except for Taxes and Social Security. He is in his element when he figuratively leaves these shores. There is steel in his voice and moral courage in his words. Like Churchill, he is a war time president, and he does not shrink from major efforts.
Mover Mike
