The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
On Standing Firm when the going gets Tough
During the Clinton years--even though the warning signs were there in places like Africa, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia--the public in general had no conception that something like 9/11 could happen. Bush certainly didn't ask for it. But he was the person who had to deal with it, not the Monday-morning quarterbacks. Since then, hindsight and revisionist history has become almost like a cancer on the political class. It is easy to second-guess what you might have done when you already know what subsequent events were; and conducting a war again is easy for the so called pundits to do when they didn't have to make the call when no one knew what the outcome was going to be.
I have not always been happy with President Bush: during the immigration debate and several others when the President caved to the Democrats, the media, and/or our enemies abroad--I was angry at the President. He has made several really poor decisions and--worse--has shown weakness to our enemies at home and abroad. I want a stronger policy against Iran. I want him to take of the gloves in Iraq and Waziristan. And I want my borders protected.
But, still, I will say this about the President. When he really, really believes in something, he doesn't use focus groups to test the wind. He pledged that he would cut taxes--and that is exactly what he did, in the middle of a post-9/11 recession as every socialist in the Democrat party and media cried "foul". As a result the economy did a complete 180--and it is booming right now.
He also said he was going to take the fight to the enemy. That speech on 9/20/01 was one of the best Presidential speeches I have ever seen, from anyone. And while virtually everyone inside the Beltway was ready to run for cover at the first glimpse that this war would be an actual struggle which would take years (as he said it would on that night), there stands the President still, steadfast in his support of WINNING. With me, that counts for a lot. And I am not the only one; the following quotes are from a great column by David Limbaugh--and it needed to be said:
This is where the 20/20 hindsight comes in handy for those who have suddenly started piling on the President when he is down. In particular, Limbaugh focuses on some of the Peggy Noonan's recent criticisms of the President:While I've had strong policy disagreements with President Bush, I am unafraid to say I am still grateful he is commander in chief at a time when more and more people are losing sight of the big picture in the global war against Islamist terrorists.
It is difficult even for the most hawkish not to be dispirited by the unrelenting negativity against the war by Democrats and the mainstream media, especially since it has gone on longer than we'd hoped.
It's important that those who have realistically assessed the almost-inevitably devastating consequences of our precipitous withdrawal from Iraq resist the seductive pressure to jeopardize our long-term security in exchange for the quick-fix withdrawal option.
This is why it's especially disappointing that some previously war-supporting conservatives have succumbed to the temptation to fold in the face of the public's war fatigue.
Likewise, I deeply lament that she cites approvingly, the e-mailer for the perception that Bush doesn't tell the truth. Of all the unconscionable lies the left has disseminated, this one is among the worst, and I can't believe Peggy is lending her name to it even if by implication. If some conservatives have gritted their teeth, it hasn't been over the Iraq war (except for the faint of heart), but mostly immigration and spending. And it's certainly not that they have bought into the Goebbelsesque propaganda that "Bush lied, people died."
As for Bush's unjustified "high spirits" given his "lack of success" and his "jarring" refusal to wear his suffering on his sleeve, I reject that he's lacked success on Iraq, unless we gauge success purely by public approval in the short term. Also, isn't it extraordinarily presumptuous for us to assume Bush is not feeling the pain and anguish from the loss of American lives occasioned by his exceedingly difficult decisions?
Labels: Media War, White Flag Republicans
