Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
I think that it will inure to his political benefit in the long run, but, maybe, consider the simple possibility that he did it to boost morale amongst the soldiers, and that's . . . really . . . . all.
I remain convinced that he's much more of an upfront, no-hidden-agenda person than people think a president could possibly be.
While Clinton was a brilliant chess-playing type, thinking ahead thirty moves to the ultimate question of "what will this do for ME?", I think Bush acts out of fairly transparent and unselfish principles. I admire him for this. Other people, I think, dislike it intensely, as it presents a stark picture of how quickly he might judge them for what he would take as moral failings, while they see those traits as "different values", and not open for the judgment of others. If he could divorce his moral judgment from the religious-based system that so pervades his view, I think he would be even more compelling.
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I actually think Bush is more more politically acute than most people give him credit for. I don't think this in any way conflicts with your view of him as a fairly transparent guy; I just see this evidence of transparency as a good way of winning the trust of the voters. In other words, a good pol, but a different kind of good pol than Clinton was.
That said, I think this is a great chess move, because it allows him to show solidarity with the troops over there without having to get into the negative PR implications of attending a soldier's funeral, or allowing news footage of the body bags arriving at Dover AFB to be shown. Maybe it's just me and the pinko commie newspapers I read, but I had started hearing more criticisms of the admin in this vein in the fast few weeks than I had heard previously.
Also, credit where credit is due, on a gut level I think it is commendable of him to spend some energy and time to get over there and support the troops who are working so hard for our country and whose efforts will ultimately make much of the case for whether GWB's admin is judged a success or a failure.
I am hoping that by posting this praise of the admin over the Thanksgiving weekend it will somehow slip under the radar of the leftist thought police out here in the Bay Area. However, if you don't hear from me after this, assume there was severe foul play and re-brainwashing involved.
