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Mar. 21, 2006 I've always felt uncomfortable around people who have a way of telling me what I want to hear. I don't trust these individuals and, in the back of my mind, I feel there is a cost to spending too much time in their company. At some point the "other shoe will drop" and their true colors are shown. In my experience, this often happens at the most inopportune time, where the most damage can be inflicted. No, I want very little to do with "yes" people of any race, creed, sex or religion. I particularly do not want these phonies in prominent roles within government. This is probably a big reason for my disdain of former president Clinton. Sure, I am not in the same camp as he is from a political perspective, but the discomfort went much deeper than that. From the beginning I could not help but see this man as an pathological liar. He was certainly skilled at saying just the right thing almost all of the time, which made me nervous to no end. When he looked out at an audience and said, "I feel your pain," I cringed. In contrast to the patronizing messages of our previous president, President Bush has always struck me as someone who is telling you pretty much exactly what he is thinking at that time. There is not a lot of pretense in his speeches and he rarely feels the need to coddle his audience in sanctimonious babble. When Bush told us that Iraq was a potentially serious threat to U.S. security, there is little doubt in my mind he fully believed it (of course, President Clinton told us the same thing during his term). When he tells us to look beyond the constant negative drumbeat of the war, it is because he himself has to do the same. And when he grabbed that bullhorn from the construction worker at the site of the World Trade Center a few days after 9/11/01 he told us that "whoever knocked down these buildings" would be hearing from us soon; there was no question about what he was saying and there was no doubt he meant it. No president in my lifetime would have made such a direct statement in a time of crisis; an inner alarm would have gone off and some sugar-coated toned down message would have resulted. Even the president's own father would not have provided that human element when it was so definitely needed. Sure, there are times when Bush seems more rehearsed in his message than others, which is the case with just about everyone who has ever been in politics, and these are often his weakest moments. Even in these instances, though, he still comes across as forthright, even if he is more stiff and uncomfortable. Bush is clearly at his best when he is set free to speak his mind as opposed to being under the full control of his advisers. I hear charges of endless lies against this man and I am more than a bit confused. It just doesn't fit. My guess is that most of those who are making these charges are individuals who are not even listening to him in the first place. One of those who are not listening happens to be Helen Thomas, the long-time White House press member who has been so openly and unfairly critical of this administration that all appearance of objectivity on her part was thrown away long ago. Miss Thomas' criticisms have gone well beyond the policies and decisions of the administration into personal attacks and unfounded ones at that. In today's presidential press conference the president called on Ms. Thomas and she began a tirade disguised as a question. It finally ended with her accusing the president of wanting war from the time he first came into office, a charge which is not only completely unfair it is also entirely unsupported other than the fact that it is Helen Thomas' own opinion. President Bush was at this best in giving his answer, which involved a detailed repeat of why we invaded Iraq and how 9/11 changed his foreign policy completely. Bush was speaking with passion from his heart. Most reasonable and intelligent people can see when someone is responding in earnest based upon how they see the world, and this was evident in Bush's words, tone and mannerisms. His message was consistent with that which was first presented even before the Iraq war began, and it would be redundant to repeat it again here. Ms. Thomas, however, repeatedly interrupted the president even as he was responding to her question (and I use the term loosely). She had no interest in his answer and I'm reasonably sure even right now has no idea what he actually said. Like too much of the Washington press, she was too busy making her own statement to bother with what the president of the United States was saying, even if he was effectively addressing her points. Even with all of the criticisms of Bush and this administration, nobody can legitimately say that they have no idea where he stands on the issues. He has been steadfast in his beliefs and his overall message on terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the economy, social security, even his own faith have not changed from their beginning. Many of the critics themselves have flip-flopped as the wind blows. "I'm for the war, no I'm against it." "I'm for the troops, but everything they do is evil and immoral." "I believe in the national security of the U.S., but it's so exciting that a government leak revealed our program for monitoring known terrorists." Listening to these politicians is like spending time with a used car salesman. You think you have your ducks in a row, that you're ready to strike a good deal, then you become lost in the double-speak. I cannot even tell where some of these so-called leaders, such as Hillary Clinton, stand on many of the issues of the day. I've never had that problem with President Bush. When he speaks his mind, I understand where he's coming from and why he feels that way. My challenge to the critics of this president is to at least try to see this man in a different light than that which has been used to this point. Don't be like Ms. Thomas and tune out the answer once the question is over. And in observing Bush and his responses, try to withhold looking deeper for something that is not there. Sometimes in life what you see is what you get, and that can be a very good thing indeed. ------------ About the author: Ed Abraham is a concerned citizen living in flyover country, U.S.A., who happens to be truly disgusted by the loss of common sense in our society and is doing all he can to try to reinstall it. Email: eabra@myway.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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