Posted by
wht on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 8:56:00 PM
Has John Hinderaker joined a cult of personality? George Bush remains a quite ordinary man, showing no special skills or obvious brilliance.
I had the opportunity this afternoon to be part of a
relatively small group who heard President Bush talk, extemporaneously,
for around forty minutes. It was an absolutely riveting experience. It
was the best I've ever seen him. Not only that; it may have been the
best I've ever seen any politician. If I summarized what he said, it
would all sound familiar: the difficult times we live in; the threat
from Islamic fascism--the phrase drew an enthusiastic round of
applause--the universal yearning for freedom; the need to confront evil
now, with all the tools at our disposal, so that our children and
grandchildren can live in a better and safer world. As he often does,
the President structured his comments loosely around a tour of the Oval
Office. But the digressions and interpolations were priceless.
The conventional wisdom is that Bush is not a very good speaker. But
up close, he is a great communicator, in a way that, in my opinion,
Ronald Reagan was not. He was by turns instructive, persuasive, and
funny. His persona is very much that of the big brother. Above
all, he was impassioned. I have never seen a politician speak so
evidently from the heart, about big issues--freedom, most of all.
I've sometimes worried about how President Bush can withstand the
Washington snake pit and deal with a daily barrage of hate from the
ignorant left that, in my opinion, dwarfs in both volume and injustice
the abuse directed against any prior President. (No one accused Lincoln
of planning the attack on Fort Sumter.) Not to worry. He is, of course,
miles above his mean-spirited liberal critics. More than that, he
clearly derives real joy from the opportunity to serve as President and
to participate in the great pageant of American history. And he sees
himself as anything but a lame duck, which is why he is stumping for
Republican candidates around the country.
It was, in short, the most inspiring forty minutes I've experienced in politics.