A Disappointment

I was seriously disappointed, Bush, by your TV appearance yesterday. What was it: a press conference? An address to the nation? No matter. And no matter all the pomp and flags and cabinet secretaries and uniformed generals lined up at your side, it was just more hot air. Billed as a major statement on the progress of your war, it was simply a repetition of the same old tired rhetoric: how well our troops are doing, how the insurgents are being beaten back, how the Iraqi forces are taking over the responsibility, how we must expect more violence, how democracy will prevail. So what was the point? Was it simply another staged event to show us "the strong leader"? I'm getting tired of that one, too. It may be unfair to remind you that Hitler's self-styled mode of address was "Der Fuehrer"--the leader. And what about Kim Jong Il? Don't they call him the "Dear Leader"? Something like that. Strong leadership requires something other than display. To be anything other than empty or simply authoritarian, it requires conviction and credibility. I wish I could believe you, Bush. I don't.