Endless Love

Yesterday on NPR's "Fresh Air," Terry Gross interviewed a man close to your own heart, the vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, Richard Cizik.

This man's compassionate and sophisticated approach to policy discourse, to partisan politics, and to his own organization's mistakes truly made me stop and think, Bush.

I disagreed with most of Mr. Cizik' s positions on social issues, but his frankness and humility made me eager to listen, and to search for areas of common ground (like his belief that the NAE should prioritize poverty and environmental work).

When the interview concluded, I began to fantasize. How would things be different now if the "compassionate conservatism" you espoused during the campaign turned out to be more than just empty rhetoric? What if you had not abandoned our domestic poor to focus all of your energy on a strange, polarizing, crusadist foreign policy?

The hilarious images of "Bush and Blair Endless Love" helped feed the fantasy. I wonder, Bush, do you remember what it's like to be in love?