Dubya and the Amazing, Spreadable, Wilsonian Crusade for Democracy Technicolor Dreamcoat

A Roundup of the Town Hall Reviews About Bush's Thursday Speechifying

Liberty for the Captives
By Chuck Colson

Ironic title score: 10 (on a 10-point scale)

Biblical allusion: Luke 4:18.

Asinine quote: Bush correctly and eloquently said that there is no justice without freedom, no human rights without liberty.

Rebuttal: There is no freedom without justice, no liberty without human rights (from apocryphal "Greetings From Gitmo" picture postcard).
***

The Claremont Institute: Bush's Second Inaugural: Reversing FDR
By Ken Masugi

Statement to discuss amongst yourselves: President Bush's Second Inaugural Address is the most fascinating one since Lincoln's.

Presidential allusions in order of appearance: FDR, Lincoln, Lincoln, wilson, FDR, Lincoln, FDR, FDR, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, FDR, FDR, FDR, Lincoln, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, Wilson, FDR, Madison, FDR, FDR.

Miscellaneous allusions: Kant, Nazis, fascism, Karl Rove.

Asinine quote: Bush's sole reference to abortion was so subtle it doubtless escaped the notice of many, because, again, he was focusing on principles: "Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth."

Rebuttal: Americans, at out best, value the life we see in one another and must always remember that even the postborn unwanted have worth.
***

Bush's "Conservative" Vision
By Duane D. Freese

Questionable math: Well, there are two ways by which people are controlled -- by values or by fear.

Number of times something (not necessarily "freedom") is spread: 6

Asinine quote: Another way to put it is this: The best defense is a good offence. And the best offensive weapon we have is not our military but our philosophy -- of freedom and human dignity.

Rebuttal: Well, let's ask some residents of Fallujah how offensive it is.
***

Same Man, Different President
By Jeff Jacoby

Opening line: What a difference a day made. (No, not inauguration day, sillies. That other day, the one that changed everything.)

Headache-inducing thesis: "Political life is meaner and more bitter than ever," the Iraq war is "increasingly unpopular," and "there is no end of stormy weather over his aggressive goals and style -- but Bush's optimism is "priceless."

Unfortunate use of the "c" word: The nonideological, can't-we-all-get-along slacker of 2000 has been replaced by an intense, uncompromising, undiplomatic hawk…. the nation's crusader-in-chief.

Asinine quote: His overall approval rating is only 52 percent, the lowest of any postwar president except Nixon. And yet six in 10 Americans -- significantly more than the number who voted for him -- say they feel hopeful about the next four years. Why?

Rebuttal: Why indeed.
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And From the Overflowing People-Get-Paid-to-Write-This-Crap Files…

From Jonah Goldberg's Fighting Tyranny, A Revolutionary Idea

"He has already violently overthrown two governments, in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and he's made it clear that he wouldn't cry in his non-alcoholic
beer if a few more regimes went the way of the dodo--with our help."

Mona Charen's No Lack of Vision Thing

"The U.S. cannot free every repressed population through armed intervention (the Iraqis were some of the fortunate few)…."

Fred Barnes' Bush's Breakthrough

"In effect, Bush said the policy of idealists will lead to the goal of realists. 'America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one,' he said. Boom! The wall between the two schools is gone, at least in the president's formulation."