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J. Podhoretz: “State of the Union: Don’t Doubt Dubya”

Another great read written by John Podhoretz (yes, son of Norman).  This one’s called STATE OF THE UNION: DON’T DOUBT DUBYA.

I like this line:  “And as far too many people have had to learn over the past four years, it’s unwise to bet against George W. Bush.”  Liberals in Canada haven’t gotten the memo.

ONE of the foolish cavils against President Bush’s focus on spreading liberty around the world is that he hasn’t insisted on it everywhere and in all places. Well, last night, he shut them up but good. In his State of the Union Address, he explicitly called on Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and the Saudi Arabian royals to embrace democratic reforms.

And he offered a powerful moral message to the burgeoning dissident movement in theocratic Iran: “As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.”

In every major Bush speech, he swings for the fences with a surprising and bracing line that instantly changes things. In the 2002 State of the Union, it was his remark about the “Axis of Evil.” In 2005, the world-changing moment may have been those 11 words directed at young Iranians who we know (from their blogs and e-mails) are hungering for freedom like their neighbors in Iraq.

It’s a high-stakes move. There’s a danger that the reverberations of those 11 words will lead to violence and bloodshed in Iran. But Bush has learned from former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, among others, that the words of a president in support of those who seek liberty in an unfree land give hope and strength and help bolster the will to persevere.

 

Joel Johannesen
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