Dissident President

Dissident President George W. Bush has the courage to speak out for freedom. BY NATAN SHARANSKY Monday, April 24, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

There are two distinct marks of a dissident. First, dissidents are fired by ideas and stay true to them no matter the consequences. Second, they generally believe that betraying those ideas would constitute the greatest of moral failures. Give up, they say to themselves, and evil will triumph. Stand firm, and they can give hope to others and help change the world.
Political leaders make the rarest of dissidents. In a democracy, a leader's lifeline is the electorate's pulse. Failure to be in tune with public sentiment can cripple any administration and undermine any political agenda. Moreover, democratic leaders, for whom compromise is critical to effective governance, hardly ever see any issue in Manichaean terms. In their world, nearly everything is colored in shades of gray.

That is why President George W. Bush is such an exception. He is a man fired by a deep belief in the universal appeal of freedom, its transformative power, and its critical connection to international peace and stability. Even the fiercest critics of these ideas would surely admit that Mr. Bush has championed them both before and after his re-election, both when he was riding high in the polls and now that his popularity has plummeted, when criticism has come from longstanding opponents and from erstwhile supporters.

With a dogged determination that any dissident can appreciate, Mr. Bush, faced with overwhelming opposition, stands his ideological ground, motivated in large measure by what appears to be a refusal to countenance moral failure.

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IMO Bush's stance on anything has nothing to do with morals. It has however all to do with not admitting you're wrong and cutting your losses and regrouping with a better plan of attack. It's all about a stubborn refusal to admit you're wrong and that is not a good thing. Outside of the abortion issue, the tax cuts, and two Supreme Court appointments (And we still don't know how they will turn out) Bush has exhibited no Conservative traits. Spending is out of control. the Mexican border is out of control, Iraq is still out of control, and Rummy is still laying on the b/s.

Bush seems to have it in his head that because this is his 2nd term and he's a lame-duck he can do as he damn well pleases. I say here and now that the American voters are going to show Mr. Bush in November who's really in control. We'll see how that last two years of the Bush administration goes when the Democrat's have control one one or both houses of Congress.