Moral Vanity, Not Courage

Today the most powerful leader in the world spoke at a public forum and during the question and answer period listened to a speech by an ordinary American who attacked his policies and his presidency. The back and forth is here:

Q You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you'd like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are --

THE PRESIDENT: I'm not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what's your question?

Q Okay, I don't have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and --

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: No, wait a sec -- let him speak.

Q And I would hope -- I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself. And I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak what I'm saying to you right now. That is part of what this country is about.

THE PRESIDENT: It is, yes. (Applause.)

Q And I know that this doesn't come welcome to most of the people in this room, but I do appreciate that.

THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate --

Q I don't have a question, but I just wanted to make that comment to you.

The moral vanity of the questioner is breathtaking. Here he is telling the most powerful man in the world that he's afraid of him and what happens? The President lets him speak and then answers.

Anti-Bush Americans like to flatter themselves that they are dissidents in a dangerous, fascistic state where liberties are fast disappearing and where the government is a greater danger to freedom than any terrorist. (See final paragraph here, for example.) That view is delusional. It's also the most obscene moral vanity and an insult to dissidents worldwide who really have risked and given their lives for freedom, and still do.

In this country, political opponents of President Bush simply have to convince enough of their fellow Americans to vote their way come November and the President's party will lose control of Congress. After that, they just have to wait another 2 years until 2008 for the Presidential election, when the man they fear so much as a dictator, will voluntarily leave office and turn over power to his democratically elected successor. Apparently, Bush is so incompetent he can't even do dictatorship right.

-tdr

Technorati: Bush, Politics.