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January 21, 2005
More Unpatriotic Conservatives?
Well, well . . .
Even some of Bush's biggest supporters were aghast at the messianic tone of yesterday's inaugural speech, as well they should be. Welcome to the club, folks. Some of us have known this guy was dangerous for a long time, but you and your pals called us "unpatriotic" for saying so.
Here's Peter Robinson writing at National Review: "But the speech was in almost no way that of a conservative. To the contrary. It amounted to a thoroughgoing exaltation of the state." (Thanks to Antiwar.com for the link.)
Then there's Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal:
And yet such promising moments were followed by this, the ending of the speech. "Renewed in our strength--tested, but not weary--we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom."
This is--how else to put it?--over the top. It is the kind of sentence that makes you wonder if this White House did not, in the preparation period, have a case of what I have called in the past "mission inebriation." A sense that there are few legitimate boundaries to the desires born in the goodness of their good hearts.
One wonders if they shouldn't ease up, calm down, breathe deep, get more securely grounded. The most moving speeches summon us to the cause of what is actually possible. Perfection in the life of man on earth is not.
(Thanks to Drudge for the link.)
Posted by Mike Tennant at January 21, 2005 09:42 AM
Comments
Mike,
Your blog entries never fail to impress me with their depth and scholarship. On such short notice too.
GWB's speech sounded like a mixed team of evangalists and the ghost of Woodrow Wilson wrote it. All this "nation-building" and such will simply dissapate what is left of American influence in the world, which itself is peanuts compared to the deaths, injuries, ill-will, and vast amounts of treasure spent.
Posted by: Ali_Massoud ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.strike-the-root.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif){kind=small}
at January 22, 2005 02:07 PM
Thanks for the compliments, Ali.
Posted by: Mike Tennant at January 24, 2005 08:20 AM
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