jgardn's Journal: President Bush's New Tone

Many people are puzzled at President Bush's political inaction. He is as popular as a president could be. Anything he puts his weight behind will get done.

He has two conservative judges waiting to be confirmed by the senate. Yet instead of mounting a huge campaign against the democrats who stand in the way, he stays out of the way and allows the senate to handle their own.

He has a tax-cut bill that is being chewed up and spit out. He could stand against those who oppose it, humiliate them and turn the public against them. He could puch his bill through untouched. But instead, he is quiet.

He has real political enemies in the United States. There are those who only want to see him impeached or worse. His response to these opponents? Silence.

Bush hand the eyes of the nation on him while he spoke from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Anything he said would be accepted by the people. He was unstoppable.

His message? He declared that the war on terror is not over, that the terrorists would be pursued until they are all gone. He declared that dictatorships will be overturned and replaced with freedom. He declared freedom as critical as food, water, even air.

What is he doing?

He is being the President. He is above politics. He is saying that there are things a leader does, and there are things a leader doesn't do. Setting the tone, setting the moral grounds for all of our society's actions is his duty. Getting involved with petty political squabble is not.

Compare this with his predecessor, Bill Clinton. It seems everything Bill was, President Bush is not. Everything Bill was not, Bush is.

Could he be reengineering the entire political structure of the United States? Could he be starting a new era of politics, where moral authority is more important than political power? Could he be showing by example that government isn't supposed to be involved in endless arguments, but instead, to focus on the tasks at hand? And when tackling the tasks on hand, is he demonstrating by example, that rather than capitalize on the events of the day for your political benefit, you should instead do your duty and let the cards fall where they may?

If this is the new tone, I like it. Perhaps more of our politicians will understand it. Perhaps the bitterness and hatred that is so obvious will be toned down. And perhaps we will see more politicians willing to sacrifice their political goals for doing the right thing.