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President Bush Continues to Pilot Nation ‘On Course’
by
Gregory J. Rummo
When President
Bush spoke to the nation aboard the USS Abraham
Lincoln, declaring the
demise of Saddam Hussein was “...one victory in a
war on terror that began on September 11, 2001
and still goes on,” it was fitting that his
address, which marked the end of the military phase
in Iraq, was
delivered to an audience of returning troops aboard
an aircraft carrier.
Like a mighty ship at sea, this president does not
waver though the seas be rough or the gales
strong. This is undoubtedly due to his strong faith
in God, a faith “with no doubting, for he who
doubts is
like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind,” as the New Testament writer James explains.
Faced with one of the toughest challenges a
president can face, he set a decisive course,
ignored his
critics and continues to get the job done.
Only a man with deep convictions about the
rightness of his mission could sail so boldly.
Unlike
his predecessor, there’s no wetting the fingers and
sticking them in the air to test the direction or
whim of
public opinion.
No wonder he drives the liberals nuts. He actually
does what he says he’s going to do.
George Bush is a man that is unwavering in his
belief that at such a time as this, he has been
charged with the high calling of protecting the
United States of America from global terrorism, a
threat so
overarching, that if not addressed head on as the national priority, then things like the economy,
health
care, education and the environment won't matter.
Look at the fiscal crisis facing New York City, the
result of the destruction of the World Trade Center
and the concomitant losses of jobs and tax
revenues.
Unfortunately, the memories of many Americans are
weak. Others—members of Congress
predominately in the minority party—have willfully
chosen to exercise selective recall, sensing a
political
victory by setting their own course in opposition
to the president.
And that is a huge mistake.
It is important to remember the course President
Bush set was charted before a joint session to
Congress on September 20, 2001, during which time,
he made it very clear that al Qaeda was not the
only organization we would seek out and destroy in
the war against terrorism: “Our war on terror
begins
with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will
not end until every terrorist group of global reach
has
been found, stopped and defeated.”
Four months later in his State of the Union,
delivered on January 29, 2002, the president
echoed these sentiments in his now famous “Axis of
Evil” speech.
Both of these speeches were punctuated by wild
applause, often, and from both sides of the
aisle.
From the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, the
president reminded Americans, “Our mission
continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed. The
scattered cells of the terrorist network still
operate
in many nations, and we know from daily
intelligence that they continue to plot against
free people. The
proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious
danger. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and
neither are we. Our government has taken
unprecedented measures to defend the homeland. And we
will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can
strike.”
“The war on terror is not over; yet it is not
endless. We do not know the day of final victory,
but we
have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the
terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our
resolve,
or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free
nations will press on to victory.”
Addressing the returning troops from an aircraft
carrier wasn’t conceived as a photo-op or some
cheap, glitzy show to cement public opinion. The
president already had almost 80 percent of
Americans
on his side. In an awesome spectacle 19 months
after 9-11, George Bush used the occasion to remind
the world—Syria and North Korea, take special
note—that he is undeterred and still on course in
the
war against terror.
He cemented his remarks the following weekend in
his radio address, saying, "No act of
terrorists will change our purpose or weaken our
resolve or alter their fate. Their cause is lost.
Free
nations will press on to victory."
Meanwhile, somewhere along the way, the crew of
that other vessel, the USS Other Side of the Aisle,
last seen floundering somewhere out at sea, has
apparently abandoned ship. James would remind us
that
these were clearly, “double-minded [men]…unstable
in all [their] ways.”
Frankly—we’re better off without them.
Gregory J. Rummo is a syndicated columnist. Visit his website, www.GregRummo.com
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