The president's Bush league defense - Orange County Register

[question everything]

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=80274§ion=COMMENTARY&subsection=COMMENTARY&year=2004&month=2&day=10

Even the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, who wrote speeches for the first President Bush and seldom passes up a chance to praise the current one, thought George W. Bush did poorly in the "Meet the Press" interview Sunday with Tim Russert. She put it down to a lack of facility at sticking with talking points, a characteristic even the "great communicator," Ronald Reagan, shared. Both are better at speeches, she wrote.

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If he was hesitant, we suspect it's because he was defending a flawed set of policies regarding Iraq - policies that were apparently decided independently of intelligence about Saddam possessing certain weapons but presented to the American people as a response to the near-certainty that he had them. Even the most eloquent salesperson is likely to be a bit clumsy selling an incoherent policy.

(snip)

That a sitting president would go on "Meet the Press" is unusual. It suggests that the president and his political team think he is in trouble - an impression backed by recent polls.

(snip)

Would we like it if every country believed it had the right to enforce "regime change" though military force on countries halfway around the world? Are we ready to stay for the years and decades it might take to enforce stability in countries we invade? Are we ready to take casualties almost indefinitely? Does running another country enhance freedom for American citizens?