ChicSunTimes

No doubts about Bush now

November 17, 2001

BY THOMAS ROESER

We've been used to presidents who have all the answers.

That's too bad. Frequently, the best of them didn't. They simply knew where to go to get good advice. George Washington, for instance, who allowed Alexander Hamilton to put into place the financial structure of the nation. Washington's biographers agree that this Virginia planter knew little about the intricacies of finance. Washington went along with Hamilton, and it paid off well.

Abraham Lincoln confessed that often he felt controlled by events. He took every bit of advice he could get, juggled generals and listened to them--until he found one who knew how to fight.

Harry Truman was inestimably aided by smart people. He suffered through bad advice but soared in public estimation because at strategic times, he listened to good advice--such as the Marshall Plan.

Then there have been presidents who relied on themselves for many of the answers: John Kennedy, who disregarded much advice he received against the Bay of Pigs, and Lyndon Johnson, who figured we could have both guns and butter, could wage a war in Vietnam, and not cut back on domestic spending. There was Jimmy Carter, who thought he could put government in his in-box. He was an engineer, just like Herbert Hoover, who believed he could end the Depression by raising taxes to balance the budget.

We now have a president who clearly does not advertise that he has all the answers, who passes up media opportunities, who speaks with a twang in short sentences and with ordinary phrases. George W. Bush is no genius, but he picked advisers who told him that Americans were tired of giving a fourth of their income to the government in varied forms of taxes. He's no world strategist, but feels there should be an end to the arms race. He's not dumb enough to rely just on himself, but is smart enough to listen to others who counsel that he can strike a deal with Russia's President Vladimir Putin--as indeed he has.

In a sense, Bush is like Ronald Reagan--called a dumb actor who could call on so-called smarter men and women to make the big decisions. There are some who feel that too much is being delegated in the Bush White House. I don't think so. I wouldn't feel right about Bush deciding where the military should go in Afghanistan. I do feel confident about his choosing the right people in the military to make those decisions.

That kind of leadership must be working. By a vote of 61-35, Americans are glad Bush is president and not Al Gore, who made the country know he had all the answers.

It may have to do with Bush's plain-spokenness. It may have to do with his reliance on others who he says are smarter than he is, which gives the public a wave of reassurance, telling themselves that his kind of Reaganesque modesty ensures that he's smarter--far smarter--than they thought.

And it may have to do with Bush's courage--as when he walked out to the mound at the World Series where, despite all the protection, he could have been picked off. And he threw a perfect strike.

I once thought we could do better than Bush. I know better now. See, I thought I too had all the answers. I didn't. I'm smarter now. I'm with you all the way, Mr. President.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

Answers

I thank God every day that we have Bush rather than Gore! Can you imagine where Gore would have 'led' us by now?? I shudder to think...

(a little off topic aside here, Old Git...I see where we are asked not to use phoney email addys, but then a member emailed me and warned me not to use my real one, and I see many don't. Should I or shouldn't I, that is the question...)

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

The unalterable software says don't use fake e-mails because it creates problems, i.e., bounced e-mails. But if you remember to check the No space for being notified of replies to a post, you're okay.

We recommend against real names because some people, who have irked certain disturbed people, have been harrassed via phone and e-mail--even death threats have been made. Certain, shall we say, troubled persons on other forums have been trying to find out my real name for years. Can you believe it?

Thus, it's not surprising that I ask everyone on this forum to refrain from giving out information about forum participants to anyone, no matter how friendly they may appear. Ad, of course, the password shouldn't be given out without prior permission from the Despots Committee.

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Despots Committee.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

Better safe than sorry, and don't use any of the real endings, such as .com .org. .net and so forth.

Sometimes people do that and manage to hit on a real one which also causes problems.

Besides, you can make the sig line part of your post. Some people manage to be funny doing this, although their numbers are few...LOL

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001