The other George W. Bush

Well, I saw that speech, and I didn't much like it. Oh, it was very well delivered, but the content was less than I had come to expect from this man. Lots of people liked it, for the wrong reasons. But it was a mediocre speech, lacking good ideas, and implying bad ideas.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. New Orleans is a bad idea. It should never have been built below sea level. That was stupid. Some have suggested rebuilding on higher ground. I say fine, if they can find a suitable site, but what are the odds? A more promising approach is to fill in that hole and then build atop the fill.

But Bush didn't suggest either of these things. He called for new, stronger levees. That's not a real solution. Here we have a golden opporunity for a do-over. We can fix this horrible design. But Bush is already squandering the chance.

I think what's going on here is there are two of him.

I wasn't impressed with Dubya in 2000. I didn't even vote for him then. Then there came that stupid No Child Left Behind nonsense together with the senator from Chappaquiddick. But after 9/11 hit, we saw a differnet Bush. We saw a leader, a risk taker, a problem solver, not a mere manager or politician.

Some people didn't like that. 9/11 was a wake-up call to the nation, that we needed to get rid of terrorism entirely. Some of us woke up, and some of us put pillows over their heads and tried to sleep. I woke up. George W. Bush woke up. In the end, the world will be better for it.

But Dubya the politician never went away. He resurfaced the other night. He tried to pass himself off as President Bush, the leader, by using the same courgeous phreaseology. But I wasn't fooled. I've been around too long to be distracted by style. The substance was pure politics. No vision at all, no imagination, and an opportunity to lead squandered, for the sake of some opinion poll points.

Here's hoping this Dubya goes back underground soon. The world does not need another politician. What the world neads is leaders.


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