Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt
Listening to the fatuous Al Gore claim his undeserved Nobel Prize and maunder on about how America is ruining the planet makes me realize how fortunate America is to have as its president George W. Bush. Yes, Bush has his ample share of failings. He occasionally speaks at the fifth-grade level. He is too willing to surround himself with cronies and sycophants. An unsupple man, Bush sometimes reminds me of the toy soldier who walks into the wall and keeps going.
Bush's weaknesses, however, are more than compensated for by his one great strength. This is a man with unbelievable tenacity. No American president in my lifetime, not even Reagan, had Bush's guts. Perhaps one would have to go all the way back to Franklin or Teddy Roosevelt to find comparable determination. On the international stage, Bush's stamina recalls that of Churchill. Consider: when Bush was elected in 2000 with the tiniest conceivable margin--a margin so slender it required Supreme Court intervention to place him in the Oval Office--I was sure that Bush's proposed tax cuts were dead. But no: Bush pushed ahead and got most of what he proposed. And the subsequent health of the economy--low interest rates, low unemployment, steady growth--has undoubtedly been nourished by Bush's tax cuts.
Then in 2006, after the midterm debacle, I thought that Bush's Iraq policy was finished. And you could hear the pundits and the newly-elected Democratic congressmen and the pathological Bush-haters gleefully declaring, "Now he's going to have to start pulling out of Iraq." Instead Bush pressed for an increase of 20,000-25,000 troops. Incredibly, he got it. Congress shrieked and howled but went along. The American people were very doubtful, but Bush serenely told them to "wait and see." Bush has seemingly singe-handedly pursued his vision for Iraq even when his allies both at home and abroad have dwindled or lost their nerve. And once again Bush's policy seems to be working. Iraq is becoming more peaceful, and apparently there are Shia and Sunni leaders cooperating with the Americans. The Bush-haters are still with us, but the wind has gone out of the antiwar movement.
Bush has had a tough second term in office. But I think history will be kinder to him than the opinion polls, at least in the past couple of years, have been. When the country looks back at Iraq and sees a standing, even if fragile, democracy, Americans will see that when they became impatient, Bush forged ahead. When they were ready to give up, he was undeterred. And as a consequence the Middle East has its first Muslim democracy, and a pro-American democracy to boot. The lesson of Iraq may well be: Thank God we didn't listen to those advocates of defeat on the left; if we had, it would have been Vietnam all over again.
The diplomat Clare Luce once wrote that history, which has no room for clutter, will remember every president by just one line. I'm not quite sure how Bill Clinton will be remembered: perhaps his only distinguishing mark will be the one that Paula Jones identified. As for Bush, he will go down in history as the president who refused to back down, and if staying the course in Iraq proves to be the right move, then Bush could be remembered as one of America's great presidents.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 42)
16. i think brian learned the word "spineless" today.
at least that is more than dd has learned in a month.
stuart joshua at 9:55AM on Dec 14th 2007
17. Once again the left is making Mr. Dsouza's point for him.
Instead of a persuasive debate, we get coercion.
To RMWiersema, taking quotes out of context from the bible doesn't make an argument.
People on the left, if you wish to claim a superior morality, you need to start by not letting your emotions get to you.
pd at 9:53AM on Dec 14th 2007
18. btw, dd, would you go to iraq to fight???
would you put your life where your mouth is and go physically defend bush and his beliefs in the war zone??
or would you rather stay in your office and spout horseshit??
which one?? huh?? how much do you really believe in the crap you write???
stuart joshua at 10:02AM on Dec 14th 2007
19. Good piece Dinesh, I agree.
Willet at 9:57AM on Dec 14th 2007
20. Think about it: The blog is titled the unbelievable tenacity of bush. The article is all about his guts. IS THIS ENOUGH TO MAKE A LEADER??
BULLSHIT IT IS!
DOES NOONE CARE ABOUT INTELLIGENCE AND FORESIGHT AND WHERE WE ARE HEADED??
We are bankrupting and killing ourselves to build shit over there. Why?? Oh yeah, so there MAY be a standing shaky muslim democracy in a few years. And our allies over there are beating a rape victim.
dd, i thought you only went on your knees in church, not in the oval office too.
stuart joshua at 10:04AM on Dec 14th 2007
21. Miriam Webster:
fatuous
Main Entry: fat·u·ous
Pronunciation: \ˈfa-chü-əs, -tyü-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin fatuus foolish
Date: 1633
: complacently or inanely foolish : silly
synonyms see simple
— fat·u·ous·ly adverb
— fat·u·ous·ness noun
Now, who does that sound like?
Certainly not Gore. He is anything BUT complacent.
Sounds like Bush to me.
Linda at 9:59AM on Dec 14th 2007
22. Willet, specifically what do you agree with??
enlighten me please. Because all I see is dying and maiming and our own country losing out, while a small handful of americans get rich from these foreign policy decisions. I work for DHS. I was there for 9/11. I work in downtown manhattan. Don't question my patriotism. I think that bush and cheney are inimical to our interests and are tantamount to treasonous criminals.
But i have an open mind. You see dd does not convince me because he is selective with his facts, and omits so much relevant information.
PLEASE, ENLIGHTEN ME....PLEASE!!!
stuart joshua at 10:07AM on Dec 14th 2007
23. The only spinless people in the country are the hypocrit fundemental conservatives that don't practice what they preach!
goddess1prevail at 10:06AM on Dec 14th 2007
24. good post today, dinesh
neworleanslady at 10:07AM on Dec 14th 2007
25. Someone must be holding a gun to your head to make you write this tripe. GW Bush will go down in history (if we have one) as the most despicable American who ever lived. If all were known, he'd replace Hitler as the most infamous criminal head of state. He doesn't even have a "base" anymore, everyone is on to him (except you!).
Liberty at 10:09AM on Dec 14th 2007
26. oh crap!!! i messed up the link in my name.
MY book is titled AMERICA'S MOST GANGSTA.
Coming soon to amazon.com and barnes and noble, and wherever great, funny, mob-related, and bush-skewering books are sold!!!
stuart joshua at 10:12AM on Dec 14th 2007
27. How about Bush's no child left behind program? They give the poor child's information to military recruits in order to create poor, uneducated soldiers that go to wars without a cause!
While Bush hides and doctores his military records to not show the public how he got preferential treatment! What a true PUSSY he is!
Or how about his new health bill? It was meant to help the elderly the elderly pay more in medical insurance while it gives drug companies more government money? How much of a payoff did the Bush receive for that? A whole whooping $900,000!
goddess1prevail at 10:16AM on Dec 14th 2007
28. great job, dinesh. i agree completely!
blower of bush at 10:15AM on Dec 14th 2007
29. You win every debate, Dinesh!
You are the best!
I agree completely!
obvious conservative at 10:16AM on Dec 14th 2007
30. How about Bushes denial of foreign aid in New Orleans? How about his dragged out response to help the People of New Orleans? Do you call that tenacity? How about them losing their homes to the Bush supported insurance companies that won't pay?
goddess1prevail at 10:17AM on Dec 14th 2007