20070114

Presidential Address January 10, 2007

(See here) a transcript of the Presidential Address to the nation given by George Dubyah Bush on January 10, 2007.

First, let me identify where I stood before I heard what our President had to say. I was dead set against the increase in troop levels.

What the President had to say in his address was not much new. What he was going to propose in this address was largely known and had been largely dissected prior to our President uttering the words he spoke.

However, after listening to the words spoken, I had a change of heart. I asked myself, is it possible for what our leader proposes might be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

I decided that I would support my President's initiative. Is it possible his plans might work? Well, personally, I rather doubt it. Too little too late is my own description. (Please preface that last statement within that I was against the Iraq war from the outset in the way that we engaged in it.) I do not think that what Dubyah proposes is going to alter the outcome in Iraq. However I could be wrong. Even if I am correct, there are advantages to giving Dubyah and those who think like him enough rope to hang themselves.

Think about it. Our involvement in Iraq was the stupid thing to do. Most of us already realize it, however what has happened has not yet convinced Dubyah and those who think like him. They still think "victory" can be achieved. What worries me most is that how I would describe "victory" is not going to satisfy that group. That group has an unrealistic viewpoint of what we could expect from our involvement. But why should I be surprised, this same group claimed the Iraqi people would throw flowers at the feet of the liberators (that would be us) that rescued them.

My support of Dubyah's proposal is based upon this. It is the maximum effort that conservatives think the American People will swallow. If we reluctantly allow this group "one last effort" we can silence them. If we deny them this effort, we need to look forward to what will happen in the next election cycle (which includes the election of a new President). Any effort to "withdraw" or "redeploy" is going to result in mayhem. At the end of the mayhem, we as a people are going to be forced to deal with the forces that emerge victorious. Those who were in favor of the war are not going to be willing to claim ownership of the results. They are going to point at what happens, tell us it is not their mess, but it is the result of "them damn liberals" that kept them from leading us to victory.

OK, let us as a nation, give them one last opportunity to lead us before we snatch the reigns from their hands. Let us deny "those guys" any opportunity to claim the mess is "our" fault and not theirs. Once they are done, the blame for "our" failed efforts can be righteously be laid at their feet and we can walk away from the blame.

I am not asking that we unreasonably follow Dubyah into oblivion. I am only asking that we give him enough rope to hang himself. He is not asking for too much rope, he is being reasonable in his request. He only asks for enough rope to complete the hanging. Let us give him the rope he asks for.

I will state this, while I think Dubyah will fail in his leadership attempts, I hope I am wrong. You see, I do not think that I disagree that much with Dubyah's objectives in where he tries to lead us. I only think the methods he has been choosing to obtain these objectives are what are lacking, not the objectives themselves.

I hope that, by giving our President our support, he can prove his leadership was correct and that all of the rest of us are wrong. I do not think this is the outcome that we will witness as we watch and live out our lives, but I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong.

One last chance for Dubyah to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This is what I am in favor of. Let us give him one last chance to beat his head against the wall. Who knows, maybe his head will be hard enough to bring the wall down. My guess is that he is going to walk away from the wall with the need for new bandages, however I could be wrong.

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