Bush | The Week

last updated 8 January 2015

The war in Iraq may be going badly, and Republican prospects for November seem shaky, said Rich Lowry in National Review Online. 'œBut there's no wobble' in our embattled president. President Bush met with conservative columnists in the Oval Office last week, providing a rare glimpse into his resolute mind. 'œI've never been more convinced that the decisions I made are the right decisions,' Bush declared. Describing the war on terror as an 'œideological struggle' between freedom and tyranny, Bush said setbacks in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories only deepen his determination to promote democracy and freedom in the Arab world. 'œIf you don't have a set of principles to fall back on,' Bush said, 'œyou flounder.' This unflagging certainty, said Lowry, 'œdrives Bush's critics crazy.' But in an age of market-tested sound bites and Clintonian triangulation, it's uplifting to find a leader who 'œexhibits sincere, passionate, and uncompromising conviction.'

Bush, in fact, may be 'œthe most inner-directed man on the globe,' said David Brooks in The New York Times. 'œThere's none of that hunger for approval' found in most politicians. Having attended that press session with Bush, I was struck by his 'œconfidence and intensity,' and by his utter assurance that his decision to invade Iraq would be vindicated in future years. Unfortunately, Bush has not shown the same kind of single-mindedness when it comes to executing his grand ambitions. Pressed about troop levels in Iraq, Bush said that he defers to military commanders on such matters. Then, lapsing into meaningless jargon, he insisted that 'œwe're modulizing the Army so that it becomes more operational.' It was a telling demonstration of the 'œsad truth' about this presidency: He talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk.

'œMoral clarity' only gets you so far, said Jonathan Chait in The New Republic Online. There's also something called competence, and Bush doesn't have it. For all of Bush's certitude about the terrorist threat, he let Osama bin Laden slip away, and made an unholy mess of the war in Iraq, which is now well on its way to becoming a 'œterrorist haven.' So how, then, does Bush remain so sure of himself? asked Maureen Dowd, also in the Times. Simple. 'œHe roams the country but never strays from Bushworld, going from military bases to conservative powwows to Republican Hill allies to sworn Bush supporters to sympathetic columnists.' At every stop, and at every White House meeting, the sycophants tell the emperor that his clothes are fine indeed. And you know what? He believes them.