I AGAINST ISM (via Mike Daley):

Still standing: In a White House interview, President Bush discusses his faith, his role in the battle against homosexual marriage, and his determination to fight terrorists "who conveniently use religion to kill" (Marvin Olasky, 6/05/04, World)

BATTERED BUT not beaten, President Bush met with eight Christian journalists on May 26 and said terrorists "want to sow fear so that we'll withdraw. I will not yield to them, to their blackmail, to their murders."

The "I" was not an anomaly. George W. Bush, taught to identify that one-letter word with ego, rarely used it in small groups while governor of Texas and during 2001. After 40 months in the Oval Office, though, he is sure about his presidential role and willing to assert it. "The job of the president is to help cultures change," he said last week: "I can be a voice of cultural change." [...]

One thing that's changed about George W. Bush during his 40 White House months is his short list of presidents he admires. He's still a Reagan and a Lincoln fan, but he now talks more of Lincoln's role as a wartime president. New to his list is Franklin Roosevelt, because of FDR's growing awareness that Hitler had to be stopped: "In the face of another 'ism' he saw the problems clearly."

Given how few people comprehend that this is just another war with just another "ism", it's no wonder he's saying "I".

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 7, 2004 6:38 PM