Thursday, January 25, 2007

No Longer Leader of the Free World

Consortiumnews

Bush seems to believe in a democracy as long as the people and their representatives bend to his will. In this guest essay, political analyst Brent Budowsky observes the tragedy of an American President who no longer is hailed as the "leader of the free world":

Had George Walker Bush begun his State of the Union speech with the words, "Ladies and Gentleman, I am taking my leave and retiring from the Presidency," there would have been tidal waves of standing ovations from the Congress across the United States to the far corners of the free world.


Instead, after a modest courtly bow to the first woman Speaker and the party that triumphed in the last election, the President continued his contempt for what Jefferson called the decent opinion of mankind.

Still, nothing has changed; it is business as usual for obsessive escalation of war.

Sadly, tragically, outrageously, the President of the United States is no longer the leader of the free world.

This is why there will be celebrations and rejoicing from lovers of freedom and democracy everywhere, when this President finally takes his leave from office, and his successor begins the hard work of undoing the damage he has done to our country and our world.

Please read the rest.

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