During the 2000 Presidential election, Mr. Bush and the people who ran his campaign made a determined effort to question the character of V.P. Al Gore. During one of the debates, even moderator Jim Lehrer promoted the republican talking point and questioned Mr. Gore about his character. Mr. Lehrer never asked Mr. Bush about his own character however.
President Bush has been described by his political operatives as a strong leader. That is the image they try to project. Others say Mr. Bush is stubborn and sticks to his word. The facts say neither of those descriptions are accurate. Lets examine the facts because it is the President who has the character problem.
After the tragic events of 9-11 the President tried to plant the seed in the American peoples mind that Saddam and Iraq played a hand in that attack even though he knew that was false. A President with character would never have done that, but Mr. Bush was trying to lay the ground work for the invasion and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist.
During the debates of the 2004 election, Mr. Bush was asked by one of the people in attendance to name 3 mistakes he made as President. In fact he could not think of any mistakes. He could not and still can not bring himself to admit his many mistakes. He has yet to admit to any mistakes concerning the war in Iraq. Instead he says "we" made mistakes but never "I" made mistakes. This is a trait of a small person who can't accept responsibility. The buck stops at the desk of a strong leader who has character, but not on this President's desk.
A strong leader with character would never have committed our nation and our men and women in uniform to a war and occupation in Iraq over WMD that did not exist; a strong leader with character would never have changed his reasons for going to war in Iraq after WMD were not found; a strong leader with character would never have told the American people that Iraq was the center of the war on terror when Bin Laden and Al Queda were in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
A strong leader with character would not change the reasons over and over about why we are still in Iraq well into the fifth year of war and occupation; a strong leader with character would not try to brand Veterans who served their country as not supporting our troops when they disagreed with how Bush has conducted the war; A strong leader with character would never say the war in Iraq was justified when the reasons given for starting the war proved to be false. The war itself has proved to be an unnecessary war; a strong leader with character would not have misled the people over and over again throughout his presidency.
A strong leader with character would never tell our enemies to "bring it on" against America and put our men and women in uniform at risk; a strong leader with character would not be reckless in his foreign policy decisions; a strong leader with character would not make self serving statements to justify his decisions that have be proven wrong; a strong leader with character would not walk away from a war he started to leave it to his successor to finish. (The President has already told the people at a news conference over a year ago that the next President would have to deal with the war.)
A strong leader with character would pursue policies that bring our people and nation together instead of division. The President not only fails the character test of a strong leader, but he fails the test of being able to carry the moral mantle of world leadership.
The spin machine of this administration and Karl Rove can not change the facts. Now Mr. Rove has left the administration to write a book and rewrite the history of Mr. Bush's presidency but it will never wash.
I wonder if Jim Lehrer has learned a lesson about "character" in the last several years. Journalist who push politician's talking points would do their profession a favor if they stick to reporting the facts.
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