Bush's Speech

My favorite line:

America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.

That should be obvious to even the most casual observer, yet I am forever hearing on the news shows "So Bush wants to bring democracy to these countries, whether they want it or not?" Yes, Mr. Talking Head, that's exactly right. Bush, for his own nefarious reasons, is going to force the blissfully ignorant little natives into a state of political freedom which they aren't suited for and don't really desire. We know this will somehow advance Haliburton's interests, we just haven't quite figured out how. One would think it would be easier to buy the oil (or whatnot) from one corrupt dictator than to win the support of an elected legislative body, but if Bush supports it, we know there must be an imperialist agenda. Sigh.

Honestly, this speech appeals to the liberal in me. It's idealistic and optimistic:

In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

What's not to like? Except for the possible pro-life line in there, why can't liberals get behind this? It saddens me to see them so angry and pessimistic, as if their only agenda is to be against anything Bush wants, even things liberals should want. "If Bush wants more fuzzy kitties, then we think all fuzzy kitties should die."

Update: Powerline imagines the Democratic response to Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address:

The president harped on the "colored slaves." He claimed that "this interest was somehow the cause of the war." But the president well knows that ending slavery was never part of the original justification for fighting this war. It is simply an after-the-fact rationalization, developed after it became clear that we had no plan to defeat the South. Nor can the president honestly claim that the slaves are better off in their current, parlous state than they were prior to the war when they lived in peace and tranquility.

That's what I'm talkin' about. (via Instapundit)