For those of you who tuned in to FOX Tuesday night to watch the final eight American Idols strut their stuff, you're very well aware that a presidential press conference replaced the show. But give it up to President Bush - that press conference had much better choreography.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush has told the American public three things - Saddam Hussein is bad, Osama bin Laden is bad, and what happened on Sept. 11 made him sad. At Ground Zero, it's what Bush told us.
When the nation grieved as Springsteen strummed "My City of Ruins" on a telethon, it's what Bush told us. When we launched an attack on Iraq last March, it's what Bush told us. When statues toppled and Saddam popped out of a hole, it's what Bush told us. And now, while American civilians and soldiers are being killed at an unparalleled clip in a lawless country, it's what Bush has told us.
We think that things have changed just a bit since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Some of it has been for the good, and some of it has been for the worse. And as Tuesday evening's press conference reiterated to us once again, it's a criminal shame that Bush hasn't gone beyond those three facts in nearly three years.
The most telling display of our president's aloofness concerning American public opinion was reared when he was asked Tuesday evening if he'll ever admit a mistake - a perfectly legitimate question. Bush had predicted that American soldiers in Iraq would be treated as heroes, he'd assured the world that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraqi borders and he's maintained that his administration did its very best to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. All three have substantial - though not necessarily convincing - evidence to the contrary.
Our president was asked if he were human. His reply?
"The people know where I stand."
Simon Cowell is better at obscuring the truth. He told Clay Aiken he could sing, and Aiken ate it up.
To the president's defense, though, the people actually do know where he stands. But it's only because the story hasn't changed, while the world around him has dramatically. Saddam's captured, Iraq's a bloodbath, Osama hasn't been seen since who knows when, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still make everyone sad. The world and America's role in it is different than when Americans still believed in the effectiveness of the war on terror. And that requires a new story from the leader of our nation.
The answers are the same, but the questions today are completely different. We aren't interested in full disclosure - we just want to be treated as adults. For the opinions of the American people to be treated with such a casual, smug tone of wide-reaching emotion is nothing short of insulting. The American people are asking all the right questions. It's shameful that the president isn't willing to actually listen to them.
