“President Bush’s speechwriter referred to 9/11 as a “teachable moment,” which is a time when people listen to their leaders in ways they do only when they’re ready to be led. I agree. Fear makes people seek the protective reassurance of a leader, who intuits when it is right to comfort, to challenge, to ask for sacrifice. There is an outpouring of caring, support, national unity. It is at such moments that a president can put his imprint on history. He can fit his dreams for the country to the opportunity the tragedy presents, as Johnson did in 1964, in the wake of JFK’s assassination.” – Bill Bradley, The New America Story, p.46.
What did Bush give us?
George W. Bush: “I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you.”
[George W. Bush brandishes a golf club]
George W. Bush: “Now, watch this drive.”
Bush told us to go shopping. Then he went about rallying his base.
George W. Bush: “What an impressive crowd: the haves, and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite, I call you my base.”
What have we learned?
