Well, I suppose I should weigh in on the Russert interview, since everyone else is. I've been somewhat skeptical of Bush's commitment to the nation-building effort in Iraq, but I thought what the President said in the interview resolved some, or even most, of my concerns. I do not agree with Andrew that:
During the part of the interview when Bush could have strongly supported his nation-building in Iraq, and linked it to tackling the deeper problems that gave us 9/11, he was defensive and almost apologetic.
The point is that it is is intimately linked to 9/11 in precisely the way the President indicated. That is, to create a secure America we need to secure the future of Democracy in the Middle East, and he hit this point several times from several different angles. If this issue isn't clear to the reader yet, I suggest he or she take a gander at this recent post from Armed Liberal. Furthermore, I think Bush did an excellent job of controlling the interview, and am amaized that some (like Peggy Noonan) thought he did poorly. I think the President was really at his best this time, tired or not.
Posted by Demosophist at February 9, 2004 10:12 AM | TrackBack