BUSH'S RESPONSE

The White House does not get President Bush in front of the press nearly as often as they should. Despite the attacks on his speaking skills, every time I have seen him I have been impressed. He is eloquent without being pretentious, straight forward and understandable without condescension, and seems to have that indefinable quality that, to use that increasingly over used phrase, makes one want to buy him a beer. Tonight's speech was no different.

The current mantra of the left is to demand the President present an "exit strategy" aka "an exact date that we'll pull out of this hell hole."

Bush answered clearly that a timeline sends the wrong message:
1. It sends the wrong message to the Iraqi's; leading them to believe we are exiting at some artificial time instead of finishing the mission.
2. It sends the wrong message to the troops; leading them to believe we aren't commited to the cause for which they are fighting.
3. It sends the wrong message to the terrorists; leading them to believe they can wait us out.

Another popular criticism is-- if the war is so important, why doesn't the President send more troops?

As this question has been raised, and answered, approximately 15 billion times since the start of the war, Bush deserves the utmost credit for responding to it without strangling the nearest reporter. We will send more troops, Bush explained, when the commanders in Iraq ask for more.

Bush provided clear, concise, and civil answers to the critics of the war. Although the hysterical left will certainly continue to parrot the same attacks, hopefully more American's will see the wisdom of the war, and our continued execution of it.

As for the administration, hopefully it will see what so many Bush supporters have known along-- that Bush is a unique and powerful public speaker-- and that his personal explanation of the administration's policies will win millions of supporters to his side.
Nemesis