Olin Robison, a VPR commentator and President of the Salzburg seminar (not sure what they do) and former president of Middlebury College, in his commentary today portrays President Bush as lacking the sophisticated thinking required to deal with a complex, ambiguous world. He says:
"The president's repeated references to "evil doers" who are frequently a part of the "Axis of Evil" seems to play well in the polls at least so far. A couple of weeks ago the president visited the troops awaiting deployment at Fort Hood. In addressing these men and women, the president was clear: "Either you are with those who love freedom or you are with those who hate innocent life." No wonder this scares people. It is a stance that equates moral clarity with moral simplicity. It fails to understand that, frequently, moral clarity is in recognizing nuance, subtlety, ambiguity and complexity."
Mr Robison has it wrong. A leader should display his values and speak directly, clearly and espouse no-nonsense policy based on his beliefs and, particularly, his clear distinction of right from wrong. The world of "nuance, subtlety, ambiguity and complexity" is best left to diplomats, not the leader of America. Mr. Bush leaves no confused impression of where he stands.American's want certainty and clarity from their leader, particularly in these perilous times. The sophistication Mr. Robison espouses is the delight of academics and those with little responsibility for world-changing decisions.
Mr Bush is right to be morally clear. Morality is certainly not a policy, but it should underlie every policy whose implementation protects America's principles and freeedom. When the time is right, I believe President Bush will provide the facts that underlie our policy that may require war with Iraq. Stategically, it makes no sense to divulge intelligence prematurely. The public will know Mr. Hussein's secrets in due time.
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