Some People Just Don't Get It

MSNBC's Fareed Zakaria complains about skepticism toward Bush's speech on democratizing the Middle East,

Sometimes I think that president bush’s critics need to put up a sign somewhere in their rooms that reads: "Some things are true even if George W. Bush believes them."

What he is obviously missing is that the objections and skepticism are not directed toward Bush's words, but reflect the fact that Bush isn't being taken at his word. It is wonderful to speak of "compassionate conservativism", being a "uniter, not a divider", of a "clean skies" act to prevent pollution, of "leave no child behind" policies to fix our nation's schools, and of bringing democracy to the world.... But why is it that the reality always seems to fall so far from Bush's platitudes?

Also, isn't this the type of philosophy that caused "conservatives" to attack Carter as a wide-eyed dreamer? Yet when Bush adopts a similar philosophy, right-wing rags like the New York Post reinvent it as:

An eloquent, often moving restatement of American foreign policy at its most generous and idealistic, the speech put the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a historical context that went way beyond narrow conceptions of national interest or, for that matter, partisan politics.

What's the difference between "then" and "now"? Are the right-wingers who have spent two decades savaging Carter's foreign policy now tacitly admitting that he had it right? Or are they so ignorant of history, and so eager to save Bush from himself, that they'll glorify every word he utters no matter how inconsistent with his party's past practices and philosophies, and no matter how much at odds his words are with his actions?

When it comes to democracy and the Middle East, Bush can win over his skeptics by living up to his words. I won't hold my breath.

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