I did not vote for President George W. Bush ( twice); nor, did I vote for his father ( twice). I di not vote for President Obama, because I had met him on at least five occasions and each was wildly underwhelming.
President Bush surprised me. I liked him and wished that I would have voted for him. He strikes me as the type of guy who would pull over on the Chicago Skyway to help a family with a flat during a blizzard,
President Obama would fly past, commenting on the families inadequate tires, I have no empirical doubt. President Obama has never surprised, sadly enough.
Yesterday I caught former President Bush's remarks and was stirred by these words.
Most of us imagine if the moment called for, that we would risk our lives to protect a spouse or a child. Those wearing the uniform assume that risk for the safety of strangers. They and their families share the unspoken knowledge that each new day can bring new dangers.Brevity, heart and digity - free of political grandstanding, or making a memorial for the slain officers all about himself. President Obama, yet again, had more "Is" in his remarks than a drunken rugby team's rendition of Cielito Lindo. He also made sure that Hillary Clinton and the DNC would a 'solid:" you know hundreds of years of systemic racism in every police force in Howard Zinn's America.
But none of us were prepared, or could be prepared, for an ambush by hatred and malice. The shock of this evil still has not faded. At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization.
Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.
Well done President Bush!
