[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

It just isn't the stained blue dress but also the stain from the blood of 911. Slick did nothing in eight years to stop terrorist attacks against us.

[bvw]

Nice analogy, Doug!

The Blue Finger also means that everyone "knew their brother" -- it may have guarded against attack because of the brotherhood effect.

[lightman]

Let us continue to pray for the safety of those brave warriors who are in danger and for the souls of those whose lives were cut short because they were brave enough to want to make a difference in the world

Almighty God,
we commend to your gracious care and keeping
all the men and women of our armed services at home and abroad.
Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace;
strengthen them in their trials and temptations;
give them courage to face the perils which beset them;
and grant them a sense of your abiding presence
wherever they may be;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[BenLurkin]

"As we celebrate the historic day let us remember the stark contrast of two presidencies. One will have the legacy of a stained finger that represents the greatest gift that can be given to the oppressed Iraqi people -- their freedom.

"The other stain was on a blue dress. It represents a failed eight years. Any one good CEO and any number of Democrats or Republicans could have presided over the economy in the 1990s. It just so happens that a man without character or conscience, a man who is truly a sociopath, was at the helm during an economic expansion. Terrorism grew around the world while he spent his time thinking about satisfying his sexual needs, intimidating witnesses, commiting perjury, suborning perjury, and trying to deny a lowly state employee her day in court."

Excellent observations, Doug. Your essay deserves media attention.

[spetznaz]

Let me put it this way. GW has absolutely amazed me! I knew he had astounding integrity and amazing fortitude, but i never knew he was a political genius. He has managed to do all that he said, and not only that but do more.

Seriously think about it. Iraq just had a free and fair election! And that has just started a set of domino effects that will reverberate in the region for some time.

Again, Bush just pulled off a hat-trick!

[hineybona]

Excellent writing..I'd pay to take a full page ad out in the NY Times and present it to the public ..

[ChicagoRighty]

Thanks, Doug. Great one, as usual.

[aShepard]

Very nice succinct piece!

But it goes deeper than that.

Remember the photos of Clinton and his flunkies sitting in the oval (oral) office, feet up on the furniture, in jeans, smoking cigars, having a good old time.

Contrast that with the image of George Bush (or Ronald Reagan) only entering the oval office in suit and tie, ready to do the country's business.

Bush (and Reagan) realize the importance of the office of the leader of the world. They do not take that lightly, and they certainly don't play "hide the cigar" in our house!

Clinton, and all that his administration represented, was the worst trash that America has ever elevated to a leader!

[GianniV]

Is it me, or does it feel like Clinton was President like 20 or 30 years ago? I say that, because the guy is so utterly irrelevant.

[sweetiepiezer]

^5 Doug!!!!!

[southernnorthcarolina]

Excellent piece, Doug.

The purple fingers were, as it turned out, powerful visual images.

My own reaction (and I can't claim it as original; other FReepers arrived at similar conclusions before I did) was reflected by my question yesterday to the North Carolina board: "What are the more profound badges of courage... John Kerry's Purple Hearts, or the purple fingers of Iraqi voters?"

[pbear8]

This requires a good graphic.

[harpo11]

Beautifully stated! I hope you will send your exquisite essay to newspaper 'letters to the editor'.

I'm hoping that President Bush will put blue ink on his finger for the SOTUS. Perhaps all the Republicans would too, to show solidarity with the Iraqi people and for those who yearn for freedoms wild and wonderful song.

[BobS]

Doug, only you can discover how stains are related.

I haven't heard you on the radio lately. What are you up to? Have you called into that new liberal's show on 790 KABC?

[hole_n_one]

TWO VERY DIFFERENT PRESIDENTIAL LEGACIES: A stained dress vs. a stained finger

As usual, you cleverly captured what nobody else did.

[petercooper]

nice!

[citizencon]

A tale of two stains. Great post.

[NonValueAdded]

"A stained dress vs. a stained finger"

"That's gonna leave a mark" doesn't even begin to describe it. Man, you have cut to the bone! I'm lovin it!

[McGavin999]

Do you remember how you felt when you first discovered FreeRepublic and found out that you were not alone? Just imagine how the Iraqi people feel today. Yesterday, when they set out to the polling places they did not know if they would be the only ones, and then suddenly there were crowds on every side of them. They were not alone.

They can fight the terrorists now because they know they are not alone.

[AZLiberty]

Better than that:

A stained dress vs. 10 million stained fingers.