Andrew Sullivan on 2003 SOTU

andrewsullivan.com ^ | 01/28/03 | Andrew Sullivan

[Pokey78]

AMBITION:I've been thinking in the few minutes before I sat down to write how to temper my admiration for the speech I just heard. So to get it out of the way: the domestic ambitions of this president strike me as immensely expensive and clearly liable to sadddle us with at least another decade of deficit spending.

But then I found myself - an unabashed small government supporter - putting some of those concerns aside.

Why? Because Bush is tapping into American ambition again, which is no small achievement. And because his domestic concerns seem to me motivated by a decency and a compassion I cannot but respect.

As someone with HIV, I listened to his words about AIDS and found my throat catching.

This is a Republican president, and yet he sees the extraordinary pain and anguish and death that this disease has caused and is still causing.

He made me question again my more pragmatic concerns about the feasibility of HIV treatment and prevention in Africa and shamed me into realizing I should be far more optimistic in the attempt to tackle this issue.

And when he spoke about addiction - a problem I also see all around me - I also felt a genuineness in his words that surprised me.

I shouldn't be surprised, of course. Bush was an addict. And he came this close to saying it.

But this aspect of the drug problem is one too many have either spoken about glibly or not spoken about at all. If we cannot end the idiotic "drug-war", we can at least expand treatment and care for the addicted.

I was also gratified and relieved by his proactive moves on the environment. A pro-growth, technologically-driven environmentalism should be a central plank of modern conservatism.

Bush went some way toward establishing that. He needs to do more.

But there was something else here - the glimmers of a real core of compassionate conservatism.

By mentioning the lonely elderly, or the AIDS orphan, and calling on us to get involved person by person, I felt morally led by a president in ways that I cannot recall in my lifetime.

I was particularly struck by the president's defense of the newly or prematurely born, and their right to be treated with dignity and compassion rather than with brutality.

So sue me for being moved. I was.

KENNEDY, REVIVED:And then the extraordinary transition to foreign affairs.

It was a brilliant rhetorical flourish to begin so quietly, almost intimately, and then to build resolve out of compassion.

He laid out the distinctions between the various despotisms in the axis of evil, calmly, clearly and persuasively. He did not strike me as in any sense eager for war.

But the case against Saddam is so overwhelming, so morally right, so strategically essential that the need for war, if necessary, was, to my mind, irrefutable.

So too was the attempt to show that, in these terrifying and bewildering times, we can still control our own destiny.

I respect those who worry about the unintended consequences of a war with Iraq. I understand those who are concerned about the precedent of a pre-emptive strike. I admire those who want clear empirical data before the grave decision of war.

But it seemed to me that the president effectively answered each of those worries. He should have mentioned the allies who are already on board - the Brits and Italians and Australians and Spaniards. But if his goal was to show resilience, patience and a moral grasp of America's current responsibility, then he accomplished it.

In many ways, this was a Kennedy-like speech, a speech a Democratic president could have made, if the Democratic Party hadn't fallen into such moral and strategic confusion.

Self-confident, convinced, as he should be, of the benign nature of America's role in the world, ambitious, and warm, it was a tour de force of big government conservatism, mixed with Cold War liberalism.

"THAT THAT DAY NEVER COMES":My highlights?

When Bush directly addressed the poor people of Iraq, he destroyed the media cant that mistakes a butcher for a people.

When he declared of the evil men of al Qaeda, that "one by one the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice," his message must have rung in the ears of those still longing, as I am, for the perpetrators of 9/11 to be captured or killed.

But his best passage was when he outlined the irrefutable logic that connects 9/11 with Saddam:

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known.

That's it, in a nutshell. It is not paranoid to fear this. It is responsible. And it is the president's job to be responsible.

He seemed to me to show the calm of someone with real faith - both in the justice of his cause and America's ability to see it through. Everything else is minor compared to this.

Everything.

[jwalsh07]

I want to make it clear we can have compassion for dying people without endorsing the kinds of values that caused them to contract AIDS in the first place.

I would agree with that totally.

[carlo3b]

Sheeeeesh..I wish I could have said it better, but of course I can't!
I am so sorry to hear he has HIV, it seems as happens all too often in his community, a bright young man has had his treasured life forsaken for a weak will. However, it frequently surprises me how much I agree with this man on so many issues, not all issues, but it doesn't seem to matter.. I really like him.
I think if we can hone our message with Compassionate Conservatism, Mr. Sullivan could be considered a Sensible Liberal.... even if those words choke me as I say them... LOLOL

[steelie]

"Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known....This shall never happen"

This is the very paragrph I pulled out for my 13 year old as the gist of the speech!

[MHGinTN]

Andrew is astute in his offering, except for the following: In many ways, this was a Kennedy-like speech, a speech a Democratic president could have made, if the Democratic Party hadn't fallen into such moral and strategic confusion. What the democrat party has done looks nothing like a fall into moral and strategic confusion. It looks more like sedition bordering precipitously on treason. As to moral fall ... well, their unwavering support for abortion on demand, even protecting infanticide, appears more an expedience willing to ignore the humanity of the little ones, than it does a fall or a stumble.

[ellery]

Keep in mind that in Africa, many children are BORN with HIV. If pregnant moms take the new medications, the chance that their babies will be born with the virus is cut in half.

[JennysCool]

I would fund it by withdrawing troops from Germany.

What a great idea!

[ethical]

Yes there is an easy answer. Fidelity!!!!!!!!!! Don't screw around with anyone other than your wife or husband.

[goldstategop]

And if they stop raping virgins there too that will also cut down the AIDS rate in Africa dramatically as well.

[FreeReign]

So to get it out of the way: the domestic ambitions of this president strike me as immensely expensive and clearly liable to sadddle us with at least another decade of deficit spending.

I don't think the domestic ambitions of this president will saddle us with another decade of deficit spending. For example, his 4% discretionary cap will keep us right where we are. However, I do think that the president really, really needs to start cutting discretionary spending -- ya know in an incremental fashion.

Besides that, tort reform, a partial birth abortion ban, excelerated tax cuts, and support for missile defense are all good news. And of course the president made it clear, that we will defend ourselves, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE U.N. DOES.

[Nephi]

Only a Republican President can get away with transitioning America from the world's policeman, to the worlds Doctor.

GRIDS is a terrible disease, but it is not the federal government's role to take on the disease, especially in Africa. That is something that should be left to the world's charities.

Speaking of charities, when his Dad coined the term, "points of light," I defended it as the constitutionally sound way of addressing the welfare of society. I never expected to trade government bureaucrats for charity bureaucrats. If the government has money to give to faith based charities, it needs to be given back the people so that they can receive the blessings of giving it themselves.

That's gonna be hard, though since Bush proposed something like a half a trillion dollars in new spending.

[FreeReign]

Andrew is astute in his offering, except for the following: In many ways, this was a Kennedy-like speech, a speech a Democratic president could have made, if the Democratic Party hadn't fallen into such moral and strategic confusion. What the democrat party has done looks nothing like a fall into moral and strategic confusion. It looks more like sedition bordering precipitously on treason. As to moral fall ... well, their unwavering support for abortion on demand, even protecting infanticide, appears more an expedience willing to ignore the humanity of the little ones, than it does a fall or a stumble.

I agree with you -- the D party actions can best be described as treason.

Anyway, I do think that the D party in particular and most politicans in general were changed for the worse the day JFK was assasinated. Sullivan is right about that.

[LurkerNoMore!]

Sorry to Sullivan, but I take issue with this statement:

I shouldn't be surprised, of course. Bush was an addict. And he came this close to saying it.

I know I'll probably get hit from the AA side on this, but Bush drank more than he should have, it was pointed out to him in a personal way by his wife, and he stopped. Cold Turkey. He made a decision not to ever drink again, and didn't! Addicts/alcoholics usually need some kind of short term help, right?

[Wait4Truth]

Wow! I totally disagree. Regarding AIDS, President Bush was not just using flowery rhetoric! This is real to him. If you follow him closely, you will see that his compassion for the sick and addicted is very, very real. He is a healer as well as being strong and moral. Take another look and see who George W. Bush really is. I like what I see.

[Wait4Truth]

You really nailed it, Nick. This President will do the diplomatic dance and hope that others see the truth. But in the end, if they do not, he will leave them in the dust. He does not sell out his convictions to please hand-wringers and cowards. He is a strong, decisive leader and he is exactly the man we need to lead us in this extraordinarily dangerous time. God bless him.

[Wait4Truth]

This President is changing the debate...he is asking us to take another look at the world..at the suffering...the pain...and to not just pretend it's not there because it doesn't affect us personally. It was clear that he felt what he was saying very deeply. He is not clinton with all his acting prowess...George W. Bush means what he says and says what he means. He is real. We Republicans can learn from this man. He has changed my thinking on a number of issues and he calls me to a higer level. I appreciate that. His leadership and his way of speaking about things has changed me. I don't think I'm alone, either.

[Odile]

Thank you, Andrew! Here's some instant analysis of me own:

I thought the president did a wonderful job. One of the army of fervid and self-important commentators said, "He had a couple of aces up his sleave, didn't he?"

Boy did he ever!

I loved the way he began talking only about domestic problems. He got his points across masterfully about the benefits of his proposed tax reductions and the strengthening effect they should have on the economy, and he ALSO stole a lot of the Democrats' thunder by promising access to "unrationed" medical care for all Americans and prescription drug benefits for the elderly. His admonition to Congress to end partial birth abortion was politically brave, but obviously the right thing to do. May they find the courage and the will to act on ending this atrocity at last. The only POSSIBLE excuse for such a practice would be if it were the only way to save the life of the mother.

I'm glad too that the president remains committed to the idea of putting more and more of the social security money under the direct control of each citizen -- thus giving the possibility of earning a MUCH greater return on the investment and making it an inheritable part of every family's net worth.

The president's amazing statement of concern for the victims of AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean, and his ambition to bring massive amounts of financial aid to the Dark Continent and other deprived areas was a real zinger. It may have been aimed primarily at the Congressional Black Caucus to help defuse some of their perpetual ire, but I think Mr. Bush's concern is sincere and his compassion real.

How we are going to pay for all of this and fund the War on Terror too I can't imagine, but we've always managed before in times of even greater crisis, and I'm sure we will this time too. sacrifice is good for the soul. As a nation, we've been on a pretty foolish joyride for a very long time. A little bitter medicine may be exactly what we need to regain our moral compass.

I also loved his frequent references to God and our need to rely on the Almighty for ultimate guidance. How refreshing it is to see a leader in action who is not ashamed of his ties to Christianity and who refuses to equivocate on the subject!

The most memorable quote of the evening told us,"Freedom is not America's gift to the world, but God's gift to humanity."

Yes, indeed!

Did anyone see the shots of Senator Daschle glaring balefully at the president as he spoke? This is a bitter, power-mad little man with a poisonous philosophy of governance and a shriveled soul. Hitlery, as always, was unable to camouflage her unwarranted attitude of smug superiority. Those famous contemptuous sidelong glances ought to do her in by all that's holy, but no one ever got rich by overestimating the intelligence of the average American voter -- particularly those who live in "Black" and "Blue" America.

All day the media has led us to expect that the president would say little or nothing about Iraq. That was another masterstroke, because when Mr. Bush got to that subject at long last, he really gave us a clear demonstration of his absolute certainty that Iraq has hidden arsenals of deadly weapons. And, he was most reassuring about his commitment to ending the brutal career of Saddam Hussein and of hunting down and destroying the shadowy, elusive agents of Al Qaeda -- one way or another.

The opposition will say, of course, that the president was trying to frighten us into supporting him by highlighting and exaggerating the brutal nature of the many dreadful possibilities that threaten our security at home and abroad. Many of these perils are insidious. I struggle to believe that the measures he briefly outlined about increased vigilance at our borders and ports of entry are adequate, but it's good to know that at least SOMETHING is being done.

Mr. Bush's hopeful attitude about the eventual development of a strategic missile defense system is heartening. And, I LOVED his vision of a new kind of hydrogen-powered automobile that would not only free us from too much dependence on foreign oil but would also be pollution free. I sure hope I live to see it come to pass.

What I love most about our president is his calmly serious, direct approach. He's not playing to the peanut gallery. Yes, he pandered to the Demonrats more than I'd like by supporting a lot of socialistic ideas, but he HAS to do that in order to survive politically. There are just too many Democrats. They have lots of power still and cannot simply be swept aside or passed over

Our president may not write every word he delivers, but I get the feeling that he really BELIEVES what he is saying. David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, who has just written a book about the president, was saying just today on C-Span that Mr. Bush takes a very active interest in the speeches written for him and edits them mercilessly to better reflect and suit his own ideas.

There's an essential NICENESS and clear-eyed DECENCY about our president that's very hard to resist. I wish him -- and us -- every success.

May God bless America!

[My2Cents]

Well put. I've come to understand Bush as someone who lacks political ideology, but who is basically conservative in his instincts. This means that he is not always going to please the true believers on the right. That's fine with me. I'm pleased if the President is conservative more times that not. What concerns me is that many "true believers" can't seem to connect with someone who speaks from the heart; their ideology is in their head, and there's no room, apparently, for a leader to appeal to the heart and compassion of the people. This is a barren, dry, and unappealing way to view politics.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Mr. Sullivan could be considered a Sensible Liberal.... Sullivan is quite definitely not liberal. He's gay.

[My2Cents]

It is of such a scale that only a major intervetnion by the US government has any hope of easing it. I would fund it by withdrawing troops from Germany.

Great idea! Now, that's creative thinking!

[Howlin]

Great post!