Bush's speech

I think what really bothered me about Conor O'Clery's report (see post below) was that he didn't seem to pick up on the optimism and idealism (almost utopianism) that was the essence of it. That speech was incredibly optimistic. In foreign policy terms that speech was much more old style Democrat (Kennedy at the Berlin Wall or Wilson's 14 points) than old style Republican. I know Bush referenced Reagan, but even Reagan was an old style Democrat.

For someone like me, a natural pessimist, and with a fairly isolationist view on foreign policy this transformation of Bush from the pre-election Conservative to interventionist and idealist is alarming. If Europe was criticizing the administration for naiveté and excessive idealism, that would be fine. It's the "war mongering" claims that are so ridiculous.

The Messopotamian has a better grasp of what's going on.

if the U.S. tommorrow announces that anybody willing to come to its land would be given the "Green Card" immediately with no further question, how many people do you think would stand in line? Answer this question if you dare ? Why if Western values are so bad and so terrible would you find Muslim, Hindu, Buddist, and every colour and every breed standing in that hypothetical line, in their billions ?

But America cannot take in the entire humanity, so america decides to go to them instead.