Why I support GWB

[DKW 86 7,726]

Just wish the pic would show...

A real guy...

And as the second article shows, I just dont see Mr. Kerry and his: "Do you know who I am?" doing this with the little girl.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Very touching article and the photo shows the kind of a man my Commander in Chief is.

A very stark contrast to the other person seeking office that calls a person paid to take a bullet for him a "SOB".

[MDM4AU 337]

A very stark contrast to the other person seeking office that calls a person paid to take a bullet for him a "SOB".

I thought the same thing when I saw that picture.

[Ranger12 46]

I had to email those stories to everybody in my contact list.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

Very touching article and the photo shows the kind of a man my Commander in Chief is.

A very stark contrast to the other person seeking office that calls a person paid to take a bullet for him a "SOB".

Bush hugs a girl for the cameras. Kerry takes his swift boat into fire to pull a fellow soldier he doesn't even know from a certain death. Which act do right wing nuts thinks most demonstrates what kind a man one would be as commander-in-chief? This illustrates why so many Bush supporters are totally beyond reasoning with.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Bush hugs a girl for the cameras.  Kerry takes his swift boat into fire to pull a fellow soldier he doesn't even know from a certain death.  Which act do right wing nuts thinks most demonstrates what kind a man one would be as commander-in-chief?  This illustrates why so many Bush supporters are totally beyond reasoning with.

I'll take compassion and strength over appeasment and treason anytime.

BTW, John F'ing Kerry showed his regard for his fellow soldiers by coming home early, tossing someone else's medals over the White House fence, and calling those who couldn't write their own ticket home "war criminals". Yeah, he's fit to be Commander in Chief .

[TexasTiger 13,556]

Bush hugs a girl for the cameras.  Kerry takes his swift boat into fire to pull a fellow soldier he doesn't even know from a certain death.  Which act do right wing nuts thinks most demonstrates what kind a man one would be as commander-in-chief?  This illustrates why so many Bush supporters are totally beyond reasoning with.

I'll take compassion and strength over appeasment and treason anytime.

BTW, John F'ing Kerry showed his regard for his fellow soldiers by coming home early, tossing someone else's medals over the White House fence, and calling those who couldn't write their own ticket home "war criminals". Yeah, he's fit to be Commander in Chief .

During the time period you reference, George Bush showed his regard for his "fellow" soldiers by refusing overseas duty, earning no medals, and being too self-absorbed and self-indulgent to even show up for duty or a required physical, much less a protest which would have required demonstrating conviction for something other than his own pleasure. Yeah, he's fit to be...nothing requiring any sense of personal responsibility.

Keep your delusions, Tiger in Spain. They are all you have to sustain your beliefs.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

No, my friend, I have more to sustain my beliefs. I can proudly say I have had the pleasure of meeting the man in person. He is genuine, which is a trait lost to you lefties and a hell of a lot more than I can say for that human weathervane that is representing the democrat party.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

No, my friend, I have more to sustain my beliefs. I can proudly say I have had the pleasure of meeting the man in person. He is genuine, which is a trait lost to you lefties and a hell of a lot more than I can say for that human weathervane that is representing the democrat party.

Genuinely irresponsible. As his governing has showed, his reckless youth can't solely be blamed on alcohol and other drugs.

[vatz22au 142]

Kerry and Bush are both unfit..... Bush messed up...doesnt need to come back, and Kerry...well kerry's nose gets to big when his vietnam stories arise. I dont want a liar as president....well, not like all of them do anyways.

[WarTim 3,463]

Easy choice. One is a hitlary-slick willy new england lyin' liberal.

The other is a Good man!

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Bush hugs a girl for the cameras.

Point of order...that photo was not taken by the press. No media source had that picture. That photo was taken by the girl's father. And it doesn't appear the gesture was done in such a way as to draw attention to it:

In a moment largely unnoticed by the throngs of people in Lebanon waiting for autographs from the president of the United States, George W. Bush stopped to hold a teenager's head close to his heart.

Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:

"This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."

Bush stopped and turned back.

"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."

Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.

"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 2 1/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "

"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."

..."The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me," Ashley said. "I thought, 'Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I'm safe.' I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me."

The photo has been circulating across the country, Faulkner said. Relatives have passed it on to friends, bosses and acquaintances. As they tell the story, they also share in Wendy Faulkner's legacy, which her family continues through the Wendy Faulkner Memorial Children's Foundation.

"I'm a pretty cynical and jaded guy at this point in my life," Faulkner said of the moment with the president. "But this was the real deal. I was really impressed. It was genuine and from the heart."

Also, the caption under the photo says: Photo by Lynn Faulkner

Sorry that you can't understand why conservatives see more leadership in moments like that than we see in all the grandstanding that Kerry has done in a lifetime.

[Tiger Al 0]

TT, is that really an example of leadership or is it more of an example of compassion and humanity? I realize that neither is mutually exclusive of the other, but I don't really see this as a sign of leadership. It was a good thing for him to do, though.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

TT, is that really an example of leadership or is it more of an example of compassion and humanity? I realize that neither is mutually exclusive of the other, but I don't really see this as a sign of leadership. It was a good thing for him to do, though.

To me, it's an aspect of leadership. Christ, for example, not only taught with authority and commanded demons to obey him, he was compassionate and did so publicly at times to serve as an example for us. Frankly, I would find it hard to follow someone who couldn't demonstrate both the ability to make tough choices and to be human.

[Tiger Al 0]

TT, is that really an example of leadership or is it more of an example of compassion and humanity? I realize that neither is mutually exclusive of the other, but I don't really see this as a sign of leadership. It was a good thing for him to do, though.

To me, it's an aspect of leadership. Christ, for example, not only taught with authority and commanded demons to obey him, he was compassionate and did so publicly at times to serve as an example for us. Frankly, I would find it hard to follow someone who couldn't demonstrate both the ability to make tough choices and to be human.

That's why I said that they weren't mutually exclusive. Compassion is one aspect of leadership that I believe makes a good leader. (Others may say it dilutes leadership) I'm just saying that I wouldn't hold this incident up and say, 'Aha...see, I told you so! He IS a good leader!'

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Well Al, I think you and I were pretty much on the same page. I wasn't saying this act was THE reason to say Bush is a leader. I was primarily reacting to this statement from TexasTiger:

This illustrates why so many Bush supporters are totally beyond reasoning with.

I took that to mean that this act by Bush meant nothing compared to other "real" leadership traits. I dispute that, as (apparently) do you.

[Tiger Al 0]

Maybe what he meant was that because many Bush supporters see this picture and to them it proves that he's a good leader. Many see his openly talking about his religion as proof that he's a good leader because he's a Christian. I've asked Bush supporters why they liked him and almost always the first, if not only, answer is something to the effect that 'at least his zipper stays up.'

These are all great qualities but it sometimes seems that they are given more weight than they should be given when evaluating his leadership abilities. It's like saying that a guy is a great bank executive because he's a deacon at church and a member of the Kiwanis Club. They don't really measure his value as a bank executive, but more as a person.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

I think you hear those things partly because those are some of the things they see GWB possessing that makes him different from others. There are probably several people who possess various desireable leadership qualities. What Bush supporters are saying when they put things like this first or at least very high on their list is that Bush has these qualities in addition to the normal, baseline, expected leadership qualities that presidential candidates are should possess.

[Tiger Al 0]

I think you hear those things partly because those are some of the things they see GWB possessing that makes him different from others. There are probably several people who possess various desireable leadership qualities. What Bush supporters are saying when they put things like this first or at least very high on their list is that Bush has these qualities in addition to the normal, baseline, expected leadership qualities that presidential candidates are should possess.

And probably why we think that's all they see is because we don't see the 'baseline' qualities in him. We saw good leadership in Clinton and you saw a sex addict.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

No, I think we have some common 'baseline' qualities and some differing ones. One thing that Democrats seem to prize above many other considerations is education level. Not that conservatives don't value that, but said level doesn't rank as highly.

This, to me, is why Dems love that Clinton was a Rhodes scholar and Oxford educated and how eloquent he was...while Republicans see all that education and wonder why that brain power didn't compute into "I probably shouldn't screw around with a White House intern and expect it not to be a big deal". We also see his eloquence in that light as "slickness" and don't trust him. Conversely, we see Bush as more plain-spoken and less "packaged" (I know you don't agree, but I'm talking about our perceptions right now). He rings as more trustworthy and genuine to us...something that no amount of education or speaking eloquence can do for a person.

I saw the potential for good leadership in Clinton, but a lack of execution. Too much reliance on polls to govern. Too much word twisting and semantic dances to be trusted. Too little common sense to be a leader.

[Tigermike 3,425]

No, I think we have some common 'baseline' qualities and some differing ones. One thing that Democrats seem to prize above many other considerations is education level. Not that conservatives don't value that, but said level doesn't rank as highly.

This, to me, is why Dems love that Clinton was a Rhodes scholar and Oxford educated and how eloquent he was...while Republicans see all that education and wonder why that brain power didn't compute into "I probably shouldn't screw around with a White House intern and expect it not to be a big deal". We also see his eloquence in that light as "slickness" and don't trust him. Conversely, we see Bush as more plain-spoken and less "packaged" (I know you don't agree, but I'm talking about our perceptions right now). He rings as more trustworthy and genuine to us...something that no amount of education or speaking eloquence can do for a person.

I saw the potential for good leadership in Clinton, but a lack of execution. Too much reliance on polls to govern. Too much word twisting and semantic dances to be trusted. Too little common sense to be a leader.

That almost sounds like you are talking about John Kerry.