Bush Re-Defines Leadership by Intensity

As a nation of independent voters, we have the right to voice our opinions, often we won't agree with our leadership, how often do you agree with your leader? Yet there are times when we do agree and we become forgetful about letting the leaders know that. We like to be praised as followers, everyone does, yet everyone likes praise, but it is often the case that we who follow, overlook telling those who lead, that we appreciate them. In the case of George Bush, we have a lightning rod of reality.

This President has done leadership in a time like no other for the U.S.; no leader has had to handle the issues of this President. People can overlook the importance of the issues, how dramatically different they are from, for example, the response to Pearl Harbor, where people compared 9/11 to Pearl Harbor, but completely missed the fact that Pearl Harbor took place in a world devoid of nuclear weapons. Bush had to deal with an attack of historically singular proportions, counterbalanced by the most destructive capability in human history, and he came away from that with a strategy that may well have saved the entire planet.

Seven years into his leadership, we see North Korea changing its nuclear policy; in a meeting with Prime minister of Japan, we find a solidifying of the issues that affect our nations. This President has built a coalition across the planet that has exerted pressure on the despots. Using the effort of bringing diverse nations to the gathering table, President Bush will have made his imprint in history. For precisely this reason, we need to stop and assess the enormity of this man; and what he has brought to the annals of defining leadership, in the world today.

Yes, it's called, at times, unpopular to crow for the leader, in our cynical culture it's more sophisticated to believe we know better and can criticize the effort. In this instance, we have a leader who is silencing the easy critics by actions and results that are remarkable on a historic stage. The measure applied to such an effort written about by historians, it's what they do, but for us, we are getting to see it first hand- and we are cheating ourselves out of a moment in history if we miss it.

Before you scream, "pandering (!)," consider that the press at times has a responsibility to report facts, but what this is addressing aren't facts, but feelings- a totally different realm. What we're sharing isn't a doctrine of historical implementation, but rather a joint reaction between us to the history making decisions of this man. It is possible to go the "love him or hate him, he is who he is," route, but that leaves you able to dismiss the moment; instead what we want to do is relish in this time. Take it in and do your very best to see the enormous powers being played out on this world stage, and then take in the leader who is keeping it all in balance, President George Bush.