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04/02/2005: Thought for the Day:
If President Bush is so insistent on the need for his political adversaries to talk to him about fixing Social Security, then why does he keep throwing them out of his campaign rallies -- excuse me, "town meetings" -- on the subject?
...
And so you wonder why a president who sells himself as a tough, confident bring-'em-on type of guy seems so anxious about facing average citizens who disagree with him. Why does he insist on being surrounded, always, by people who tell him that he's right and great and wonderful? [Mr. Dionne, does the term "insecure, abject coward" mean anything to you? --LRC]
Some of Bush's Social Security events have been held at public colleges and universities. Conservatives, sometimes rightly, complain about the oppressive nature of liberal "political correctness." But why should institutions devoted to free inquiry allow themselves to be used for the Republican form of political correctness, in which party officials ensure the orthodoxy of Bush's crowds? Shouldn't universities tell the president he is most welcome, as long as he upholds the traditions of free speech by permitting opponents and supporters alike to hear him? And if the president is serious about transcending partisanship, why does he taunt his adversaries at partisan rallies where the opposition is told to get lost by guys in smiley-face ties?
--E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Len on 04.02.05 @ 09:33 AM CST
