I recently read George W. Bush's memoir "Decision Points." It is a good book and an interesting read. In it, President Bush explains his various decisions in life (he spends a fair amount of time on his decision to stop drinking) and as President. He also makes plain his distaste for blogs and bloggers. But most importantly, throughout the portion of the book about his presidency he writes repeatedly about the limits of power. Many of those observations are relevant to today.
On page 53, describing his 1994 race for Texas Governor, Bush writes, "Voters don't want a leader who flails in anger and coarsens the tone of the debate."
On page 106, President Bush describes his grudging respect for protestors on his inauguration day. "I spent most of the ride in the presidential limo behind glass windows, so their shouting came across in pantomime. While I couldn't make out their words, their middle fingers spoke loudly: the bitterness of the 2000 election was not going away anytime soon."
On page 155, he notes that he took an oath to "preserve, defend and protect the constitution." On page 196, he admits his initial positive perception of Putin was wrong by writing, "In the years ahead, Putin would give me reasons to reverse my opinion." On page 214 he writes that "one of the most effective forms of diplomacy is to show the good heart of America to the world."
And most importantly, on page 350, writing about the shameful Dictator of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, President Bush writes, "His disgraceful record was proof that one man could ruin a country."
The reality of the current situation is we have new found allies, including people we previously opposed. We have to put past differences aside to protect the system and live to fight another day.
So with that, welcome to the team, Mr. President glad to finally learn who the player to be named later was. I, for one, look forward to working with you despite the brawls of the past.