While it is good that you are finally coming to realize what we lost when President Bush left office and what little we have now, I do think you probably need to revisit your opinions on Dick Cheney and what the Bush administration stood for. What I see in your writing is that you seem to have listened too much to the media and not enough to what the administration stood for. I also think the same with the current administration. They talk a good position but there is no substance backing it up. I just hope that the international community comes to realize that and soon.
Pradeep Sharma wrote On 11/09/2009 08:59 PM: > > Times Of India Nov 10, 2009 > > > Perception vs reality > > Abhishek Singhvi > > > > Prior to my first live interaction with George W Bush, i thought > of him as an amiable, laidback guy with little in the top storey and > the typical Texan’s broad brush approach to life with a disdain for > detail. I had always rated Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, in that > order, as the most cerebral US presidents in a long time and Bush came > way down in that pecking order. With no intellectual pretensions and > the hate legacy of Iraq, there was pretty little to like about Bush. > Except that, from a purely selfish Indian perspective, no US president > had reached out and done so much for our country. > > I reckon that a majority of Indians – if they ever thought of Bush > – thought the same way. Recently we were all proved wrong. For one > hour, he held a large audience in Delhi spellbound, cheering him > wildly, eating out of his hands and giving him a standing ovation. Not > a word by Bush was out of place, not a joke humourless, not a > sentiment out of sync. And this was no ordinary audience –it was > articulate, sceptical, knowledgeable and ready to tear apart any icon. > > Bush came across as extremely wellinformed, competent, persuasive, > a great orator, a man who spoke from the heart, with a wry, > self-deprecatory outlook on life, and full of visible love for India > and Indians. > > The first thing this tells you about public life is the power of > perception. With all the education, information technology and power > of analytical scrutiny available to us, it is time democracies and the > masses who form their backbone start thinking and reacting more > rationally than on mere perception. The first i fault on this front is > myself. > > Second, it tells you the power of speaking from the heart more > than the head. Whenever one heard Bill Clinton – he is one of the most > consummate orators in English globally – one is dazzled by his > brilliance but always left with a lurking doubt about his sincerity. > Bush comes across as someone honourable, speaking honestly from the > heart and even on issues where one may violently disagree with him, > one goes away with the feeling that he is genuine about his convictions. > > Third, while India and Indians have showered unconditional love > upon Clinton and Obama, the man who really loves India and all things > Indian is Bush. Forget the civil nuclear agreement, though that by > itself exceeds what any single previous US president has done for > India. But Bush was the first to meaningfully and in real terms > de-hyphenate the Indo-Pak relationship. He was the first to realise > that US relations with each country stand on independent and distinct > foundations and that a country of the size, diversity and depth of > India can hardly be clubbed with Pakistan as far as US foreign policy > is concerned. > > Additionally, it was the Bush administration, more than any other, > which sent a clear and unequivocal signal to China that the US was > prepared to reach out and support a countervailing power of the size > and potential comparable to China, in China’s own backyard. > > His sincere support to women’s causes is self-evident and explodes > the myth about him being anti-Muslim. Apart from his telling repartee > regarding the four women in his life, it is clear that girl child > education and in particular that of the Muslim girl child is a theme > very dear to Bush’s heart. His educational initiatives in his own > country are female-focused and include a comprehensive project devoted > to female education in the Middle East, which will be physically > located in that region. > > The one abiding image of the Bush administration in my own mind > was that of lack of compassion and empathy, an absence of a human > touch. Having heard Bush, i can see how wrong i was. Perhaps it is the > company Bush kept – especially that of Dick Cheney, his former > vicepresident – that was responsible for part of that buccaneering, > unemotional and heartless persona we saw. Beware of perceptional politics. > > The writer is an MP and national spokesperson of the Congress party. > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
