praktike's response (posted originally on Tacitus Wed Sep 15th, 2004 at 06:06:28 AM EST) You're right, but I do think there is a great deal of value in having a President who recognize what is possible and what isn't, and is willing to step in to break up roadblocks where necessary. From what I've read about Bush, he is the true believer in democracy and freedom and wonderfulness and at the same time someone who seems to need to punish the evildoers as we did in Fallujah. It's guys like Armitage and Blackwill and Powell who I see as able to make moral compromises where necessary to get the job done. As to Congress, Bush hasn't really done anything to get them to be constructive other than blustering about willpower and freedom blah blah blah. He'd be more useful if he were willing to simultaneously allay fears about corruption and use his bully pulpit to argue for the necessity of a pragmatic approach. I think he has to be able to tell people: "hey, folks, it's going to be messy and we're going to have to do some unsavory things in order to win." I may have put this somewhat less thoughtfully down below, in my haste. Moderation in pursuit of moderation is good, I think