CKNW Editorial
for September 21, 2001

I am, I confess, an emotional man … and I wept as I listened to President Bush last night. Yes there were some corny moments … there was some of the excess bravado that sometimes irritates us about Americans … and you couldn’t help but wonder if some of the old farts there could really take all the physical exercise the standing ovations involved. But it was a great speech and will be remembered as such.

Mr Bush had to do a number of things:he had to rally his allies, many of them tentative. He did that with the not so subtle message that the strongest nation in the world economically and militarily will not readily countenance those who don’t stay the course. Bullying? Perhaps. But effective … and, under these circumstances, he could do no less.

He had to make the aims of America clear to the enemy in a battle where the enemy is not easy to see. He did that.

He had to make it clear to Muslims all over the world that this wasn’t some modern day crusade of Christians and their friends the Jews against Islam … I think he did that.

He had to let minorities in his country know that they were safe and would be protected … that he did.

And, of course, he had to rally his country. They had to know that yes, sadly, there would be body bags and a lot of time would pass before this was over. This he did magnificently and while he may have sounded jingoistic and breast-beating to the casual and sometimes sneering foreign ear, he was rallying the troops in the same way Americans have always been rallied. We’re pretty good at sneering at Americans sometimes in this country – we see the soft side and we’re quick to point out that in the last two World Wars they were last in. We ignore the fact that no one goes to war until their security is threatened but of much more importance, we forget that American involvement was decisive in both cases. We somehow resent the fact that the fat slobs with a beer watching the NFL on Sunday, the brash and loud tourists, the nation of drugs and sloth can become a very effective fighting machine when provoked – and God knows they’ve been provoked.

President Bush did what Roosevelt and Churchill could not do – he used the camera to create emotional impact … his pointing to Mrs Beamer, the widow of one of the heroes on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania … his use of the policeman’s badge … his references to Congressional leaders and his pointing out the governor of New York and the Mayor of New York City. It was masterful.

Speeches don’t win wars – but as Roosevelt and Churchill, especially the latter proved, they can sure help. In fact I thought I heard a growl of approval from Churchill as Mr Bush said "We shall not tire … we shall not falter … we shall not fail" … and when he referred to Britain as the United States greatest friend, with Prime Minister Tony Blair there to take the bows. It was always Churchill’s position, of course, that while there should be a United States of Europe with Germany and France as the center pieces, Britain’s place was with the English Speaking peoples. He always spoke of the special relationship between Britain and America, a special-ness often more in his mind than the reality. One could not help but think, if one is of a certain age, of the time just after Pearl Harbour when Churchill, from the same podium, jested that if his father had been American and his mother British, instead of the other way around, he might have got there on his own.

There will be some who will wonder why Canada wasn’t there. One only has to have listened to the ramblings of Prime Minister Chretien since he did so well at the day of mourning to know why Mr Bush didn’t waste any words on us.

Canadians saw a great lesson last night if we wanted to see. After the speech Senator Tom Daschle, the Majority leader in the Senate, a Democrat, and Senator Trent Lott, the Minority leader stood together and without mincing a word, stood behind the president.

But didn’t Stockwell Day say he was for uniting blah blah blah … and isn’t that the same thing?

The answer is no. It’s no because in this country with the rotten to the core system we have, it doesn’t matter a damn what the opposition says or does. The Prime Minister has no need to rally the nation – he does as he pleases. In the United States it matters very much. No President can rely on any member of either House to vote the party line. Mr Bush couldn’t for one second take Congress’ support for granted even if both Houses were solidly Republican. When the two Senators spoke it not only meant a lot – it meant everything.

Some Canadians will wonder why we were slighted and Mr Blair wasn’t. Could it be because Mr Blair, with a caucus containing many anti Americans and lifelong doves, no matter what the issue, came to America not to consult with Mr Bush, not to advise him, not to deliver any terms for support … but to visit New York where so many Britons died and to make it absolutely clear where Britain stood?

I despaired when George W Bush was elected … I hollered foul when the Supreme Court of the United States, in a partisan matter, clearly violated the Constitution by interfering with Florida’s right to conduct its election its way… and I thought he was a lightweight who had no understanding of world affairs. I have to say now that either I was a damned fool … or George W Bush is a fast read … or maybe a bit of both.

At the end of his speech I, as the grandfather of two military age boys, knew that President George W Bush had spoken for me.