Love him or hate him, it’s hard to deny one thing: the man’s got chutzpah.
Chutzpah for daring to tackle the “third rail” of American politics: Social Security. Chutzpah for taking a stand to reform the overly complicated and overly burdening tax code that has continued to needlessly restrain the world’s most powerful economy. Chutzpah for moving us toward a broad new understanding of America’s role in the world as the promoter and defender of freedom for all mankind.
Chutzpah for speaking like he meant it.
As per the looming battle over the future of our nation’s intergenerational promise and largest entitlement, Bush provided little specifics. It is this that may be considered his speech’s weakest point, and one the Democrats will likely pounce on. In the annals of American political history, the impending battle over the future of this institution will be notable and far-reaching, and while this may have not been a knockout punch for Bush, it was a heavy first blow against the complacent Democrats by the reformist GOP.
It is we, college students, who are those next in line to weather the encumbrance of possible increased payroll taxes. And it is also we, as well as our children, who will one day suffer the consequences of inaction. Bush’s plan for Social Security reform and voluntary personal retirement accounts will directly affect our lives in the long-term, allowing for us not only to reap more benefit from our labor, but also to protect the solvency of our nation’s largest promise.
But Bush’s speech could not have only been about the future of our nation’s economic prosperity — indeed, it was not. With only one mention of Sept. 11, Bush addressed the now-silent naysayers who claimed a successful democratic election in Iraq to be little more than a pipe dream. As leftists and terrorists alike begin their descent into self-doubt over the viability and accuracy of their worldviews, Bush’s “vision thing” is beginning to come into focus.
One could imagine an alternate reality in which a far less somber John Kerry stood before the joint session of the House and Senate giving a very different speech. One could not imagine him advocating, “Taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely or not at all.” Nor could one imagine him being responsible for what may one day be seen as two of the defining images of our time.
The first is that of an Iraqi woman, Safia Taleb al-Suhail, whose father was murdered by Saddam’s thugs, weeping tears of joy as she held up her ink-stained fingers in the peace sign, rejoicing in her first opportunity to vote. The second is that same woman embracing the mother of fallen American marine Byron Norwood, thanking her for her son’s sacrifice.
It is these images that will persist long after the issues of our day have come and gone, for we will remember our times through their visage. And these images, while born through somber events and terrible catastrophe, are unshakable from one’s mind for their historic relevance and powerful message. A message not of disaster and chaos, but of hope.
Hope for the people of Iraq as they continue to combat the increasingly discredited insurgency, whose mission to control the lives of Iraqis is relentless, but ultimately futile. Hope that freedom will continue to advance around the world — not just in the Middle East, but also in post-Soviet states seeking to escape from Russian domination, such as the Ukraine. Hope that tyrants will one day no longer control the life of any man, woman or child.
Bush may not be the best messenger, but one thing is for certain: his message is the right one.
History will be the ultimate judge of our success or failure, as both our challenges remain unsolved and continually increasing.
Just as generations past have risen to the occasion, facing seemingly insurmountable odds and overwhelming adversity, so too are we tasked by our times. Just as Americans have advanced liberty since our nation’s inception, so too shall we.
With the winds of liberty at our back, Bush’s speech moves us toward our soon-to-be great legacy for the peoples of the world.
And in the end, history is on our side.
Zach Stern ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.
